As digital technologies and advanced tools change the way processes and operations are completed, industry is in the midst of a serious upheaval, and companies are forced to adapt or risk being left behind. But awareness of the latest trends and developments is only the first step. Succeeding with long-term digital transformation requires well-thought-out strategies and organized implementation.
Artificial intelligence, advanced analytics, robotics and automation, and the Internet of Things are changing the face of the industry, transforming all aspects of business models, supply chains, products, sales, and services.
But for most companies, there is still much to be done. Startups are ahead of the game, with 55% “having already adopted a digital business strategy, compared to 38% of traditional enterprises,” according to IDG’s 2018 Digital Business Research. The white paper also revealed that while “89% of organizations have plans to adopt a digital-first business strategy … only 44% have fully adopted this approach.”
According to IDG, digital-first business strategies are mainly focused on using technology to:
- Deliver an excellent customer experience
- Enable worker productivity
- Better manage business performance
“While technology deployment is important, digital transformation is fundamentally about people and having the right talent acquisition and retention strategies in place.” — Jay Hussey, Odgers Berndston
Achieving Long-Term Digital Success
Several strategies can help in establishing a solid foundation for long-term digital transformation success. Consider the following approaches to better enable digital business growth.
Rally Around A Clear Vision
Establishing common goals is critical to business success in any situation — especially when any kind of transformation or disruption is involved. From the C-suite down, everyone in the business needs to understand the importance of change and embrace the opportunities inherent in digital disruption.
However, this doesn’t mean jumping on every new trend; carefully research your options and find what will work for you, not what looks new and shiny from afar. Establish digital champions in different business units who can manage and monitor goals and track value gained.
Drawing on a clear understanding of how your organization works and what it does best, delineate a clear objective for transformation that can be effectively communicated to the entire team.
Break Down Silos
By embracing digitization, you gain the ability to monitor, manage, report, and analyze all sorts of data.
Yet if individual departments are compartmentalizing their information, this can greatly inhibit your organization’s ability to identify opportunities and potential benefits to be gained from business integration.
Encourage Digitally Skilled Employees
The Forrester research found that leading companies had implemented several key strategies for developing a team focused on digital transformation. These included establishing “digital boot camp training programs” for existing team members and “seeking senior-level candidates who will be digital evangelists.”
Make it a priority to attract and retain workers with relevant digital specializations and expertise. With many businesses moving to recruit digital- and tech-savvy talent, it’s crucial to develop company plans and policies for retaining these vital workers.
Fill In Process Gaps
The right people can help a business redesign its processes to more effectively execute digital initiatives.
Investing in the right technology will make a dent, but for a full return on investment (ROI), there needs to be a marriage of people, technology, and strategy to maximize agility and optimize outcomes.
Measure, Then Measure Again
Digitization offers a deluge of data and information. Make sure your organization has people in place to analyze that data — not down the road, but today. Long-term success comes from business agility and the ability to make real-time, data-driven decisions.
Also, be sure to use data to measure ROI and key performance indicators (KPIs). Keep analyses current to identify opportunities or areas where you may need to change direction. Follow through and communicate data results to the team in order to support ongoing buy-in to the overarching objective you started out with.
Keep Transforming
Forrester’s 2018 survey of the state of digital transformation found that 21% of business and IT decision-makers thought they were already done with the transformation process. That might put them ahead of the 22% only investigating digital disruption or not transforming at all.
But thinking that change has an end date can be a costly, dangerous mistake. Company systems and customer needs are always changing, and you must be as well.