Tech-driven leadership is indispensable

1. What are some important factors to consider when fast-tracking digital transformation?

Leadership that understands technology and champions change at every stage of the process is critical. Our advice is to perform a digital maturity assessment to identify which technologies you need to digitize your operations. Then, use the findings of your assessment to craft a detailed business case that aligns digital objectives with overall organizational goals. A business case is important because it:

• Provides clarity and sets timelines.
• Maps out desired outcomes that align with digital initiatives.
• Assesses possible risks and measures to mitigate them.
• Helps to understand ROI in terms of time and resources used, with metrics for a quantitative post-digital transformation initiative analysis.

For example, when we worked with a leading online retailer to revamp their e-commerce operations, our starting point was a digital maturity assessment where we looked at 6 core dimensions: customer, strategy, technology, operations, people and organization, and data. We identified gaps for each area and provided guidance on system upgrades, data integration, automating reporting capabilities and manual processes, implementing cybersecurity measures, real-time inventory tracking, and prioritizing the customer experience to transform e-commerce.

Be enthusiastic about change

2. What can we do if we encounter a change-averse mindset within our organization?

Change is always challenging, and it’s only human to have misgivings. We’re again emphasizing the need for tech-driven leadership, as these individuals must set the tone for their entire team. Change management has to be a robust process that enables a smooth transition to new technologies and processes. We advise consulting all teams from the start to understand concerns and address them adequately. For example, some team members may fear being replaced by technology. They need assurance that automation largely targets repetitive manual functions, and they will have the capacity to direct their time towards more value-generating tasks. An organization’s leadership should be ready to invest in upskilling and expanding their team to benefit from introducing digital solutions.

Our views are also reflected in a Deloitte report, which says that change management is not a one-size-fits-all approach and organizations have to understand the impact on each team member. Only a people-centric approach will create an organizational culture that’s ready to accept technological transformation and build a foundation for innovation.

Modernize and integrate systems

3. How can we deal with legacy systems and organizational silos?

Any organization will have legacy systems in their infrastructure, remnants of their early digital transformation efforts. Outdated legacy systems need continuous modernization and integration with other systems to align with the organization’s present and future business needs. The business case that you built at the start will help you choose between different vendors for similar platforms through like-for-like analysis of software systems and calculate the ROI of investing in a platform and/or automation. Upgrading infrastructure also means addressing security concerns and adopting measures that protect your operations, data, and digital assets. Sometimes a complete upgrade may not be the right choice for you, especially if you’re working on a tight budget. Then consider building a composable infrastructure that leverages your existing system while introducing reusable components.

You must go beyond merely modernizing legacy systems. Such systems often result in siloed working practices. Digital transformation is a project for the long term and hence requires team collaboration for successful implementations. Here, too, the leadership must champion cross-functional collaboration and discourage siloed working practices.

Govern data for business agility

4. Why are data-related issues and data governance critical in digital transformation?

We know that working practices are not the only things that can exist in silos; lack of data connectivity results in data silos. Your organization must identify any data silos and disconnected data flows at the initial stages of your digital transformation process. Lack of integrated data flows affects your ability to make decisions and respond to market changes quickly. Keeping abreast of your competitors depends on business intelligence, which you can only gain through analyzing the right kind of data.

Collecting the right data and ensuring its accuracy, usability, and security is what we refer to as data governance. Inaccurate, outdated, and inapplicable data makes data governance difficult. By adopting a data governance policy as a core part of your digital transformation efforts, you can ensure that your organization’s data is of high quality, integrated, and can be accessed by the relevant teams. A data governance policy also helps you eliminate data silos. Integrated data flows in your organization become a cornerstone in your decision-making process, giving you that all-important business agility.

Understand resource requirements and allocations

5. We believe our organization doesn’t have the required resources to carry out our digital transformation efforts. How can we proceed?

One of the biggest pitfalls of digital transformation initiatives is underfunding, or the failure to accurately estimate the costs involved in the project. We return to the importance of a detailed business case. At the initial stages of your project, discuss the challenges that your organization faces with allocating the necessary financial and human resources for digital transformation. Set realistic budgets for all the new technologies that will be introduced in the organization and any team upskilling and expansion that you will need to finish your project. Everyone knows that delays will incur even more costs. There’s nothing more disappointing than undertaking an ambitious digital transformation project only to realize that poor resource management has let you down.

Moving forward with digital transformation

Think long term. Digital transformation is a continuous process that needs tech-driven leadership that begins by taking the digital maturity assessment followed by building a business case. A change-averse mindset in an organization is never an ideal prospect, but it has to be handled with a people-centric approach to allow for a smooth transition. On the technology front, legacy systems need modernizing and integration with new systems, with data governance to support decision-making. And finally, never underestimate budget and resource allocations, for without these, you cannot complete your digital transformation initiative.

Get in touch with us to learn more about how we can help you. In the meantime, here’s some background reading on important digital transformation topics such as assessing your organization’s readiness to move to the cloud, getting started with business intelligence and self-service reports, and the benefits of a composable enterprise.

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