Four questions you need to ask yourself to drive Digital Transformation momentum

Digital Transformation is all the hype today and companies are jumping on the DT train and getting tangled in definitions, strategies, implementations and very difficult initiatives. Despite the huge effort, statistics show that less than 27% of companies are succeeding in their DT efforts.

Here are four questions you need to answer to help you succeed in your Digital Transformation journey and move you out of the 27%.

1. Do you understand the end goal for your organization?

If you find your goal is constantly changing throughout your organization’s Digital Transformation journey, then you may have fallen into the trap of following the strategy of others instead of focusing on what works for you.

It is common practice for IT leaders to look to the success of others to build their implementation strategies but, with today’s fast changing business environments, this could be a mistake. Focusing on the success of others means you may miss some major foundational details and it can be too late to change them once you note them.

Begin by understanding what Digital transformation means for your organization and work your way from there. Ask yourself what is the most important driver for your organization. Is it customer experience? How about operational efficiency? Once you’ve answered that question, then you are ready to work towards your goal.

2. How solid is your foundation?

With a solid foundation, you are able to launch, accelerate and scale up. Small pilot projects that don’t have the right foundation to transform into something larger down the line are doomed to failure.

Begin at the beginning. Don’t rush into acquiring different bits of technology that end up not working well together and leave you with a disjointed system. This alone is a major reason why so many organizations find themselves stuck on their Digital Transformation journey and become incapable of scaling up and end up with several silos, systems that operate in isolation of each other.

3. Are your silos dragging your Digital transformation efforts?

Imagine placing so much effort and investment into your transformation only to find yourself with a handful of silos where functions, departments, and systems are not Moving from strategy to operations, silos are the biggest impediments in the digital transformation journey. Silos happen when functions, departments, and systems are not equipped to integrate with each other. This usually happens due to a weak foundation - see question 2 above.

With a lacking foundation, and with more and more modern technologies being built upon it, you end up with cracks in towers which makes it more difficult for your IT teams to implement and maintain and you will find yourself drowning in technical debt.

Begin at the beginning. Have a well-defined blue print in place with the best use cases which can enable a holistic digital transformation for you long term.

4. Do you have the right technology to launch your digital transformation journey?

While we all agree that the best time to make those major tech infrastructure decisions is right at the beginning, it is never too late to identify the right approach which will help you leverage the existing while you acquire the new.

Start with a platform-based approach to help you consider all the major factors: understanding the end-to-end customer journey for your goals, avoiding the silos, and working towards your holistic transformation. A technology platform is essential to bridge silos, whether they exist in processes, functions, systems, or people.

If you would like help on your Digital transformation journey, we have the experts to support.