Digital transformation is probably the most trending buzzword across multiple industry sectors and domains. For enterprises to survive and grow in this era, digitisation is envisioned to be a key enabler that will transform the way businesses are run in this dynamic global environment.
We’ve probably exceeded more than five years after digital transformation became official and a mainstream topic spoken and discussed widely. There have been stories of both success and failures, the latter mostly being higher. I don’t think digital transformation as a concept or the tools we have used have failed, we have failed ourselves in not being clear on business cases and expectations after deploying or adapting any form of digital transformation.
I have been part of the digital transformation journey for the past ten years and would like to share my thoughts on the approach and the process behind a successful digital transformation of an enterprise
The most common misunderstanding in deploying digital transformation initiatives is the approach of adapting AI/ML or data analytics in one form or the other. Here, the tool is given more importance than the actual transformation. The second most underplayed component in digital transformation is the change management required for successful adaption of transformation to the digital world.
The Digital Transformation Journey
Digital Transformation is a journey and not a one-off project, this is one of the most important aspects the project sponsors and the stakeholders should have a very clear understanding of.
As the first step in this journey, one should identify a business case within an organization that will be the ideal candidate for transformation. The most common question asked is how one identifies the right business case, here are a few thoughts, and it can be either one of them or a combination of more than one.
- Repeated steps in a process that can be digitised
- Complicated algorithms to process the data intelligently
- Analyze data and propose the future with minimum errors, which otherwise is humanly impossible
- Capture real-time data from machines and process the information
- Digitisation of manual records onto a technology platform
- Intelligent data processing that helps in managing a process more efficiently
- Automating a process that helps in efficient processing
- Having a single technology platform on which business is carried out in real-time with customers, vendors and other partners.
Change management is one of the keys to success in the digital transformation journey. Once DT is implemented it changes the way business is done and at times learning /unlearning at the process owner level. At the start of the journey, all the stakeholders involved need to be educated and be prepared for the changes which can be expected as an outcome of this part of this journey. If digital transformation is being extended to the partners they also need to be educated on the upcoming changes.
The absence of proper change management has been one of the biggest deterrent factors in digital transformation projects
Expectations from digital transformation
Each industry sector has its own requirement of transformation before one embarks on this journey. A clear expectation has to be set on the benefits expected out of the transformation project.
At a high level, the key expectation should be that “digital transformation should either result in the increase of revenue or a saving along with providing the best of the buying experience to the customers”
Common expectations customers have from digital transformation:
- Enhance customer buying experience, this would help in retaining customers.
- Capture data from machines that can be processed and help to manage, control, and report.
- Process automation that can bridge the gaps between broken processes. This would enable end to end visibility of the process and one can take proactive corrections.
- Repetitive jobs which can be programmed to run without or minimal human interventions
- Processes which computers can self-learn and perform certain tasks.
Conclusion
Digital transformation is the way forward for all enterprises irrespective of whether they are big are small. Technology has evolved to the next level with very few limitations. The key to success is to identify the business case first and the tool next and not the tool first and look for a business case for the tool.
Retraining and upskilling of business teams along with change management play a key role in the success of any digital transformation project.
Written by – Pramod Bangalore
Pramod is an expert in the supply chain industry for more than 25 years and running. With the advent of digital transformation, he has been designing business solutions by leveraging the latest technologies.