State-of-the-art and transformative technologies were rapidly entering the workplace across the globe even before the COVID-19 pandemic, enabling organisations of all sizes to innovate and thrive in an increasingly digital world. Then come 2020, and what was supposed to take years suddenly become the talk of the hour.
According to Laura Laberge, McKinsey’s director of capabilities for digital strategy, the adoption of digital transformation by companies sped up by 3-7 years in just a matter of a few months, with companies accelerating efforts because of the fear of being outflanked by competitors.
Digital Transformation Defined
Digital transformation marks a rethink of how a success-driven organisation leverages people, processes, and technology in pursuit of new revenue streams and business models, driven by changes in customer expectations around products and services. In other words, digital transformation is all about reshaping the organisation, modernising the business processes, redefining how employees work together, improving your products and services, and putting your customers as the central focus of everything you do.
For organisations that build traditional goods, this would mean building digital products like an eCommerce platform or mobile applications. In order to achieve digital transformation, these organisations must operate at the cadence of software companies, most of which perform on product-based models.
Today's tech-savvy and informed customers have the power. Internet's transparency and flexibility give them the option to switch to an alternative vendor with just a few clicks. Customers today have big expectations when it comes to speed, clarity, transparency, accountability, proactiveness, and quality. The pressure on organisations to provide a good customer experience is higher than ever today as a single bad experience or mistake can be quickly communicated to the public via review websites or social media.
Digital Transformation Strategy
For the past several years, organisations across the world have embarked on digital transformation journeys to counter the potential for disruption from startups and incumbents, but things were still somehow on the slower side until the pandemic. Retailers such as Bed Bath & Beyond and Walmart switched to curbside delivery and a range of other contactless options to safely deliver their goods. On the other hand, strategic IT roadmaps were redefined by IT leaders, with a majority of them opting for cloud software for video collaboration. Most IT leaders implemented machine learning (ML) software to manage how products wend through supply chains.
Digital Transformation Pitfalls
Digital transformation journeys are still failing or lagging for countless reasons, including but not limited to disconnects between IT and the business, poor leadership, substandard operations, and lagging employee engagement. However, the biggest culprits of derailed digital transformation journeys have been the failure to loop in the business, focus on cost-cutting as a business driver, and an obsession with big bang change.
Discover how your organisation can avoid these common digital transformation pitfalls. Call us at C.I.G Consultants now to drive digital business transformation, better work practices, and cost savings.
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