How companies are successful at Digital Transformation

The 12 key areas you need to get right for a successful digital transformation project.

Transforming digitally is a complex process for companies to accomplish. They must look at how the digital age is impacting their business process and will have to make difficult decisions. The longer a company has been in operation the harder it can be to make the changes required. Newer companies can find the process of digital transformation a less daunting task as they have been created in a digital environment. They can be more attuned to the various factors that are affecting the modern business landscape. Many companies will be somewhere in the middle between these two outlying examples and have various parts of their business already digital but other parts that need more work. If you’re currently considering embarking on the digital transformation process, or if the process is already underway in your company, consider these 12 points to help make the digital transformation process a success.

1. Leadership

Going forward companies must make active decisions to stimulate cultural changes throughout their enterprise so they can better respond in this digital age. Departments must work together to create synergies that smooth the workflow process rather than hindering them. It can cause friction if only one department chooses to forge ahead but other parts of the company don’t. This disparity can negate the advance made and result in a one step forward, two steps back situation.

2. Pathfinders

While companies might find vocal proponents of change they have to get their entire leadership on board. This change in leadership mindset should move from just recognizing the digital landscape to actively managing and more fully preparing for it. The trend towards digitalization has been ongoing for at least a decade or more and will only continue to accelerate. It can be normal for business leaders to accept this reality but maybe not entirely know what to do about it. This is a chance for more digitally adept individuals to make the case for what concrete steps can be done to improve the businesses performance. Unfortunately, there is not only one thing that must be done to flip the switch to complete a digital transformation.

3. Digital Culture

A cultural shift in a hesitant company has to occur with all stakeholders involved recognising the value in the transformation. Other company types will be born digital and possibly not even recognise previous non-digital business models. These companies will instead be looking for getting the most out of their digitalisation processes rather than questioning its intrinsic value. Leadership in these companies can then light the way for what is possible. Larger companies will have to begin to look at their business in a different way to develop a more nimble attitude to shifting digital forces.

4. Budget Allocation

Some companies approach the digital transformation process by just deciding to increase technological budgets without a clear goal in mind. This can lead to poor results and produce a belief that the digital transformation isn’t as efficient as predicted. This relates to the above-mentioned lack of mental change at all company levels. Transforming is more than a matter of putting something into digital format but more of a strategic direction. The company that embraces this ethos will view the process as a long-term evolution with no end point. The journey will require continually assessing opportunities as new technologies disrupt their sector. Larger budgetary resources can possibly cause complacency but on the other hand, they can be a way to recognise and absorb these technologies into the ecosystem. Much of the ability to make the correct decision will be based upon how the leadership views their company’s future and what they plan to do to stay ahead of the field.

5. Process

Shifting their mindset, companies can begin to view their business through the lens of process innovation. The product is important but how they can tweak the process to create this will produce new efficiencies. This type of thinking can be of greater benefit to a digitally transformed company as they move forward. With technologically enhanced processes they can start to introduce slight variations in their product offering and get detailed customer feedback at an accelerated pace. This continual effort at introducing new changes can be analysed to see what is sticking in the market and what should be discarded quickly. Using the data they accumulate can give companies a chance to not only discard a new product variation but search for opportunities to pivot the offering into a previously unrecognised consumer or business market.

6. Analysis

The skill will be in teasing out the nuggets of valuable information in the massive flow of data they will be receiving digitally. This tea reading process will need to be addressed and finding individuals that can accomplish the analysis efficiently will be necessary. There won’t be a lack of data instead a new problem can arise in how to read all the data and identify revenue enhancing trends.

7. Personalised Marketing

Achieving the ability to gather the available data is the initial step. With this data the company can more adeptly connect with the customer more than ever before. The digital landscape can allow a company to become local on a global scale. This dispersion of a monolithic customer type into many different individuals can be intimidating at first. Moving forward in the marketing sector will be required to allow the company to speak at a granular level with their consumers. Tailoring specific marketing messages will be a complex undertaking but can become a valuable profit centre by more efficiently creating repeat business.

8. Mobile Strategy

Reaching customers where they live will require the company to develop a mobile strategy. The way people access information has shifted to the mobile experience with the number of smartphone users overtaking other information devices. A mobile strategy will more effectively dovetail with new strategies in social media. Having the companies information in front a consumer as they walk by a local address is becoming increasingly accessible to a wide variety of companies. Care must be taken not abuse this communication channel and much thought must be put into how to talk to your customer.

9. Cloud Data

This shift in personalised marketing is occurring in both the business to consumer and business to business sectors. The communication channels can be different but the central idea of a having customer being able to find what they are looking for quickly is the same. Developing a strategy that can organise the process of cloud offerings can impress the customer and create goodwill for the company. Industrial customers can expect to have their data on specific machines readily available no matter where they are located. This type of cloud data lets backend providers give their customers more insight into what is happening in real time. This data will allow the customer to more efficiently use their resources to get their specific job done. They can investigate productivity levels in real time and plan farther ahead.

10. Internet of Things

Much of the data produced for the cloud in business and consumer markets will be enabled with the continuous trend of the internet of things. As each component begins to have a unique identifier precise levels can be recorded and extrapolated over the long term. This will allow both markets to make personalised decisions on how to operate and control their devices. Companies that want to have a competitive advantage should take the lead in their field by offering these enabled options. By visualising the performance of individual components or devices, consumers can make more informed decisions.

11. User Interface

Developing streamlined and simple user interfaces will make them more approachable by customers. In this digital world, it is no longer a good option to have a technical feel to most software programs. Due to technological developments, they have begun to expect that accessing seemingly complex programs should be a relatively simple process with intuitive controls. Companies should review their offering as they move forward in their digital transformation to ensure this is the case.

12. Simplify

If two competitors offer a relatively similar product or service the consumer most likely will choose the one that they can imagine using more frequently. This means the choice that seems easy to use and even interesting. Offering options for the business customer to view their data in a unique and engaging way can increase user acceptance. It can be difficult for companies because they might have to edit out features that they have the ability to offer but have been shown to not be used by their customer. A company might shift these more technical aspects to an expert mode and have a simpler display as the default. This concept comes back to offering the user choices rather than throwing everything that can be done with them. Rather, if they use the simpler version and find it engaging they more likely will be open to other more complex version down the road. To decide what is the perfect user experience will require some to use focus groups while others might trust their intuition and evaluate market success.

Completing a digital transformation is an ongoing process. It is the acceptance that the digital landscape will continue to evolve and the company must always be looking for ways to adapt. This ability to adapt, hopefully, will cause them to expand. The transformation is an interlinked process with one change having a ripple effect. Companies that find them self-succeeding at one area can partner or develop working relationships with others where they are weaker. No one company can be perfect at everything instead they can view it as a progression. Reviewing the concepts discussed above one can get a general idea of the challenges and how to succeed at the digital transformation.

Diana Beyer is experienced and self-driven media expert who is passionate about writing. Her purpose is to share values amid those interested. She is always seeking to discover new ways for personal and professional growth. Connect with Diana though Twitter.