“There is no alternative to Digital Transformation. Visionary companies will carve out new strategic options for themselves- those that don’t adapt will fail.”

-Jeff Bezos, Founder and Executive Chairman, Amazon

INTRODUCTION

In the last few years, most organizations have integrated digital technologies into their way of working, reimagining their businesses for the digital age. Pandemic has further added to this movement, forcing the world to go online. This has also probed more companies towards digital transformation.

Digital transformation is a broad term. It can include small and non-disruptive changes; it can mean refining traditional processes by introducing technology that supports them; or having an organization replace its entire technology systems with newer, updated ones. However, despite doing all this, are your efforts not working out? This article talks about the mistakes you might be making; and the measures you can take to overcome them.

Can your Business get hurt while Transitioning?

We all know by now that Digital Transformation is necessary for all businesses to adapt. The ones which are not attempting to do so, will be left behind in the race of success. However, what is interesting to note here, is the fact that a lot of companies are failing and facing a downfall even after implementing Digital Transformation. Most commonly, a failed digital transformation will fall under one of these categories:

• Regression: When businesses believe they are transforming but they are just jumping on board a train they already should have years ago, i.e., it’s too little too late for them now.
• Underperformance: As the name implies, this is when digital transformation is underutilized, and the lack of focus and investment hinders progress.
• New Digital Initiatives: It happens when companies try to launch a new digital product or service, but it fails, and they are forced to discontinue it.

Mistakes you might be making during Digital Transformation

Now that we’ve established that failure can occur despite undergoing Digital Transformation, let’s look at the main reasons that lead to these negative outcomes.

1.    Not having the Correct Mindset

It is stating the obvious that Digital Transformation needs a change in technology;, but more than that, transformation requires a change in mindset. Ultimately, it’s about reinventing the way an organization works and understanding what is at the core of an organization—people. 

People are naturally resistant to change, so making your teams welcome this transition is an essential step towards success.

2.    Failing to Hire the Right Talent

As mentioned above, digital transformation requires people to make it happen. Often, companies believe they can achieve success by utilizing their existing staff, but this is an unrealistic expectation.

Hiring talent with experience in digital transformation is a basic requirement to achieve results. However, this is not an easy task. Even during the pandemic, companies struggle to find people who were available to work in key areas such as artificial intelligence and cyber security.

3.    Implementing New Technology in Broken Systems

Technology is not the cure for all problems in an organization. While the right tools can improve a company’s performance in many ways, they cannot fix underlying problems caused by reasons that technology simply cannot address.

A digital transformation should be part of an integrated strategy with a clear goal and an organization-level change. Technology is simply a tool to accomplish these goals.

4.    Adopting a “Fail-fast” Attitude

“Fail-fast” is a philosophy that values extensive testing and incremental development to determine whether an idea has value. It is an attitude often embraced by companies on a digital transformation journey. While there are reasons to adopt such a mindset, taking it to an extreme level can also prove dangerous. 

As Parry Malm, CEO of Phrasee, put it in an interview: “The problem with this fail-fast attitude is, first, you accept failure. Second, don’t require any of your actions to be really thought through.” To increase their chances of success, companies should reinvest in their initiatives and try to do them bigger and better.

Guidelines to Prevent Digital Transformation Mistakes

benefits, one is closer to implementing it. But before we do that, it is important to keep these guidelines in mind:

1.    Employ Intelligence when Implementing Models

What if instead of “Digital Transformation” you call it “Intelligence Transformation”?

By integrating intelligence into your transformation, you create products, processes, and services that are constantly learning and evolving. 

“The application of advanced analytic capabilities to create continuous learning and adapting processes, products, and assets improves business and operational efficiency, enhances customer value, mitigates compliance and security risk, and uncovers new monetization opportunities.” —Bill Schmarzo, Customer Advocate, Data Management Incubation at Dell Technologies

This intelligence can come from several sources, such as big data, advanced analytics, and intelligent applications.

2.    Stay Detached from Frameworks that Promise all

When discussing digital transformation with consulting firms, most of them will be quick to present you with enticing frameworks that promise stellar results. But digital transformations fail more often than they succeed. That’s why you need to approach the topic with a critical mind.

Digital transformation is often slow to deliver results, so pace yourself. But while the process is slow, progress should exist, and you must measure it to make sure you are on track.

3.    Focus on Delivering Business results

A lack of clear goals is one of the main reasons why digital transformations fail. Before you start the process in your organization, ask yourself which problems you are trying to fix. Adopting a digital transformation just for the sake of it will lead to disorganization and people going into different directions without a purpose. Eventually, the process will fail. As Avi Shua, CEO of Orca Security, puts it, “organizations need to understand what the key areas of focus are and what they are trying to achieve from the business point of view — be it reducing costs, or being more Agile or being more secure.”

CONCLUSION

Digital transformation is imperative for most companies in today’s world. However, it should never be an end in itself.  Rather, it must be the means to an end. Before you start acting on the process of Digital Transformation, you must define the end goal. Which problems are you trying to solve? How can you serve your customers better? How can you improve internal processes in your teams?

With a clear goal in mind, it’s time to start shifting your company culture toward it. Inspire your teams to adopt novelty and improvement and create new business models that serve that purpose.

After implementing the previous steps, think about the technology that will help you achieve everything you have planned. This will be the final layer on top of your digital transformation process. Essential, sure, but it needs a foundation to lay on. 

Digital transformation is not something your organization can afford to miss out on. Cisco’s Digital Vortex Study foresees that “an average of roughly four of today’s top ten incumbents (in terms of market share) in each industry will be displaced by digital disruption in the next five years.” Don’t let that be you.

Understanding the prime importance of digital, KNOLSKAPE has developed the digital transformation program called Digital Transformation Champion. This simulation is designed to help learners discover, explore, and learn how to drive digital transformation initiatives through time-tested models and frameworks. You may click on the button below to request a free trial of any of our Simulations.