Digital Transformation … Simplified
We face two choices: “Innovate or Perish”
Talal Abu-Ghazaleh
As the business world grows larger and more complex digitally, internal organizational demands can become overwhelmingly dependent and technologically demanding. In addition, customer expectations are shifting towards agility and a new level of personalized services and solutions that demand superior quality, efficiency, and collaboration. Products & services therefore must keep pace with the digital innovations happening inside and outside the organization; it is really a do-or-die scenario.
Digital transformations is a natural progression for the business, one that is more suited to the needs of the digitally-connected world. However, it is important to keep in mind that digital transformation is not a single change or project, but rather a journey that must begin at the top.
In order to formulate a clear understanding of digital transformation, perhaps it is easier to define what digital transformation is NOT. Digital transformation is not only about creating a ‘change’. While ‘change’ is certainly required to reform any organization, it is not adequate to transform its people, and capabilities, or add new values to customers. In recent years, too many organizations ventured into ‘digital transformation’ journeys through siloed digital initiatives that were intended to create a change, however, these journeys were not holistically designed to be strategically or operationally transformational. And the results were mediocre at best. Moreover, digital transformation is not just about commissioning new digital technologies across the organization without understanding how such technologies can transform processes or the customer experience. Finally, tackling digital transformation reactively with a technology-first approach has proved a failure in many organizations.
The transformation shall begin with awareness and capacity-building programs. Second, collaborative teamwork must be phased into the culture of the organization. Of course, employee trust and empowerment are the foundation upon which teamwork can only succeed. In the end, all of these will eventually influence a culture change capable of embracing and adopting the new paradigm of digital processes and technologies. Then & only then will a new value be created.
More often than not, organizations undergoing digital transformation face many uncertainties and challenges. Each can be unique in its complexity, risk, and severity. To mitigate these and streamline the experience via an optimal approach, a structured approach needs to be put in place. This is what is referred to in the industry as a digital transformation framework. With such a framework, a target metric is defined. Business leaders will be able to monitor, assess, and re-design certain components to accelerate adoption with minimal resistance and increased efficiency. The framework typically also encompasses other metrics such as a business growth metric, an agility metric, and an engagement metric, all of which are designed to provide greater visibility into the implementation processes of digital transformation against the greater organizational objectives.
From a pure technology perspective, it is important to keep in mind that the digital transformation journey must begin with the ‘digitization’ or ‘digital enablement’ phase. This phase is about “datafying” human behavior by taking it from the analog world into the digital realm of bits and bytes. And once the digital data is generated, it can then be shared and processed across the organization via digital systems and solutions. This process is known as ‘digitalization’. Finally, end-to-end integration of multiple services and channels is what will constitute the technology building blocks of the digital transformation journey.
TAG Digital Transformation (TAG-DT), a member of TAG.Global (www.tag. global) organization offers unparalleled digital transformation solutions, education, and consulting services. Building on TAG.Global’s five decades of expertise in providing professional services and solutions with an international network that spreads across more than 110 offices worldwide, TAG-DT brings together the combined expertise of global professionals that have advised governments and private sector organizations for decades.
“We can never be certain about the future and therefore we must continue to be flexible and adaptable so that we can react quickly to the needs of our clients and our market place.”
– Talal Abu-Ghazaleh