9 Things You Should Know About Digital Transformation

Whether you are part of a mature business, a government organisation, an NGO, or a SME, chances are your organisations have talked about digital transformation or have started varying degrees of digital initiatives.

Here are 9 things about digital transformation you should think about:

(Note: if you are unsure what is digital transformation, go to Appendix of this article)

1) If you are still thinking if your company should look into digital transformation, chances are you are already lagging behind.

When we lag behind others, it might not be noticeable at the start.

In fact, when our competitors are moving at a faster pace than ours, we might still think we are at a comfortable position especially if we are still ahead.

But when the competitor overtakes us, it’s already way too late for us to play the catch up game. Think BlackBerry who were the clear leader for years, or Sears 10–15 years ago while Amazon was lurking behind.

That being said, not all is lost; being aware is a necessary start.

2) You will face resistance.

Change can be scary. It is human nature to fear the unknown, to cling onto status quo.

The more mature your organisation is, the more legacy processes and ways of thinking that need to change.

The bigger your company is, the more inertia and resistance coming from within.

Get direct mandate from CEO and gather buy-in from the management. Every key stakeholder must be on board, even if you are the sole driver of the cause.

The drive and impetus for Transformation comes from the top, but ideas and execution need to be ground-up — so gather champions from different departments, and get them invested in the change.

3) Chief Digital Officer / Digital Office

If your organisation is big, you need to get a dedicated Chief Digital Officer (and Digital Office) if you are serious about digital transformation.

Digital transformation is not just an initiative / KPI item that you assign to your IT director / tech department. It requires dedicated team and significant investment. Find out more about what a CDO does.

4) Build not just for the present, but for the (near) future.

For example, if you are a retailer, you need to start thinking about how to engage and attract not just the millennials, but also Generation Z — the first generation that grows up truly digital, with no online-offline distinction in their daily lives.

Air France, for instance, has recently introduced ChatBot for customers to book air tickets and get answers to their queries. While web/mobile app currently serves the Gen X and Gen Y well, we can imagine in 5 to 10 years time ChatBot will be the dominant interface/experience for Gen Z who grows up expecting instant deliveries.

Side note: We help businesses implement ChatBot. Come talk to us.

5) Not every new technology suits your business need.

Don’t hop on every bandwagon and buzz word: Machine Learning, A.I., Blockchain, Internet of Things, Big Data.

Understand them, but adopt only technologies that are applicable to you.

E.g. if your business does not need a network or decentralised database, don’t invest in Blockchain (disclaimer: the author oversees Blockchain Consulting at 2359. Come have a chat.)

Similarly, if you have 10,000 registered users but only 50 paying customers, go figure out how to improve your conversion with basic Analytics or offer better value proposition and customer experience. Don’t go all Big Data on it.

6) Technology alone is not the cure-all if your processes are still obsolete.

Don’t just just build cool apps or websites — these alone won’t work if your current business offerings and processes (customer experience, operational/sales processes) need revamping.

Of course, digitalisation is a great impetus to bring about necessary process changes. But if your sales process still requires paperwork and approval from 6 different departments, merely slapping on a spanking new app or website will not make the sales process much more efficient.

If your team does not practice good warehouse operation flow, investing half a million on a new Warehouse Management System will not magically improve your Customer Order Cycle Time.

7) Plan big, but start small.

Changes take time.

A comprehensive Digital Transformation Roadmap usually involves 3–10 years of plan, executed in multiple phases.

While your organisation might not need a detailed quarter-by-quarter 10 years plan, you need to set the vision and general direction for digital transformation to take root and blossom in your company over time.

It might be daunting (and nearly impossible) for a company to undergo digital transformation with 20,000 employees and 100 different departments/sub-departments.

But you can start small — start with lower-hanging fruits; start with high-visibility yet easy-to-implement projects. Get quick wins. And start the ripple of change, transforming 1 department and revamping 1 process at a time.

8) Test, iterate, and pivot often.

Form hypothesis, test, run experiments, get real-world user feedback, and iterate.

If you have a new internal HR portal, pilot it with 1–2 departments and iron out the kinks before rolling out to the entire company.

Be comfortable with “failures”. Be disciplined with experiments — e.g. if none of your customers wants to interact with the Robots you invested in despite numerous tweaks/iterations, perhaps you should KIV the idea of having Robots serve food in your restaurant chain.

These experiments will be messy — but it will save your company $$ if you always test and iterate before committing your war chest on it.

9) Get good help.

Get technology partner and consultant who can grow with you — ideally partners who are agile, and not more dinosaur than your organisation.

Empower consultants who understand and care about your business and product, who brainstorm with you, who helps you navigate internal politics and be evangelist. Don’t get those who merely build what you ask without question.

Even if your organisation has in-house tech and development muscle, it might be a good idea to get extra help to augment your team. These external consultants can help cover your blind spots, bring fresh impetus and energy, and not to mention, lend their technology expertise and understanding of best practices and trends on the market.

E.g. a good technology consultant would have advised you against investing in developing WindowsOS or SymbianOS Mobile App 5 years ago. A good partner would also have recommended you to move towards cloud server instead of on-premise hosting 3 years ago as cloud computing technology matures and cost becomes more competitive.

Lastly, merely changing or hiring new vendor or consultant won’t solve the problem, if your organisation is not willing to transform.

At 2359 Media, clients like to work with us because we solve problem. They use us as an opportunity to bring about change, to revamp their decades-old processes and ways of doing things.

That’s why we work best with clients who are on a mission.

We are not here just to build pretty apps and websites for you to collect dust on App Store.

We are here to be a catalyst of change and innovation, to bring your organization to the next step.

If you are on a mission to transform your organization, come talk to us. Find out more about the successful work we have helped with our client partners in digital transformation — from financial institutions, to telcos, to retailers, to logistics companies.

Appendix

What is Digital Transformation?

Digital transformation framework Capgemini and MIT 2013

Digitalization means the use of digital technologies and of data (digitized and natively digital) in order to create revenue, improve business, replace/transform business processes (not simply digitizing them) and create an environment for digital business, whereby digital information is at the core

According to research by MIT Sloan Management, there are 3 pillars and 9 building blocks to Digital Transformation (Characterisation by Sandeep Raut):

Transform Customer Experience:

• Improve Customer Understanding with Analytics — customer behavior, segmentation
• Enhance Top-Line Growth with digital products like smart Phone, iPads, real time predictive marketing
• Digitized Customer Touch Points — Social media to answer complaints, self service via Apps, increased multi-channel usage

Transform Operational Processes:

• Process Digitization with automation, adding new features
• Staff Enablement with virtualization of work space working anytime, anywhere
• Performance Management decision making based on data with deeper insights into Customers, Products, Regions

Transform Business Models:

• Digitally Modified Businesses — augment physical with digital offerings, share contents across organization
• Introduce New Digital Businesses — Nike introduced fuel bands
• Digital Globalization — use of Global shared services to promote efficiency, from multinational to global presence