As your company deploys digital technologies, you begin to change the way you work and operate. These changes should be part of a strategy for your smart digital enterprise and need alignment with your vision of future operations, processes, delivery, and services.
Digital Transformation requires courage to innovate and think differently, transitioning ownership of strategy and decisions from an internal service function to the leadership team, including operations, marketing, sales, and product management.
A great article outlining the main attributes of digital transformation is The Nine Elements of Digital Transformation. You can also listen to George Westerman talking about this article in a webinar on the Harvard Business Review page.
In the following table, Microsoft’s J.D. Meier has summarised the nine elements:
Transforming Customer Experience
- Customer Understanding
- Top-Line Growth
- Customer Touch Points
Transforming Operational Processes
- Process Digitisation
- Worker Enablement
- Performance Management
Transforming Business Models
- Digitally Modified Businesses
- New Digital Businesses
- Digital Globalisation
Why is digital transformation so important?
Expectations your customers have towards products and services they consume are changing. They expect mass customisation, products that meet their expectations and taste. Ownership is not necessarily a requirement, and service models for products traditionally owned, such as bikes and cars become normal. Customers require traceability to verify product safety or the environmental footprint; they expect convenient post-sales services and seamless interactions with your business across all channels.
Digital Transformation requires the courage to innovate
Radically Improve your performance and reach
Successful companies implemented continuous feedback into their product lifecycle, drive their decisions based on customer demand. They make visionary decisions, deploying technology to stay ahead of their competition and accelerate their velocity and time to market.
