What are you trying to achieve through digital transformation?
The challenge is to look at the current business and think through how a new entrant, starting today, would construct a competing business – without a digital transformation, per se? The new entrant will not have the market presence, the customer base, the team, the systems and processes developed, modified, integrated over a number of years. The the new entrant may not choose to compete on the same basis.
Opportunities for new entrant
Where will new entrant prosper? Focusing on particular sectors, different supply chain, different business model, less capital investment, scalability, flexibility, different workforce structure, leveraging new and/or emerging technologies, pricing?
Why transform digitally?
If we can see real advantage for a new entrant – through leveraging digital solutions – then we probably cannot afford to ignore this. If the digital solutions will enable delivery of better services or products, more aligned with customer needs, at a discount to out cost base, then we have little choice but to transform. Otherwise we are relying on costs of entry etc. to preclude the new entrant taking our business.
What have I in mind when thinking digital transformation?
I need to imagine building my current business in today’s market place – leveraging changes in the market, in customer needs and the opportunities presented by current technology. The actual transformation bit is the important bit (if it is required) – the digital piece drives the change (ie the requirement to change) or enables the change.
Should we still be talking about digital transformation?
Probably not. I tend to think moving from paper to digital is less digital transformation than simply catching up. Writing things down on paper ad trying to share information thereafter belongs to another era. Digital capture and digital processing should be a given by now. The opportunities for transformation leverage the data being in a digital format. Many of these opportunities do not arise if paper based e.g predictive analytics, artificial intelligence, Extended Reality.
Conclusion – why digital transformation?
Being digital is a requirement – should be a given. Capture once, store, analyse, safeguard, whatever, stop wasting people’s time – empower customers and employees. If digital is a given then we need to talk about the opportunities presented through the new technologies and leveraging them differently. It’s the age old challenge of continuing to reinvent onself, seeking sustainable competitive advantage. Digital is just part of the environment and ‘digital transformation’ probably does not need to be called out as a separate or identifiable activity. Unfortunately, for now, we have many businesses who have not yet digitised – for them the challenge os one of staying relevant in a digital, data agile, world.
