The 5 Essential Elements Of A Digital Transformation

 By definition, a “transformation” is the process of a complete change, not an incremental modification.

This means technology upgrades/add-ons, technology migrations, process improvements, and even re-orgs aren’t “transformative.” To be truly successful, you need to completely reinvent yourself inside and out. The right people, processes, and technologies all need to be in place and work together to ensure key decisions and actions are strongly influenced by the right data at the right time.

Harvard Business Review developed this great graphic to highlight the journey to becoming a data-centric organization:

𝟏. 𝐏𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 – Humans are at the start, and inevitably at the end of this journey. So, we need to start with the people. If Digital Transformation is successful, everyone’s job changes within the company, and as a result, even the way our customers and partners interact with us changes too. Is everyone ready?

𝟐. 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐚 – This is where technologies play the biggest role. Collect, aggregate, and analyze data at a massive scale that allows you to change the way you look at all of your companies' current strategies (e.g. business, marketing, sales, customer service, operations, IT, engineering, supply chain, etc.).

𝟑. 𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 – Make use of all the data from step 2 to have a better grasp of what is happening. Now is your chance to identify new correlations to key outcomes (Both good and bad), make better predictions on what is about to happen, and guide you toward new areas you should be looking or paying attention to.

𝟒. 𝐀𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 – There is no point in getting insights if you don’t do anything with them. Have the right processes and culture in place to allow the insights to drive action, ideally in real-time.

𝟓. 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐬 – Successful Digital Transformation requires constant evaluation and modification. If things are working, changes are being made all the time. Make sure they continue to support the goals of the company.

For more information:
https://hbr.org/2021/11/the-essential-components-of-digital-transformation

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