Maximising Digital Transformation for 2020
So, you’ve invested time, resource and money to work out the route that’s going to drive your business forward; embracing and capitalising on digital innovation; transforming you into a more robust, sustainable business with greater competitive advantage in your market place, and greater performance to showcase to your stakeholders. Great!
Marjolo have a question for you… “How’s that going for you?”….
Why do we ask? Because there is a disproportionate, you could say ‘trending’, amount of businesses, that have spent time, resource & energy on route discovery, planning and the determining the potential (or desired!) outcome of digital transformation, but then nothing actually happens.
The plans start to stagnate. The project gets lost under more urgent projects, and eventually becomes just something the business spent time ‘looking in to’.
But why does this happen?
Because all too often, the people are forgotten. Sometimes it can be due to a lack of early ‘on boarding’ of relevant personnel, maybe a reluctance to culturally shift or change, or a lack of resource and the capability to carry out the plans.
If you find your business in exactly that predicament, we ask you on a scale from 1 - 5 (where 1 being the project has totally stalled to 5 being ‘we’re on fire & already seeing results”), where is your business in terms of transformation and innovation? Hand on heart, all pretence aside?
To help you assess where your business is in the all-important execution of your transformation plans, here are Marjolo’s key tips to help 2020 deliver the digital success you were originally promised.
1. Alignment - is your digital transformation route absolutely aligned to the business’ goals, vision and performance criteria?
If the answer is anywhere between ‘ummm…’ and ‘no’, then, in all honesty, you need to go back to the drawing board.
There is little point in spending more time & energy on a plan that’s not going to take you to the objectives your customers, your people and your stakeholders want to see. A route not in alignment to the business is purely a distraction. Start over. Align the innovation opportunities with the business vision and recreate the business’ roadmap to success.
2. Realism - is the digital transformation route identified realistic?
This definitely needs to stretch the business, as should the vision & goals, but if it’s totally unattainable you’ll find you are left with disillusionment, non-performance and a reluctance from your people to change. Ensuring the vision and route push the business to create success that is impactful and sustainable is much more likely to happen.
3. Culture - are your people involved and ‘bought-in’ to the transformation route during its formulation?
To achieve transformation and innovation success, It is vital to ensure your people, the most critical elements of your business, and the business culture they work in are prepared, understanding of what is involved and what outcome digital transformation will deliver. By being conscious of the impact on the business culture and personnel involved in the discovery stages, your employees will recognise their importance & feel appreciated, resulting in their support of the project, understanding of the objectives and the importance of the resulting success thereby ensuring execution for the right outcome for you & the business stakeholders.
4. Business Maturity & Capability - were additional capability requirements assessed during the digital transformation planning phase?
In terms of technical capability, people resource, the processes followed and the data used; if assessments are made as to what is required to meet the business objectives during the planning process, then realistic provision can be made, investment and Capex requirements prepared as well as involvement of people for the journey ahead, taking the pressure off last minute project ‘stops’, investment surprises and discord amongst management.
5. Innovation - have all digital innovation opportunities been truly explored alongside industry expertise and state-of-the-art business practice to give your business the best-fit route to digital transformation?
Digital transformation is not a one-size-fits-all-business. To take a digital transformation plan from one client journey and overlay it on to another business will not bring maximised positive results, impact or success. It is vital that every idea is considered or expanded on to make a real difference & bring true value to the business in terms of suitability, achievability and competitive advantage, giving a highly tailored opportunity solution for your business.
6. Financial Requirements Up Front - is there full clarity on the costs involved in execution?
No-one likes surprises. By starting small and delivering results quickly, momentum can be gained. This allows confidence to be increased, gaining greater clarity of the cost of the digital transformation journey for your business, everyone can be prepared and expectations managed. Capex can be signed off in manageable pieces along the journey to avoid any start delay, and financial milestones versus delivery can be assessed to ensure they are met or highlight any potential adjustments.
7. Maintaining Service Delivery - do you know how your new solutions will perform with your current digital infrastructure?
One of the most important elements for a successful delivery of a digital transformation roadmap is to maintain service continuity to each and every customer. This means no ‘mis-communication’ between digital solutions, no disruption in service levels and a seamless interchange and implementation of the digital transformation roadmap to the outside world. By sprint testing the digital opportunities and solutions identified during the discovery phase, clearly inter-linked to the current business digital infrastructure, management and personnel can be reassured that as a new culture of continuous implementation begins, the most important element, service to your customers, is never disrupted and only the improvements are seen.
8. Resource Flexibility - how does a business increase & decrease its capabilities just for digital transformation implementation?
Few businesses has people they can turn on & off depending on the requirements of projects being implemented. By working with an ecosystem of partners that offer flexible resource, working alongside your own people to support & impart knowledge, the result is not only growth in your business’ talent base but also allows you to ‘switch off’ the additional resource requirements once your business is comfortable being back in full control.
9. Experience - do we know it’s going to give us the result we want?
Engaging with cross-industry experienced opportunity providers with technical expertise can often widen digital technology innovation opportunities identified to move your business forward. Industry specialists within that team will always give that additional advantage to compound the resulting transformation route. Add to that collaborative partners with like-minded values and an implementation success portfolio and you’re definitely on to a winner.
10. Review & Measures - can the business recognise ongoing success?
Any business that employs a process to review, measure & assess performance against set goals and objectives will build on their success. A robust method to measure the digital transformation opportunities your business decides to adopt will require regular review timescales, distinct measurable values (versus aligned goals) and continuous monitoring, resulting in validation for stakeholders and investors alike that the digital transformation journey deployed is the right journey for your business’ maximum success.
Can you identify with these points? Does your business already have them covered? If so, that’s great! You’re on the right tracks to maximising digital transformation for 2020.
However, if you see a few grey areas, perhaps some elements that haven’t yet been addressed or aren’t sure who can help you delivery on these points, we can help.
We are Marjolo, let’s talk…
Marjolo works to support businesses in navigating industry and economic challenges by aligning business capabilities & culture with digital technology innovation, creating and delivering success blueprints resulting in real savings & benefits to meet organisational aspirations.
We are always happy to chat around how we might be able to support your business.
Drop us a line at letstalk@marjolo.co.uk or call us on 0844 88 44 705.