Digital transformation: 3 key ingredients to reach your goals

Research shows that 70% of digital transformations fail, mostly due to lack of employee engagement, and poor cross-functional collaboration, among other reasons. Another report by McKinsey shows that DX (digital transformation) is difficult even for digital-savvy industries like media, tech, and telecom.

Therefore, arduous transformations demand a strategy that’s a mix of a variety of ingredients that work hand in hand to achieve and sustain the organizations’ DX goals.

However, building and executing that strategy is easier said than done. DX requires a shift in mindset, approach towards deploying technology, and building a team of people with the right skill sets and passion for transformation.

This article covers 3 key factors that your organization should be mindful of. Consider these as non-negotiable factors to see some concrete results from your DX initiatives and avoid common pitfalls.

1.  Define your “why”

If you’ve ever heard of the concept of The Golden Circle, as preached by Simon Sinek, you’d know how defining your why can be a significant competitive advantage. The idea advises starting with your “why” and then explaining the “how” and “what” to influence the masses and eventually sell your idea. It’s used by some of the world’s most influential people and companies, including Apple.

Your why will help you strategize your DX journey from point A to point B and see some tangible results from your efforts. It’ll tie your entire organization to a shared vision, break silos, and overcome change resistance.

Finally, there should be proper supervision right from the initial stages by considering the internal and external perspectives, customer’s PoV, cybersecurity, potential risk factors, and testing to reduce friction and have a smoother transformation journey.

2.  People-first Approach

DX requires a cultural and behavioral shift; it requires your existing teams to increase collaboration, change the traditional methods of doing things, and take calculated risks.

Transformation is not a one-and-done program; it’s a journey.

So it’s integral that people in senior management are empowered, fully understand the company’s transformation vision, and embrace emerging technology and industry best practices.

It’s often noticed that resistance from employees is the biggest roadblock in transformation, especially when they don’t have the right skill sets.

Hence, effective leadership should focus on:

• Imparting confidence within employees
• Getting buy-ins from their team members
• Introducing training and digital skillsets
• Setting a new landscape for continuous change
• Fostering communication
• Building a culture that supports and fuels change, growth, and innovation

So the key is to have a persuasive communication strategy to have every member of the organization on the same page.

3.  Embrace Tech

By prioritizing digitization, businesses deploy software and applications to enhance their customer experience. This move puts a stack of load on the IT teams to create high-performing, scalable, and secure web applications.

For example, an optical eyewear retail store using a mobile AR application can allow its customers to virtually try out their eyewear products; this kind of company can benefit from using a cloud-native security solution to protect its customers’ data.

But none of the initiatives will be purposeful if it exposes your applications and business to cyber threats, vulnerabilities, and attacks.

A report by Ponemon on Digital Transformation and Cyber Risk shows that:

82% of respondents believe their organization experienced at least one digital transformation born data breach.

So it’s vital to focus on securing your web applications at all levels and take a security-first approach (safeguarding the applications from the initial stage of development rather than putting them off).

Finally, the key is to build the right infrastructure that will support new digital models, avoid technology duplication and empower your business to create a sustainable security ecosystem.

Final takeaway

Digital transformation, when done right, will magnet opportunities to your business — enhanced agility and innovation by eliminating legacy technology, introducing new products or services, and enhancing customer experience across all touchpoints are some examples.

Finally, remember that DX is a long journey that requires working in sync with all the factors mentioned above and proceeding with your people and vision in mind.

About the author: Shibu Paul has 25 years of experience in the field of Digital transformation – IT, IS and telecom. He joined Array in 2009 as country sales head and progressed to leadership positions including Country Manager and Regional Director-APAC. In his current role, he is instrumental in driving the business for Array in the region, and setting up end-to-end operations including a strong channel, robust technical team, and solid support infrastructure for Array customers worldwide.