Summary: Digital Transformation is the integration of digital technology in core areas of business. It is the process of changing existing business models with new digital technologies aimed at enhancing business efficiency, venture into new markets and products and reduce costs. Businesses can use digital transformation to expand into new markets, offer new products, and appeal to new customers. Arti Jain explains the process of embracing digital transformation for your business.

‘Digital Transformation’ is a new buzzword, and there are a lot of strategies published on how a firm can embrace this phenomenon. But for a small business owner this concept can be mystifying.

Most organisations are interested in digital transformation initiatives and are considering experimenting with the concept. Here are some key pointers that will help make the transformation journey seamless and effective, while helping execute the initiative in a realistic and practical way.

1.   Align business strategy with digital strategy

Digital technologies should not drive the business strategy.  Instead, business strategy and digital strategy should be interlinked in such a way that digital technologies become an integral part of the business operations. The technological innovations should be such that they enhance the ‘economic value’ of the organisation.

2.   Business has to be customer-centric and not product-centric

This entails a shift in business approach, giving seamless and consistent experience to a customer – to find what he/she needs in a fast and easy way, thereby increasing and fulfilling customer expectations. Business owners must ensure that their digital transformation strategy is aligned with the ‘customer-first’ approach.

3.    Design a realistic roadmap for digital transformation

The roadmap must be realistic. It should consider the existing scenario in an organisation (mainly with respect to technologies available, the extent of data digitisation happening and ‘as is’ processes). And then plan for digital transformation initiatives to achieve the business goals, thereby closing the gap between the ‘now’ and the ‘future’ of an organisation.

The focus should be on rolling out the digital transformation activities steadily, i.e. first initiate activities for one business unit and then scale to others one-by-one, keeping in mind the budgetary constraints. Thorough testing of the hypothesis is crucial at this stage, as there is high investment and a great deal of uncertainty.

4.   Create a strong digital culture

If an organisation is aiming towards breakthrough performance using any kind of digital transformation initiative, technology alone cannot be the game changer; it would need the active involvement of all the internal stakeholders. The CEO and senior leaders must create a strong digital culture to attract better talent, avoid resistance from employees and engage in faster deployment of all digital transformation initiatives.

5.   Build a commitment to change

Every transformation journey results in change management. Hence it is crucial that internal stakeholders drive the challenge of end-to-end digital transformation, with a sense of purpose and ownership, and accept it as an ongoing journey. Effective change management is essential and must involve the CEO and senior leaders in an organisation.

6.    Alliance with appropriate digital transformation partners

Business and digital strategy is unique for each and every organisation, hence the approach considered for various digital transformation initiatives would differ from organisation to organisation, even if they belong to the same industry. Therefore, choosing partners who have expertise in using technology in an innovative way, with the help of domain experts and competent people, is imperative. However, most important is their willingness to be part of the digital transformation journey, because they play a pivotal role in defining the success of these initiatives.

There is no right or wrong approach in the digital transformation journey, but these are some of the key factors to be considered. The aim is to remain competitive in the industry, by continuing to evolve and grow at the same time.

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