Simple Steps To A Successful Digital Transformation Strategy

Digital transformation is a hot topic across just about every industry today. Computers and web-connected devices are integral to just about every business in operation, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that every enterprise has a solid digital strategy in place.

No doubt many of you reading this can think of digital inefficiencies within your workplace — even if you’re using high-end, modern devices and apps. It’s about how the pieces fit together as a whole, but many organisations still take a decidedly piecemeal approach. 
 
This is where digital transformation comes in. It’s a catch-all term to describe how you can revamp your business to create better efficiencies in your digital space. It’s a process that will look slightly different for every organisation — it might be related to cataloguing your business processes, investing in better software, consolidating which programs you use or looking at whether devices need to be upgraded, just as a few examples. 
 
But whatever your specific situation, there are some universal points to contemplate. Below, we’ve outlined 5 of the key considerations for any business looking to implement a digital transformation strategy. 

1. Have a clear understanding of the problems you’re trying to solve

One of the common problems facing organisations is that they want to start the digital transformation journey without actually having done any of the preparation beforehand. It’s easy to get excited about new tech — and that excitement can sometimes crowd out whether this new “solution” is right for your needs or not. 
 
As management, you may have a clear picture of the issues that you want to be solved — but it’s also crucial to do engagement work with staff as well. Though ultimately you need to make the best decision for the enterprise, insights from your staff can provide new information about the challenges they face day to day and may want to be addressed as part of this transformation. Taking a bottom-up rather than top-down approach can yield significantly better results in uptake and increase the likelihood of a successful digital transformation.

2. Engage with the enterprise culture

When you’re conducting a digital transformation process, it can be very easy to see it as simply a matter of swapping one type of technology for another — hopefully, better — one. But digital transformation can often mean that the business culture is altered in the process; the onus is on you to ensure that the cultural transformation is a positive one.
 
To achieve this successfully, it’s important to have key members of your business on board, acting as advocates for these new developments. Team leaders and fellow management are the obvious choices for this role, but it’s also critical to have rank-and-file members of the workforce advocating too. Some will naturally gravitate towards this, but it’s also worth looking at which staff members you feel you could actively encourage to exercise a positive influence on their teammates.

3. Assess whether it’s a scalable solution

Digital transformation is necessarily a disruptive process. Accordingly, it’s best to invest in one that will be a long-term solution — ideally lasting a minimum of several years. This means that the tech you utilise for your digital transformation plan needs to be scalable — it should be able to grow and change as your business does itself. 
 
There’s no point in carrying out a digital transformation that suits exactly where your company is right now. You’ll just have to do another one in a year when your business has undergone a number of changes — and that in itself is not efficient.  

4. Look to the experts

When you’re planning or undergoing a digital transformation, you need the support of people who have been there, done that previously. While you’ll undoubtedly have people on your team already who can offer insight, it may be worthwhile working with an outside consultant or partner to help guide you through the process. 

5. Accept it’s an ongoing process

Progress, not perfection, is the goal. Whenever you introduce new tech or procedures into the workplace, it’s going to take time to see the full benefit. Managers and staff alike need to be educated on the new ways to approach tasks, and it’s rarely an overnight process. 
 
That said, you don’t just need to cross your fingers and hope for the best. Before proceeding with your digital transformation, it’s critical to outline milestones and metrics to determine the success of the process. Having these in place will enable you to actively assess whether the implementation has been a success or whether adaptive tweaks need to be made moving forward. 

Discover more about digital transformation management for your business

As a leading provider of enterprise systems consulting services, Lánluas is uniquely experienced to guide the digital transformation of organisations. Get in touch with our team today to discover how we can assist your organisation in developing its own digital transformation strategy.