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Myths and trends of digital transformation in 2018

You’ve been hearing about the Fourth Industrial Revolution. It’s probably the hottest topic for businesses, thought leaders, policy makers, scientists and, of course, technocrats.

Klaus Schwab, the founder and CEO of the World Economic Forum, who coined this term, writes: “The First Industrial Revolution used water and steam power to mechanize production. The Second used electric power to create mass production. The Third used electronics and information technology to automate production.Now a Fourth Industrial Revolution is building on the Third, the digital revolution that has been going on since the middle of the last century.It is characterized by a fusion of technologies that is blurring the lines between what physical, digital and biological spheres”.

He makes a very important and relevant point: “Neither technology nor the disruption that accompanies it is an exogenous force over which humans have no control. All of us are responsible for guiding its evolution, in the decisions we make daily as citizens, consumers and investors.

While digital transformation as a term is still misunderstood, today digital transformation is widely accepted as a business imperative. What then is a digital transformation in practice? Is it an IT project? Or the introduction of some cool tools in the company? Or incorporating a mobility-driven customer relationship management (CRM) initiative to better engage customers?

As an organization, whether you are looking to start the digital transformation journey or are trying to stay away from it, there are still some myths about digital transformation that you should avoid. If you want to lead your organization through digital transformation, the first step is to understand the realities of digital transformation, instead of getting carried away by the hype.

In this article, we use excerpts from some prestigious industry white papers/reports to dispel some myths.

The reports/white papers we cite include:

  • World Economic Forum (WEF) White Paper on Digital Transformation of Industries: Digital Enterprise, Developed in Partnership with Accenture

  • Forrester report, The Digital Business Imperative, co-authored with Martin Gill and Nigel Fenwick

  • Digital is a passing fad; a trend my business doesn’t need to think about

  • digital transformation process

Digital has transformed the market environment for all businesses, and the pace of change is accelerating.

The WEF White Paper says – There is widespread recognition among leaders in most industries that the role of digital technology is changing rapidly, from being a driver of marginal efficiency to an enabler of fundamental innovation and disruption. Digitization is driving radical and large-scale transformations across multiple aspects of business, providing unparalleled opportunities for value creation and capture. Business leaders from all sectors are grappling with the strategic implications of these transformations for their organizations, industrial ecosystems, and society.

Digital transformation means exceptional customer experiences powered by new technologies

Digital has impacted not only channels and customers. It is disrupting organizations from within, changing the way they do business. Digital brings new opportunities for organizations that can adopt technology fast enough. Speed ​​time to market, reduce costs, and unlock new revenue streams.

Forrester Report says: Digital business is not just about the customer experience; it’s also a way to drive operational agility. Digital operations can increase speed to market, make employees more productive, promote leaner processes, and maximize asset utilization.

Let me build an app. My digital transformation is done.

Digital transformation isn’t about introducing a few tools designed to change a particular facet of your business, whether it’s employee collaboration or customer transactions.

Forrester’s report says:

  • Digital fundamentally changes your relationship with your customers. You can’t address this change with an additional digital strategy that adds an app here or a site there. To stay competitive, you must redesign how your business creates value for your customers in the digital age.

  • Re-envision your business not as a set of products and services, but as part of ecosystems of personal value that your customers bring together based on their needs and wants. Learn how to increase value by expanding your company’s role in your customers’ personal value ecosystems.

Digital Transformation can only happen through disruptive technologies

It is not necessary for every digital transformation exercise to take the example of Uber and Airbnb in terms of the use of emerging technologies. The technology stack you would use depends on the context of your business and technological leverage is only one part of digital transformation. Sometimes you can achieve significant improvement in productivity, agility, and customer focus by using proven operational technology (networks and databases) and strategic technology (enterprise resource planning or customer relationship management) or mobility.

The WEF white paper says: A truly digital company is about more than just using new technology for the sake of it. Rather, what really sets a digital company apart and gives it its competitive edge is its culture, strategy, and way of operating. Digital businesses continually strive to enable new and more efficient operating models supported by agile business processes, connected platforms, analytics, and collaboration capabilities that improve business productivity. A digital company relentlessly seeks, identifies, and develops new digital business models, always making sure that customers and employees are at the center of everything it does.

Digital transformation: I need to do this this year so I don’t get left behind

Digital Transformation cannot be and does not need to be a sprint. It is a long journey with multiple touch points and milestones; dependencies and synergistic efforts.

Forrester Report says: You need to transform your business by applying digital thinking to everything you do: how you win, serve and retain customers; how it operates its internal processes; and how you obtain business services.

For example, only your answers to the following questions will help you design a roadmap that takes digital transformation beyond the realm of IT.

Business success of digital transformation

  • Have you identified areas in your business where automation is most relevant?

  • Is your current workforce constantly improving productivity and quality?

  • What steps have you taken to convince your investors of your digital vision and the long-term value creation of your digital transformation journey?

  • How much of your revenue is coming from new digital business sources?

  • Does your business leverage analytics around customer data, operational data, and compliance?

  • Do you have a digitally literate leadership team?

  • Have you established training programs to bridge the digital skills gap and retrain your existing employees?

  • How are you empowering employees through digital channels to enable faster decision making and foster greater agility within your organization?

These are just a few myths that we have tried to address. We invite you to share your opinion about these and other myths.

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