Digital Transformation Success Requires a New Approach

Innovation has become critical for every organization that wants to keep pace with today’s rapidly changing customer demands and economic landscapes. Yet $900 billion has been wasted on failed digital transformation efforts. In fact, in a 2019 survey conducted by CIO Magazine, 92% of CIO’s surveyed cited IT upgrades, digital business initiatives, and product innovation were key expectations of their CEOs.¹

However, while a clear strategic priority, another survey of 4,600 business leaders found that 91% of respondents claimed to be facing persistent barriers to successful digital transformation.²

The organizations that failed struggled to manage the integration of data and tools, data privacy and security requirements, operational silos, immature digital culture and lack of in-house skills and expertise – all key drivers of the estimated $900 Billion that was wasted on digital transformation efforts that didn’t meet their goals in 2019.

Digital transformations are hard. Successful DX initiatives typically require more technology than ever before. Yet this introduces more complexity and, therefore, more opportunities to fail.

Get everyone focused on what’s next.

At TDS, we believe that to succeed at digital transformation strategies, enterprises need to adopt a new approach that fully integrates the people, processes and tools required for digital transformation so they can manage ongoing innovation and modernization on a continuous basis.

Here are 3 keys to Digital Transformation Success:

1. Share a common view across the enterprise

The first key to a successful Digital Transformation (DX) is to make information more accessible across the organization. When business and IT bridge traditional silos and share a common view of the company’s priorities, requirements, and actionable data about their IT environment, decisions can be made quickly and transformations are more likely to succeed. In fact, an increase in data-based decision making and in the use of interactive tools can dramatically improve the likelihood of digital transformation success.

2. Foster good communications

Good communication has always been a key success factor in managing traditional changes, and it couldn’t be more important in digital transformation. Companies must be more creative in the channels they are using to enable new, quicker ways of working and establishing the agile mind-set and behavior changes that a digital transformation requires.

It’s time to move away from traditional channels that support only one-way communication (meetings and emails, for example) or one-dimensional, cumbersome tools (like spreadsheets) toward more interactive platforms that enable open dialogue and confident decision making across the organization.

3. Embrace change

Achieving DX doesn’t happen with episodic, quick-fire projects. As digital requires new ways of working as well as changes to the organization’s overall culture, employees must be empowered to work differently and keep up with the faster pace of business. The implementation of digital tools and upgrading of standard operating processes, along with the development of a nimbler operating model—that is, the hard wiring of the organization—will support these changes.

Because of the time required to manage and execute, enterprises typically leverage third-party resources to help manage and execute enterprise-wide digital transformations. While that solution may have worked well historically, with the shift of requirements from the legacy, project-based approach to one that is on going and ever changing, the use of a third party is simply a band aid rather than a long-term solution.

To keep up with the pace of innovation and remain competitive, enterprise operations must be agile. Building trust between IT and business is the foundation for a well-constructed, on-time, on-budget and sustained transformation.

For more keys to Digital Transformation Success, Download our Featured Insight: Reimagining Enterprise Digital Transformations

1. State of the CIO, CIO Magazine, December 2018
2.  Culture Shifts That Drive Digital Transformation For Small And Medium-Sized Businesses, Forbes, October 2019