Whatever a company’s vision for the future, it must include digital transformation in order to grow
Digital transformation is the integration of digital technologies into all facets of an organisation, fundamentally transforming how you work and providing consumers with value. It is also a cultural transition that allows organisations to question the status quo on an ongoing basis, to experiment and to be comfortable with failure.
This year, many organisations were forced to speed up transformation and meet digital transformation goals due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As the environment becomes increasingly digital, the message from all business and industry professionals comes across loud and clear: For all industries, from startup to enterprise, digital transformation is imperative as it’s the only way companies can stay competitive and relevant.
Technology is an important element of digital transformation. But often, it’s more about getting rid of outdated processes and legacy technology than it is about embracing new technology. It’s also about supporting innovation.
The purpose of this article is to address and explain some of the common questions regarding digital transformation, specifically to CIOs and IT leaders, including lessons learned from your colleagues and professionals. CIOs are an imperative part of digital transformation as technology plays a vital role in the ability of an enterprise to adapt with the market and continuously improve consumer satisfaction.
Digital transformation and Company Culture
IT has predominantly been the main catalyst of market innovation, rather than purely concentrating on cost savings and CIO’s are more and more being expected to help generate revenue for the organization. According to the 2018 Harvey Nash/KPMG CIO Survey of more than 4,600 CIOs, the CIO’s top operational priority is “improving business process”, while CIOs at companies identified as top performers – the CIO’s top operational priority is “developing innovative new products.”
What does a digital transformation outline look like?
CIO’s should consider a few constants and common themes as they embark on digital transformation, although it will vary widely based on the organization’s specific challenges and demands. Culture and leadership, Workforce enablement, Customer experience, Operational agility,
Culture and leadership, and Digital technology integration are often cited as focused themes. While each theme has its own recommendations and varying steps or considerations, CIOs should look for those important shared themes when developing their own digital transformation strategy.
Benefits of outsourcing digital transformation projects
- Access to specialists in various technologies who may be challenging to find.
- In-depth expertise in technological innovations.
- Hands-on experience in many areas. Adopting a digital technology in a certain industry calls for specific expert knowledge.
- Complex solutions include a holistic approach that would incorporate expertise and developments in various technologies.
- Outsourcing of digital transformation projects eliminates third party costs such as licensing fees.
- Effective digital transformation is always driven by data. Ordering data science as a service is more efficient, and the data is captured, analysed and converted by trained analysts into actionable insights.
Choosing to partner with an agency who can provide expert digital support is a good start to any enterprise.
How can I get started on digital transformation?
Regardless of their strategy, businesses need to truly match business priorities with digital technologies, prioritising goals and operations for digitisation. Technology spending and digital-first strategising has thrived, and there are no signs of this changing any time soon.
Appello enables businesses to adapt to digital transformation faster by giving them access to our teams who’re adopting the latest practices applied in technology. Companies don’t need to resource and hire employees for their projects as we already have people that can be compiled into their own flexible team without the hassle. It’s cost-effective and higher quality because of our experience in the industry.
Walker Corporation is a good example of a company who decided to outsource their projects to Appello. In the CIO, Simon Farrow’s own words: “We have some very intelligent people on our team, but we realised that we weren’t going to meet the mark. Once we handed the project management over to them, the project started to speed up significantly. In hindsight, I would have asked them to do the project management from the get-go.”
Talk to us about what service model works best for you.
