Embracing Digital Is The Key To An Organization’s Future Success
Today digital revolution is transforming our world. We all can feel it from the way we shop, work, communicate – simply live our lives. Digital has been around for a while now, and it has impacted almost every industry to a different degree, some having already been revolutionized and some being at their adaptation stage. For businesses, it will be even more inevitable to embrace digital and evolve their business processes in the coming years.
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The Struggle Is Real
Although it sounds simple to adopt digital, in reality, it is definitely not. Many companies struggle in their journeys, whether it’s related to the company culture, IT-business communication gap, lack of resources, skills, technology or processes. According to a survey conducted by Forrester, executives predict digital will influence 47% of total sales by 2020 but only 14% believe they have the right processes, 19% have the necessary technology, 21% have the right people and culture, and 16% say they have the necessary people and skills. Also, only 26% believe their CEO has a clear vision for digital. Well, looking at these findings, it is fair to say that finding the right people is probably the key to overcome these challenges.
It’s All About People
According to Fujitsu’s 2018 – Global Digital Transformation Survey Report, the primary overall challenge is the lack of skilled staff. The organizations encounter this challenge in all stages of the transformation journey from planning and implementation to trial and post-implementation stages. It is evident that today the digital talent pool is very limited. Hence, the market is very competitive. This makes it hard for organizations to find skilled people for their digital transformation initiatives. The top fundamental priority is and has been people for digitization. A company can have the right technology, but if the people and culture do not embrace digital, it’s very unlikely that they will achieve their goals.
Company culture is often considered as a separate factor, but it is not separate at all. People create the company culture. There is no doubt that an innovative and progressive culture can attract the right talent needed for transformation. It’s also not enough to only attract new talent. Companies need to have the right retention strategies in place.
For certain, digitization also heavily depends on the leadership team as the senior level executives lead the transformation. Today many organizations are in search of senior executives who are digitally-skilled and innovative. In addition, some organizations invest in their current leadership team members with innovative training programs.
Lack Of Funds Is A Barrier To Success
Another struggle and need for digitization is having the right technology and processes in place. Although the need for investing in the new technologies is urgent, it can be challenging for many companies. Lack of funds is the second biggest challenge for companies especially in the planning stage according to Fujitsu’s 2018 – Global Digital Transformation Survey Report.
It’s Important To Initiate!
Digital transformation is not a one-and-done process, but an evolving journey. The most important step is to initiate the journey with the right elements in place such as skilled people, innovative culture, visionary leaders, new technology, and processes.
- As you start developing the strategy, first identify the opportunities and risks presented by the emerging technologies for your business, and continuously analyze the industry trends and your competitors.
- Every company is different. It’s essential to understand your business and how you can leverage digital technologies to support your initiatives.
- While assessing the requirements for your digital projects, identify your weaknesses and strengths, especially within your IT team as IT capabilities are crucial for the digital transformation projects.
- Execute your roadmap and start the process. It’s also a good idea to begin implementing the strategies internally as it helps the employees become “digitally-minded” and shift the company culture to an innovative culture.
Success In Digital Transformation Projects
Another finding from Fujitsu’s 2018 – Global Digital Transformation Survey Report is that leadership, people, business integration, agility, ecosystem and value derived from data determine the success of outcomes from digital transformation projects. The stronger your company is in these areas, the more successful you will be in your projects. It’s a good idea to evaluate and make sure that you strengthen these success factors no matter where you are in your digitization journey.
Need Guidance On Your Digital Journey?
The shift to digital can be overwhelming for organizations. Whether you are just starting the journey, implementing digital strategies or improving your business and technology processes, it is normal to encounter challenges along the way. VLink has been working with global organizations to help them identify the risks and opportunities presented by the emerging technologies. We partner with our clients to help them succeed in their digital transformation projects whether the goal is to provide better customer experience, digitize products, improve decision-making processes by actionable insights or implement new business models.
