In today’s chaotic business landscape, the right technology can level the playing field between businesses of all sizes. Adopting a solution that facilitates internal communication and collaboration empowers smaller businesses to compete with industry leaders.
With the appropriate infrastructure in place, organizations can deploy the digital tools that enable them to reinforce their operations and pull ahead during times of upheaval. To deploy these right tools I dive a bit into the six steps of digital transformation that we perform at Covenant Technology Partners
1. Disruption
2. Seek to Understand
3. Experiment
4. Rapid Change
5. Analyze
6. Scale
1. Disruption
Disruption is a hot buzzword in the business world, and while it’s great for marketing and public relations, it often causes more confusion than clarity. The term can be applied to a process, product, or company, but in the context of digital transformation, it is the latter.
A disruptive innovation is a product or service that creates a new market and value network by introducing simplicity, convenience, accessibility, and affordability when compared to the incumbents. Disruptive innovations are not only new, but also smaller, simpler, and cheaper. They offer a leap in value from previous products, and they are rapidly adopted and diffused into society.
If you think about the innovations that have significantly transformed the world over the past decade, you can see why “disruption” is such a buzzword. The smartphone, social media, and the sharing economy are all examples of disruptive innovations.
When you are looking to make a digital transformation, it’s important to understand how you are being disrupted. By identifying and understanding your own disruption, you can begin to prepare your organization for the changes that lie ahead.
2. Seek to Understand
Once you’ve identified the disruption you may be facing, it’s time to seek out your digital transformation. Start by understanding the digital trends that are currently impacting your industry and the world at large.
For example, if you’re in the financial sector and you’re looking to transform your business, you’ll want to understand how mobile and online banking are drastically changing the banking experience. You’ll also want to know how social media and peer-to-peer payment systems are changing the way people interact with each other and their money.
When you understand the digital trends that are impacting your industry, you can begin to imagine how those trends are likely to impact your business. In the context of disruption, you’ll want to imagine a future where digital solutions like these have taken over your industry.
3. Experiment
If you want to find your digital transformation, you have to be willing to experiment — especially with digital solutions.
You can’t expect to solve a problem by simply creating a new digital solution. You have to experiment to find the perfect solution for your organization.
In the case of disruption, you want to experiment with all of the digital solutions that are impacting your business. Try out several solutions for size.
By experimenting with digital solutions, you give your business the opportunity to understand what works and what doesn’t work. This will help you to identify your digital transformation when it’s time to find it.
4. Rapid Change
A digital transformation isn’t something that you can find overnight. It takes time and patience. However, it can happen quickly if you’re willing to let it.
Digital transformation is the process of shifting your company to a new digital operating model. That usually means shifting your company to a new business model, technology platform, or business process. It’s not something that can be accomplished overnight or in a few weeks.
However, you can change your organization rapidly and take the first steps towards your digital transformation.
Start by identifying the digital trends that are disrupting your business. Then begin to experiment with those digital solutions. Find the solution that works best for your business and start with small experiments.
Once you find the solution that works best for your business, you can start to implement it. Start by rolling it out to a small group of your customers. Test it out and see how well it works.
If your experiment is a success, you can start to expand the solution to your entire customer base. If it’s a failure, you can start experimenting with other solutions.
5. Analyze
Once you’ve found your digital transformation, you need to analyze it.
You need to analyze the solution and determine whether or not it’s the right solution for your business.
This is where you need to be ruthless. If you’re not willing to be honest with yourself and your business, the transformation will never happen. You need to be able to take a cold, hard look at your existing business model and determine whether or not it’s still viable.
For example, if you’re in the financial sector and you’re looking to find your digital transformation, you have to be willing to analyze your existing business model and determine if it’s still viable.
If you’re offering services like setting up and managing investment portfolios, is that a service your customers will continue to need in the future? If not, you need to consider abandoning that business model or at least preparing to pivot.
6. Scale
Once you’ve found your digital transformation, you need to implement and scale.
There’s a reason why this is the final step in our six-step process to find your digital transformation. You can’t just find your digital transformation and then leave it there. You have to scale it.
If your digital transformation is a new business model, technology platform, or business process, you need to implement it and scale through change management throughout your organization. You need to train your employees and change your processes to reflect the new digital transformation.
Once your digital transformation is scaled, you need to be sure to monitor it. While you’re deploying your digital transformation, you’ll want to watch it for effectiveness and efficiency. You want to make sure that it’s working the way it’s supposed to and that your business is benefitting from it.
To find your digital transformation strategy, you must understand disruption, seek to understand, experiment, analyze, and scale, and my team at Covenant Technology Partners can help.