A growing trend in business is to use digital transformation activities to improve business performance. To assist in developing and facilitating a digital transformation plan, several companies have developed a guide for almost any sized business or organization. As the demand for digital digitization increases daily, the necessity to apply an integrated strategic risk management methodology also develops. Organizations must therefore develop and implement integrated digital asset management systems if they want to remain competitive in today’s marketplace.
An integrated digital transformation strategy involves the development of a digital library that integrates all internal resources and systems. This library will include the company’s information technology systems as well as corporate and business capabilities such as its CRM, ERP, and SaaS applications. The integration of all assets is aimed at improving productivity, eliminating inefficiencies, and increasing organizational flexibility. It should also provide maximum return on investment (ROI) in terms of cost savings, operational improvements, and enhanced profitability. It also increases organizational resilience against external threats. An effective digital transformation strategy will integrate these three key elements:
A digital transformation strategy should be reviewed periodically as it continuously evolves. Going through the planning process will help determine what changes need to be made, when they will take effect, and how they will affect the organization. Through this planning and assessment process, managers can better understand the key elements that are involved in implementing an effective strategy.
Digital asset management provides a framework for assessing the operations and structure of the organization. The main components included in the digital library are hardware and software. The process entails identifying assets, analyzing them, and revising the usage rules to create a digital transformation plan. One of the main goals of a digital strategy is to increase the company’s internal digital value so that it can compete with similar organizations in its market segment.
Another important component of the digital transformation strategy is identifying customer needs. For this stage, three basic steps are applied. These steps include defining customer expectations, defining competitors’ strategies, and evaluating the current state of the organization. Customer needs may change over time as customers continue to have new preferences in buying decisions. It is important for the digital strategy to accommodate this because changing customer needs will eventually impact the strategy and its implementation.
In assessing the organization, managers can apply the Customer Needs Assessment or CNA. This involves first defining customer needs, analyzing these needs, identifying opportunities for change, identifying obstacles to change, measuring the impact of any changes, and developing a digital transformation plan. The process also involves identifying the roles and responsibilities of various people who will be affected by any digitization activity, such as employees, suppliers, and customers. This enables the Digital Transformation team to align their activities with the identified customer needs.
After the customer needs assessment, managers can then map a digital transformation strategy to improve customer experience. There are two types of strategies used in this stage. One is known as Digital Strategy and the other is known as Digital Transformation Architecture. Digital strategy involves building digital technologies that support a business, while the architecture plan creates the digital infrastructure that enables a business.
Another important consideration is the selection of technologies, devices, and networks that support the digital transformation initiative. These are typically developed through an external strategic partner. A technology selection process includes determining the technical needs of the organization, analyzing competitive threats, and evaluating business capabilities. The selected technologies will be implemented using the big data analytics tools. These are complex systems requiring high expertise, specialized training, and monitoring.
Deepak Wadhwani has over 20 years experience in software/wireless technologies. He has worked with Fortune 500 companies including Intuit, ESRI, Qualcomm, Sprint, Verizon, Vodafone, Nortel, Microsoft and Oracle in over 60 countries. Deepak has worked on Internet marketing projects in San Diego, Los Angeles, Orange Country, Denver, Nashville, Kansas City, New York, San Francisco and Huntsville. Deepak has been a founder of technology Startups for one of the first Cityguides, yellow pages online and web based enterprise solutions. He is an internet marketing and technology expert & co-founder for a San Diego Internet marketing company.