About the name
One of the problem with digital transformation is...its name. We start digitalising 20 years ago, with scanners and OCR and then emails...
So, digital transformation is often perceived as the new name or buzzword of the digitalisation era.
Digital Transformation is totally different!
Digital Transformation isn't about replacing a paper with an email or an app, it is about:
-investigate the needs of your (internal and external) customers
-imagine a (much) better way to fulfil these needs ..in an efficient way
-collect information in real time to deliver a better service and experience
-thanks to those datas, make decisions, move forward and offer more...
Digital Transformation, in short, is about providing better products, services and experiences to your customers in a more efficient way thanks to great technology! :-)
Current and future technologies like cloud computing, Internet of things, Big Data, Artificial Intelligence, 3D printing, Social Media allow companies to create competitive advantages or ...to disappear (Digital Darwinism).
How to identify a good starting point for digital transformation?
There is no department or service to start with. I would recommend to start with your business priorities: hot or not - high or low potential - ease of implementation - potential quick wins - .. and map these with the 6 Digital Transformation Drivers:
- Customer centricity
- Innovation
- Transformation
- Operational excellence
- IT excellence
- Knowledge management
How does the ideal team look like?
According to my experience, the best team:
- is excited by the opportunity
- is diverse (generations, functions, departments) - not a team of tech people!!
- is not too large (6 to 10 people)
- feels like a team (think about a teambuilding)
- is committed
- is agile
- has a real ownership
- is regularly challenged by an external coach/advisor (or a team of advisors)
- works in close collaboration with the technology partner
- has a budget!