1. Are you Ready for Digital?
Insights and Practical Experience
Author: Nuno Oliveira
CIO Europe Summit
21st - 23rd October 2014, Trump Turnberry Resort, Scotland

2. Taxonomy
Myth – Idea, mindset or rationale that I’ve heard or had some contact over
the past 5 or 6 years.
“My’s” – My personal opinion and view based on my experience as country
Chief Architect (also called CTO in some organisations but possibly with
different focus) and global Senior Enterprise/Solution Designer. For sure
some comments and ideas are not necessarily of everyone's agreement and
can be seen as a kickoff for further discussions.
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3. Digital… Digital… Digital – Concepts
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Overview and Scene Setting
• Strategy – use of technology to radically improve organisations performance focusing mainly on changing
customer relationships, internal processes, and value propositions.
• Technology – set of available technology mechanisms to support the business (e.g. Devices, Analytics,
Mobility, Social media, etc.)
• Business – Possible business targets to implement Digital Strategy (e.g. online vs physical, etc.)
• Transformation and Alignment Initiatives – Changes derived from Digital Strategy Implementation
(e.g. the enterprise is going mobile, becoming paperless, going online, etc.). An effective digital
transformation program can be seen as the one that addressed:
"The What": the intensity of digital initiatives
"The How": the ability to implement transformational changes delivering business results.
Pillars of Digital Transformation
• Customer Experience (e.g. Self Service, Cross Channel coherence, Streamlined customer
processes, Analytics and Predictive ability, Digital-enhanced ‘selling’, etc.)
• Operational Processes (e.g. Internal Social media, Mobility, Knowledge sharing, Event-driven
decision making, etc.)
• Business Model (e.g. Digital Products to possibly support the activity, Physical to Digital,
Globalisation and Partnerships, Shared services, etc.)
• Digital Capability (e.g. Business and IT integration, Analytics, Solutionning, Unified Data,
Processes and Platforms, etc.)

4. Digital… Digital… Digital – What and How
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Identification of Initiatives methodology
To understand what could be the focus of the Digital Roadmap, some basic set of steps can be
taken to help to identify What to do and, most important, How to do it.
Some examples of next steps / methodology that could be used:
• Identifying the key opportunities and/or challenges in a business
• Identifying the unmet needs and goals of the stakeholders (internal and external)
• Developing a vision/strategy and prioritizing a set of initiatives, focusing on the How:
• Business plan or Business Case (some BC are really hard to explain!)
• Viability assessment
• Organizational and process assessment
• Portfolio management
• Proof of concept / Pilot / Live Proofing
• Roadmap
• Performance Analysis (ROI / KPI’s)
• Governance

5. To take some Risks?
To change the organisation?
To ask for the (im)possible?
To manage frustrations?
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6. Myths and “My’s”
Myth:
“Successful Digital Transformation comes from creating a
new organization.”
My view:
Successful Digital Transformation should be achieved by
reshaping the organisation to take advantage of existing
strategic assets in new ways.
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7. Myths and “My’s”
Myth:
“Successful Digital Transformation comes from implementing
new technologies and bring new devices.”
“If we change the way we do technology then we are done!”
My view:
Successful Digital Transformation comes from transforming
the organisation to take advantage of the possibilities that
new technologies provide. That’s a management and people
challenge, not just a technology one.
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8. Myths and “My’s”
Myth:
“If we have all employees driving and embracing Digital
initiatives, then we will be successful!”
My view:
Successful Digital Transformation must be driven from the
top. In spite of the need to have employees clearly
understanding the benefits for the organisation and
themselves, they should support but should not drive it.
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9. Myths and “My’s”
Myth:
“We must spend majority of our time to identify clearly our
initiatives, applying several techniques to prioritise them and
afterwards we can think on how to implement them.”
My view:
More than the “What”, we should focus on the “How” since
often the time spent to identify initiatives is wasted and only
bring a limited and static version of the truth... A proper
Implementation Strategy, with the correct engagement,
governance and KPI’s will allow people to identify new
“What's” to meet or extend the vision.
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10. Conclusions / Recommendations
A. In spite of many organisations already embraced the concept and started
the implementation of Digital Transformation, they will still have a long
way to go on their journeys.
B. While many experts push companies to get started on the Digital
Transformation journey, few can really tell “How” to do it.
C. Embracing the Change requires strong leadership and mindset. Manage
organisation frustrations is key!
D. Don’t give up too soon but don’t aim for the impossible and abstract.
E. Take some Risks and Know when to stop. Plan in advance is important
but without knowing How to reach there is a waste of time.
F. Leverage the added value your organisation already have and use the
right technology to make it a differentiator factor in the market.
G. Drivers like Cost Reduction and Compliance/Regulatory requirements are
also key to justify Digital Transformation costs.
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11. Which Future?
A. Independently of many organisations already started the implementation
of Digital Transformation, majority will fail (in first attempts or even in the
end) in doing it at timely matter.
B. Possible implementation challenges and costs will reduce appetite over
the years.
C. Some companies, to survive, must embrace Digital Strategy but could
end up doing it by fusions and merging services with other companies
rather than be able to implement their initial roadmap.
D. Regulators will be forced to think on more controls to ensure Customers
“protection”. In many cases, some regulator rules are show stoppers and
against implementation of innovative ideas.
E. Unless organisations focus on making the employees believe the added
value of following Digital Strategy, there is a high risk of being ‘sleeping
with the enemy’… Basically, don’t ignore the human side of the changes.
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Thank you!
Contacts
nuolivei@gmail.com https://pt.linkedin.com/in/nunoliveira