Some are embracing a digital transformation journey and feel excited about it…and we see organizations are reaping real, tangible rewards. The positive disruptions are truly amazing.
But we also acknowledge that for some, the whole topic of digital transformation is causing tension. There are legitimate concerns about getting ‘digital transformation’ right and in truth, future success does depend on making this transition.
So… let’s step back a moment. There are some things that can help demystify the whole topic a bit…to help you think about it differently.
Positives:
91% of business leaders see DT as a way of sparking innovation and finding efficiencies
68% say DT is increasing profits
Negatives:
85% say they must offer digital services or become irrelevant
64% of business leaders say they have less than 4 years to complete a DT or they may go out of business
2. 91%
of business leaders see Digital Transformation as a
way of sparking innovation and finding efficiencies
68%
say Digital Transformation is increasing profits
85%
say they must offer digital services or
become irrelevant
64%
say they have less than 4 years to
complete a Digital Transformation
or they may go out of business
transformationDigital
Digital transformation. It’s the topic of the day. And for good reason. It’s here to stay…it’s a phenomenon that is actively fueling both the success and the failure of every organization.
Some are embracing a digital transformation journey and feel excited about it…and we see organizations are reaping real, tangible rewards. The positive disruptions are truly amazing.
But we also acknowledge that for some, the whole topic of digital transformation is causing tension. There are legitimate concerns about getting ‘digital transformation’ right and in truth, future success does depend on making this transition.
So… let’s step back a moment. There are some things that can help demystify the whole topic a bit…to help you think about it differently.
(optional statistics for visualization or as embedded talking points:
Positives:
91% of business leaders see DT as a way of sparking innovation and finding efficiencies
68% say DT is increasing profits
Negatives:
85% say they must offer digital services or become irrelevant
64% of business leaders say they have less than 4 years to complete a DT or they may go out of business
1. Research Report | ISACA, Information Systems Audit and Control Association | 2018
Nine in 10 enterprises (91 percent) are attempting digital transformation as they look to spark innovation and explore efficiencies
2. Survey | DXC Technology and the Economist Intelligence Unit | 2019
68% of respondents say their organization’s annual profitability has increased over the past three years thanks to its digital strategy and 74% say they expect it to rise over the next three years
3. Survey | Couchbase | August 2018
85 percent of respondents said disruption in their industry has accelerated over the past 12 months, and 86 percent believe businesses will have to adapt to providing digital services in the next 12 months, or accept they will become less relevant
4. Survey | Couchbase | August 2018
64 percent believe those that can’t keep up with digital innovations will go out of business or be absorbed by a competitor in fewer than four years
Remember that digital transformation is never a one size fits all scenario. The notion of executing a massive disruption in a single chess move is part of the problem. But if you think about it as a journey…with incremental steps towards a long term goal…it becomes a much less daunting proposition.
And then… it’s important to think about the true purpose of a digital transformation.
The first is Vision & Strategy. Vision is perhaps the most important. It’s what directs successful organizations towards a single north star. The vision is fully articulated in their strategy – and it tells everyone in and surrounding the organization what they are truly working towards. And in every case, these organizations have a vision that tap into human ambition and spark imaginations. Their vision and strategy is key to making the roadmap which clarifies how they will realize, or work towards, their vision.
Second, is Culture. We see that organizations are best able to go through a transformation when the people inside it are unified and working with shared values and ideas. They have a Culture that keeps their team connected, and key for a transformative process, elastic enough to respond to changes as they come up. We notice that organizations whose culture continually invites change – and accepts the diversity of personalities, ideas and approaches required to drive an organization forward – are those that do best with transformation. That’s certainly been the case with us.
Third...we see that organizations that can uncover their Unique potential are more likely to make great strides forward. Every organization has a set of unique assets, or what we’d traditionally call a core competency…things that have potential to be leveraged to differentiate themselves. The art here is find the specific thing that can unlock potential in a different way. A pivot point. This ‘unique potential’ can be found in a variety of forms, and depending on the industry…and the organization…it manifests in different ways. For some it might found in their physical assets, like retail locations and proximity to customers…for others it might be a special IP, and for others it could be the way their workforce is deployed. This is where the magic lies…where an organization can uncover or rethink what it has…to see it as a unique potential and then figure out how to leverage or amplify the value it creates. This is prime territory for technology to help unlock value.
It’s the process of shifting from what you have, to what you can become.
And then fourth, we see organizations that do best are thinking about and continually developing a wide range of capabilities. They are on a journey of looking at their human capabilities – do they have the right people with the right skills; and are they helping them grow. They look at operational capabilities – the processes and tooling that enable people to execute in the right way, at the right speed. They think about technical capabilities. This is about ensuring they have the appropriate technology deployed, so that teams have what they need to do great work. And today, more than ever, successful organizations are looking at their AI capabilities. These are the new, powerful breed of capabilities that allow them to make better decisions, to reduce friction in a number of ways, and enable them to free up their people to do more valuable and impactful work.
So the organizations that are successfully going through this digital transformation journey …are the ones that understand that this process is not one of just adding technology…but one of supporting their people to create the value the organization seeks. They look at vision, strategy, culture, unique potential, and capabilities as the foundational elements first….and then look to technology with a specific role in mind.
And so, now let’s turn our attention to the technology part of the story as well. It, of course, has a huge role…as a tool, enabler, and really a game changer.
If you think about it….every organization is part of a dynamic ecosystem. It’s made up of your customers, other organizations, partners, collaborators and so on. This has always been true….but today, our ability to connect with, learn from, influence and amplify value has never been greater.
We are in the midst of a technology paradigm shift.
The ecosystem in which we operate is connected by the Intelligent Cloud. And now, we can put compute power at the places it matters most…which we call the Intelligent Edge. This combination of localized compute with a connective and responsive cloud is making it possible to do things that were simply never possible before.
Flowing across and through the ecosystem in which an organization operates is a constant stream of data…. It’s this sum of data – that if captured and harnessed, with applied intelligence… enables better decisions and transformative processes…so we can do things differently…to create new experiences, new ways of working…new outcomes. These new outputs, create new data itself…which can help us learn more, to help us refine things further…and so on.
In fact, we see that the future growth across all industries, and the business models of the organizations within them, will be driven in large part by applying this new breed of digital technologies to more intelligently engage customers, transform products and services, optimize operations and empower employees.
We call this the digital feedback loop.
And it is how we help organizations unlock new value.
We call this the digital feedback loop.
And it is how we help organizations unlock new value.
The integrated capabilities spanning the Microsoft Cloud, create, what we believe is an unmatched platform for this digital transformation at a global scale. Microsoft has the ability to deliver more value to the core of your business. With the Microsoft Cloud, we believe we can boost productivity, optimize resources, and accelerate the pace of innovation.