7 Questions to Prepare the Modern Business for Digital Transformation

Supplied Content: The World Economic Forum states: “To survive disruption and thrive in the digital era, incumbent businesses will need to rethink every element of their business. And they need to act now.”

How will digital technology positively impact your business? Is your business ready for digital transformation? How will you know when your business is ready for the change?

The real question to answer is how your organization will need to evolve to be able to adapt to the constantly changing business environment. Many companies know they need to advance their digital presence, however they don’t take the steps necessary to prepare the organization.

To help determine how to move forward and prepare for the digital journey, begin asking these 7 questions:

1. How are new business models, new products or new services identified and launched?
2. How frequently is the impact of digital disruption measured?
3. How is data being analyzed and does it provide the right level of insight and useful guidance on business trends?
4. How secure is the data, what’s the back-up plan for security breach?
5. How confident are you in the cost analysis of ownership of legacy systems versus digital applications?
6. How ready is your workforce for digital disruption?
7. How do you establish key digital metrics?

The impact of digital transformation is felt at every level of the organization, in every task, and in every outcome. At the core of digital transformation is the intersection of business processes, business applications, and human interaction. A holistic approach with involvement from finance and operations, business strategy, and corporate development will ensure that your digital projects are delivered with appropriate vision, a clear execution plan, and measurement that is aligned to company goals.

Digital transformation is the ultimate challenge in change management and adoption. Digital transformation affects all areas of the business, from finance to operations to the people responsible for implementing and using the new applications. The adoption of new technology requires leaders and the user community to fully understand how technology will be used and enhance the customer experience at the onset. It’s in the best interest of the leadership to constantly challenge their organizations to ensure the advancement into digital can unlock productivity gains and drive competitive advantage.

And finally, how will you measure success? How much time will you provide end users with training? How will you listen, take in feedback, and respond to customers as they are exposed to new services and products?  

Essentially, any impact to your product or service delivery will involve an aspect of digital transformation. In order to unlock and optimize the potential of stronger operating results, better margins, accelerated innovation, enhanced customer service, and increased brand value, the company must be ready to change. Digital disruptors have a few common traits, including the ability to scale rapidly, the ability to get to market quickly, and to connect and standardize processes in the cloud to simplify and accelerate their ability to constantly innovate. Don’t be left behind in the digital race – know your business, and grow with confidence.