Can Digital Transformation Be Clearly Defined?
TBR conducts a large amount of standard and custom research into the technology industry and the various ways customers want to ingest technology into their business operations. Increasingly customers use the term “Digital Transformation” to quickly net out what they believe is taking place in the industry.
It remains clear the industry sits in the middle of an era of unprecedented disruption that, in turn, disrupts customer business models as well. What is not clear, however, is whether or not Digital Transformation really has an agreed upon meaning in the marketplace. Each vendor defines Digital Transformation a little bit differently to paint their solutions sets in as positive a light as possible. Customers evaluate technology from the logical standpoint of 1) knowing what they have in place today, 2) listening to the value propositions of their trusted suppliers in terms of what they would have to invest and how they would have to change their business process and working cultures and 3) deciding upon a the best path forward for their firm, driven in large part by what they already have in place in terms of their technical debt in order to mitigate risk.
That in and of itself is a very broad and fuzzy discussion, as can be the vendor descriptions of their value propositions at industry analyst conferences. Some analysts will criticize the messaging as being too broad and too vague. On the other hand, if customers will be evaluating how to go about refreshing their technology infrastructure and simultaneously developing new business models, then it stands to reason the overarching theme around Digital Transformation will be one purpose built to denote flexibility and choice.
TBR wants to hear from the market around this topic. What does Digital Transformation mean to you? What does it mean to your customers and your employees? How is it different than what has gone on in the past in this industry and how is it similar?
Anyone interested in having a conversation around this topic is encourage to contact TBR to arrange a convenient time for the discussion. Please reach out to Patrick Heffernan ([email protected]) or Geoff Woollacott ([email protected]) directly.