Digital Strategies Need to Be Business Strategies

By the end of 2019, IDC predicts that digital transformation spending will reach $1.7 trillion worldwide. But if digital transformation is going to continue to be a place organizations invest, then why does it feel like an empty phrase? The reality is that the “digital transformation” is overused, but it’s also critical to your business.

Organization who are not putting digital at the center of their business and infusing it in how their employees work, how they communicate with customers, and how they provide their products or services, risk being left behind as competitors innovate.

A recent article from Raconteur explored some of the steps organizations need to take to embrace digital transformation. The article had some great points for leadership that are worth sharing. Specifically, the article calls out how traditionally, leadership viewed digital transformation as an IT transformation that is backed up by a digital strategy. While it’s true that IT transformation plays a role in driving the adoption of technologies that make a digital strategy possible, digital transformation needs to be applied as a business strategy. It needs to be across the entire business.

This reality can be difficult for business leaders. As the article laid out, successful digital strategies work because they “build less and experiment more”. Risk-averse executives will avoid experimenting with business strategies– especially when existing business models continue to bring in revenue – but it’s necessary to put digital in the middle of your business strategy to successfully navigate your organization through a digital transformation.

The bottom line is this; digital transformation is an overused phrase. But in order for it elevate itself beyond just an overused buzzword in your business, your digital strategies need to become core business strategies. I encourage you to check out the Raconteur article for more here: https://bit.ly/2QbM58H