Digital Transformation – IT Transformation is a precursor. 5 crucial points

Over the last some years many organizations across the world have understood the need for rapid digital transformation, and how it is crucial for their survival and success. Many others which were taking tentative steps are now convinced that the benefits are for real. Many also are starting to realise that IT departments need to transform alongside and move from trailing business needs to being business partners. A different conversation, for another day, but this change in role is making many organizations reconsider the role of a CIO.

Till recently, many organizations required the CIO organization to just keep lights on, follow business needs at low risk, low costs and provide a high grade of service. But now, those organizations are appreciating that the CIO and her people need to help the transformation (of the organization) directly and be a part of it. With this, also comes the realization that it implies a different role for the IT organization and its transformation.

Reading through some survey results available now, the difference between digital prepared organizations with mature IT vs those not ready, starts becoming clear. Having done Digital Readiness Assessments, we are able to gauge how ready an organization might be in terms of its IT to support a Digital Transformation as well. On the ground experience shows us what it might take for the IT to transform itself. The difference between the laggard organizations versus those who are strategically tight is remarkable. It is clear from our own experiences that organizations not ready or unwilling to restructure their IT find their IT team able to be a transformation partner more infrequently, and inconsistently. Our sample sizes are small, but web surveys (with considerable sample sizes) seem to concur.

Often, companies that haven’t yet restructured their IT organization tend to fail in digital transformation initiatives, primarily because the existing, traditional structure of most enterprise IT organizations is not designed for a digital environment and therefore cannot support it.

Our experiences show five important required characteristics of the digital progressive IT organizations. Should an organization not have these, we recommend that they start today. They must commit to:

1. Using the cloud-first philosophy

The days of holding on to data centres are gone. Large owned buildings, server racks etc. do not smell of power, they smell of obsolescence. The reason for migrating to the cloud is not just about costs, and flexibility but also about speed to market by utilizing the ecosystem available at the speed of an API integration.

2. The new world

That is choosing (from a verified ecosystem) and working with tech startups, incubating them, embracing them along with investing in automation and artificial intelligence and have these at the core of solutions ( understanding that automated bots are really digital labour).

That is also stopping paying lip service to innovation, but sponsoring it and embracing it formally.

3. Hyper speed

This is in the way decisions are made, stuck to and not revisited iteratively. This also is about pushing software / application development through a rapid cycle. It is about moving away from always creating from scratch. It is about connecting through APIs to already available solutions, and it is about operating in a drag and drop component, widget-based environment wherein run, test and refinement happen continuously. All this will challenge an organization’s existing philosophies, and often the core. But then again, transformation starts at the core.

4. Open skill and talent models

It is not about just outsourcing, or being clustered together. It is about being close to the business. Just sheer proximity in terms of physical location is immaterial. Intellectual proximity and working hand in glove is now crucial. Today’s world, because of newer technology, the required speed, the rapid and open thinking needs a different breed of people, with different skill sets and attitude. People, unable to adapt, will need to clear the deck.

5. Collaboration

With not only business, but also inside of IT. DevOps? Absolutely. But, that does not happen without a silo less overall organization where business, dev and ops collaborate openly towards a common organizational goal.

Of course, change is difficult, and this transformation will cause some collateral damage too. But, the philosophy to go with is “Maximum Good for the Maximum Number”, and overall good of the organization and people as a whole.

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What do you think? Write in to me, or 3nayan, if you want to know more about how to make your organization’s Digital Transformation work. 

This article is co-authored by Suhas Dutta, and Raghu Ram. #opinionsmyown

Suhas is co-founder, Partner at 3nayan, a consulting firm which uses Process Engineering, Robotic Process Automation and Digital Transformation for Strategy Re-Energization, Growth Enablement and Organizational Effectiveness of organizations.

Raghu is Chief Digital Officer at Star Health and Allied Insurance Ltd. Star Health is India’s largest stand-alone health insurance company.