Digital transformation Toolkit.

2020 has been a challenging year, and we are all adapting to our new reality. We are experiencing an accelerated digital transformation process, given the absolute need for remote work on a global scale. However, for many people, the buzzword “digital transformation” is a thriller.

An informal definition is that a Digital Transformation is the use of information technologies to solve problems. And we can easily see that we are using the internet more these days to do everything: working, shopping, playing, sharing time with family and friends and so on.

In this new scenario, people that have experience with things like work from home (WFH), video conferencing, collaborative cloud applications and high-speed internet connections, have an enormous advantage. Therefore, while many people saw chaos, others saw opportunities.

If you want to adapt to this remote competitive world, you must think about matters like:

• Can you work using online tools?
• What is your key selling point?
• What is your competitive edge?

Today there are virtually no barriers. Suddenly the entire world is an excellent place to grow your potential! However, you still must solve the most basic strategic questions, and remind that today people are buying purpose, so first, you should get a good story to back your journey.

After working many years as consultants in various technology and digitalisation endeavours, we think that the real challenge of digital transformation is people. And as in any transformation process, the key concepts are Strategy and Change Management; here, we present five essential checkpoints that any business have to verify to thrive thought a digital transformation process.

1. Learn the buzzwords.

The key to transformation is communication. For everyone to get the message, your team must know the concepts and meanings. A digital transformation project is about using technology; however, there are “soft” and “hard” technologies.

“Soft techs” are “human” tools like strategy or marketing. In contrast “Hard techs” are the physical components like software or computers, and the goal is to implement both soft and hard technologies. So once all the team is on board, you will see that the idea of digital transformation is relatively simple: to use digital tools to organise people and processes.

Shesha Krishnapura presents in his article "The Anatomy of Intel’s Digital Transformation", a friendly and experienced view on the digital transformation concepts.

2. Check your team structure.

Digitalisation will dramatically change the way people work and interact, so now is the time to check how is your team organised and if everybody knows what is supposed to be doing. There are many models for organisational structures, call it functional, matrix or spaghetti structure; it does not matter; the important thing is to have an organisation structure. Do not forget that the crucial thing is to ensure clear communications and therefore, teamwork.

And remember, automation is good, machines are perfect for repetitive tasks. But, before implementing a huge IT solution such as an ERP multi-headed monster, remember that human talent is the real source of value.

3. Check your business processes and strategy.

Before investing in technology, take a moment to give a quick look at your strategy. Your digital transformation adventure must be coherent with your business objectives. The way you do things (your processes) make you unique. Therefore, there should be a tool to understand your processes and how they work. One of the most commons techniques for this is "process mapping", there are many alternatives, pick your favourite.

If you have seen a map like this one, you may know about strategic management. So, this crisis can be the right moment to check things as vision, goals and strategy. You can use tools like canvas, growth-share matrices or SWOT.

4. Create Order in the use of technology.

Many businesses have incredible products, and they already use high-tech tools, but that may not be enough; also, many people think they need tailor-made its solutions. However, you may start by scouting generic tools that you can adapt to fit your needs; it is easier.

In any case, you need to create order. for example, for cloud file-sharing, some people in your team may use Dropbox, while other Google Drive. However, there may not exist a standard folder structure, so no one knows where to find the files; this situation may imply that there is a communication problem.

Technology helps to improve communications, but there is always a need for structure and order. The previous image shows a cloud folder structure developed according to the generic map process introduced before to illustrate how to create order in technology.

5. Define the objective and plan the rest of the journey.

Today it is imperative to adapt to the new world order, but even before that, there were two crucial reasons to start a digital transformation process:

• To make your processes more efficient.
• To generate more value to your clients.

These reasons may sound too similar because they are closely related, but the second one goes deeper into your business vision. Digitalisation will reduce costs and generate more value; the second question is about sharing that extra efficiency with the market.

You must be careful here; there are many companies ready to compete with you with affordable technology-based services, so if you look for your competitive edge and be innovative, or you may be out of the race.

The last part of the beginning your digital journey is to plan and put ahead to it. You can do it yourself, motivate that techy guy from your team to lead the charge, hire a consultant, hire a company, or ask your processes leaders to scout the world for IT tools.

There are many options, but whatever you do, please, sit down, write down the plan and put your best leader on to it, remember, any plan is better than no plan.

Conclusion

If your business has a clear strategy, a defined structure and processes, you believe in technology, you are in the right path to find a new competitive edge in the world. Then, to expand your business to other markets should be relatively straightforward. But also, you need to understand that creating value with technology is not anymore and edge, but an essential requirement to survive.

A digital transformation process is all about people, processes and tools to ensure communications. The results should be globally scalable and generate real value for the clients. The job is to put those tremendous human brains, that you used before to do repetitive work, to start thinking and creating innovative services for your new worldwide network of clients. The solution lays withing this triangle: People, knowledge and technology.

Going through a digital transformation process may help you to improve your business efficiency, and probably profit. However, you can be sure that someone else is already creating a machine to deliver part of the same service you are trying to improve, for a fraction of the cost, so you have to move fast. Therefore, the final question is: what will be your new competitive edge?

This article is the product of a series of virtual coffees between Marc-Antoine Sarazin and me ( Camilo Blanco ), if you want to hear more about our initiatives, please visit our web pages: www.naoweb.co or www.camiloblanco.com.

We are open to have a virtual coffee with you and help to find your new competitive edge, and we have been doing that for our own companies, projects, and clients for more than a decade now. As entrepreneurs, we have not always successful, but we have learnt more from every single failure than from all our formal studies. We are here to create value with our clients.

Leave a comment, or pm us for setting up a virtual coffee!

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