How to create superior Digital Transformation and Emerging Technologies Plans fast, reliable, easy and effectively

If your company, either SME or enterprise, is considering migrating from a 'brick and mortar' organization to a digital business, I would recommend you to develop a step-by-step plan that migrates you from the current to the new situation . This step-by-step roadmap helps you overcome barriers, avoid costly mistakes and eliminate time-consuming detours that prevent you from reaching your goals and your decision destination.

How can we describe your main problem?

Across all industries, digital transformation is not a choice but a requirement. But the plain truth is that at the outset of a digital transformation program, the odds are stacked against successful delivery. A staggering 84% of digital transformation projects fail to deliver their expected benefits resulting in enormous missing ROI, as well as the collateral damage to business strategy, shareholder value and team morale. 

What are the most important reasons why so many businesses struggle with digital transformation?

• A lack of clear strategy: Digital transformation must be set in the context of a clear corporate strategy. But the role of transformation in driving strategy is often poorly defined
• Uninspiring leadership: Strong CEO and board-level commitment is required, alongside a clear vision and investment in building cross-functional support. But the transformation agenda is often siloed within specific business functions
• Unwillingness to adapt: The transformation goal must be defined as the adoption of a new, digitally-enabled, business model and culture which itself is dynamic and continuously evolving

Emerging Technologies such as Blockchain, Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence and Robotics are components of Digital Transformation and businesses experience similar problems when implementing. Lack of strategy, uninspiring business leadership, unwillingness to adapt.

A clear solution to these failures is an approach I call Digital Transformation Planning (DTP).

DTP requires an integrated, holistic approach

To make DTP work in any type of business, the following is proposed:

• Put together a multi-functional team consisting of business and technical managers. The aim of this business / IT alignment is a better understanding between the parties resulting in a shorter path from strategy to operation, and an end product of higher quality, which is the digital blueprint. This blueprint is the basis for further digital projects
• Use an integral method - Digital Transformation Planning (DTP) - to develop your blueprint. The best approach is a mix of two existing methods, Business Model Canvas and SOSTAC?. The aim of this approach is combining digital planning with business planning, which results in a blueprint that is better and more complete in terms of quality

Business Model Canvas

The Business Model Canvas (BMC) has been developed by Alexander Osterwalder and Yves Pigneur. It is the most used method for developing and visualizing a business model, both before and after the transformation. The BMC has nine building blocks, which give a good overview of the company:

• Customer segments: Who is your customer? What do they think, see, feel and do?
• Value Proposition: What is valuable about your proposition? Why do customers buy or use your products and services?
• Channels: How are your propositions promoted, sold and delivered? Why? Is it still working properly?
• Customer Relationships: How do you deal with the customer during their 'journey'
• Revenue Streams: How does your company earn income from the value propositions?
• Key Activities: What unique strategic things does your company do to realize its proposition?
• Key Resources: What unique strategic assets does your company need to compete?
• Key Partnerships: What can your company not do so that you can concentrate on your core activities?
• Cost Structure: What are the most important cost factors of your company? How are they linked to your income?

SOSTAC?

The SOSTAC? planning model has been developed by Paul Smith of PRSmith for digital marketing. I myself use SOSTAC? in a broader perspective for digital transformation. The model consists of six steps:

• Situation Analysis: Provide an overview of your organization - who you are, what you do and how you communicate
• Objectives: Determine your objectives and make them measurable
• Strategy: Define a strategy to achieve your objectives. Don't go into detail yet
• Tactics: Here we go into detail. Which channels are you going to use? Which skills are you going to hire?
• Action: Describe your products and responsibilities to be delivered for each of the tactics
• Control: How can you monitor and measure your performance against your goals from step 2?

What are the benefits of Digital Transformation Planning?

Of course you're interested why DTP will help you avoid the failures your peers are experiencing when using a 'siloed' approach:

• Fast: By participating key people in business and technology you have quickly developed a digital blueprint
• Reliable: Thanks to the usage of a multifunctional team (business and technology) and two existing, successful methods, DTP enables a complete transformation from strategy to implementation
• Easy: Both methodologies within DTP are easy to learn and easy to implement
• Effective: You can use DTP broadly for each technology both at enterprise and business unit level, so with one approach you can do the transformation

Need more information? End of January 2019 I published a management book entitled "New World Technologies: 2020 and Beyond". In chapter 4 “Digital Transformation Planning” you will find a further explanation of the method including examples.

Cost of creating a DTP

Small-to-mid-sized businesses and business units can expect the costs of creating a DTP to range anywhere from Eur 16,000 to Eur 48,000 and will last 20 to 60 working days. The DTP needs to be updated every 1-2 years. Certainly, a significant investment, but a properly implemented DTP will pay for itself quickly.

A DTP includes the following components:

• Business Model Canvas (BMC) before transformation: You need to have an overview of your original business model as a starting point
• SOSTAC?: This planning model reflects the digital transformation of your business in six steps
• BMC after transformation: The information for this model is the outcome of the SOSTAC? sessions and gives you an overview of your innovated business model

About Errol van Engelen

Errol van Engelen is specialized in Digital Strategy and Transformation and available as Digital Method Advisor or Business Transformation Advisor. He developed a methodology out of two existing and well-known methodologies, to develop Digital Transformation Plans (blueprints) and implement projects successfully. The methodology works for all kinds of Digital projects. Errol can help with developing the Digital Transformation blueprint and implement Digital projects.