Insight #021:The Five Pillars of Digital Innovation
Digital transformation is about leveraging technology and customer demands to push your business forward. John Laporte , TASK’s President of North America, is an expert at breaking down the pieces of what it takes to design a sustainable system for growth. Here are John’s top five structural elements of digital innovation that any industry-leading enterprise should be prioritizing across their organization.
Build a standardized framework to support core company operations
“Your digital backbone should connect every piece of your operations together,” says John. “Your management, data, processes, transactions – they should all lead to a single source of truth.”
Orienting your operations around technology means, in practice, that every piece of insight automatically becomes part of the bigger picture. This idea of a digital ecosystem is about being informed throughout your operations – where nothing exists in total isolation.
Have a deep understanding of your customer
It’s essential to remember that, ultimately, customer brand satisfaction is what will make your business successful. John says, “Technology isn’t about what you fix – it’s about what you break,” meaning that every stride forward in tech must also consider its effect on the customer experience.
The key questions that you should be continuously asking and responding to are:
The key, as Customer Success Manager Kerri L. says, is to focus on building long-term relationships through meaningful personalization. “To truly understand who your customers are, you need to go beyond just surface-level demographics. Dig into their behavioral trends and work out their routines and their lifestyles – these insights are going to give you a much better picture of how to communicate with customers and how to deliver relevant offers and services.”?
Be agile
Organizations that can quickly grow, adapt, and learn are going to fare much better in today’s rapidly changing market.
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Being agile means building a business structure that incorporates constant realignment, adjustment, auditing, and experimentation. Ensure you have self-directed, small, and cross-functional teams that are informed by high-level strategic vision.
“Experimentation should be part of your everyday business. The better the learnings, the faster you’ll be moving forward or closing down on the things that don’t work,” says TASK Group’s Chief Strategy Officer Kathryn Byrne . “Part of a digital transformation is figuring out what is adding value, and how to capitalize on those successes.”
Create a digital, flexible environment
One of the biggest challenges enterprises often face is how to expand without having to reinvent the digital wheel with every new stage of growth.
Create a system that allows you to create new components that can be easily integrated or broadened as needed. Russ Bennett General Manager of the Plexure division says, “The idea of a scalable digital stack is that you don’t have to invest in every piece all at once. Instead, you set yourself up with technology that can be amended or expanded in the future.”
The bottom line, as Russ says, is, “Don’t paint yourself into a corner.” Set yourself up with a digital environment that can evolve as you grow.?
Connect to your digital marketplace
“It is so important to engage your customers through a value-driven mechanism. Google does this with its wide range of apps, capabilities, and platforms. Amazon is another great example, building out their API to bring in that engagement,” says John.
The key is to find ways to add value to your customers so that they choose to interact directly with your brand. “Most restaurant companies end up doing this through a mobile app. They create stickiness to keep bringing customers back again and again.”
Together, these elements of digital innovation become the foundation for future growth and market success. Emphasize experimentation, customer experience, scalable technology, and standardization – and you’ll be set up for a seamless digital transformation.