So why is your digital transformation failing?

So why is your digital transformation failing?

Many in-house digital transformation programmes stall or fail completely. Often for many of the same reasons.

Fail to prepare, prepare to fail.

Over the years we have seen many and recognise the pitfalls and challenges.

Do any of these ring any bells for your current situation?

Blinkered by tech rather than business-led

Of course, the technology solution is fundamental to delivering the clients solution, but without a clear business-wide aim for the transformation, focusing on the technology alone just won’t work.

Legacy tech is overwhelmingly complex

Its a broken record, all been there, a network of interdependent tech and systems that no one has total oversight of and no one’s quite sure where it all came from and why.

Missing an overall strategy

We know how things should look but haven’t defined specific goals or mapped out how the process is going to work. There’s a little bit of a play it by ear and take one project at a time approach happening in this case but no overarching strategy

No one’s actually in charge of the project

The IT department is working on some of the tech elements and have lots of project managers working independently and competing for the same resources

There are individual sponsors for separate projects, but there isn’t a clear leadership sponsor who is actively engaged and directly overseeing the whole transformation. Without clear leadership, it’s tough to stay on course.

Don’t have in-house access to the skills required

We are looking at digital transformation because the current solution isn’t working. One of the reasons behind that is likely to be a skills and capabilities gap which needs to be closed to successful overhaul your technology.

Started all the projects at once

Having a bold vision and enthusiasm in-house. To make the most of this, we launched on a company-wide, multi-level, all-encompassing digital transformation. In other words, its like building a multi-story corporate headquarters without having dug the foundations.

Not keeping track of progress against a baseline

A clear baselined roadmap that is plotted out is critical and as described above one person managing the transformation. It can be hard to monitor and evaluate progress against a baseline. But without this information, it becomes hard to recognise when the transformation is getting off track and might miss the opportunity to course correct.

There are lots of reasons why digital transformations can fail and if you are reading this then it’s likely that you have experienced or are experiencing some of them. The good news is that our tried-and-tested approach is built on establishing the foundation of where you are going and what you are trying to achieve and help avoiding every single one of these common points of failure.

How we make sure transformations succeed

No matter the size of the organisation, embarking on an overhaul of the technology and operation models we need a plan in place that will deliver an outcome that aligns with the business goals. A roadmap based on strategic principles, existing capabilities and the resources that are available.

That’s where our transformation advisory assessment comes in. We audit the existing technology, assess the operating models in place to document and baseline the challenges that we need to overcome. This process demystifies the current solution, establishes interdependencies and allows us to define exactly what is required to competently baseline and define a roadmap.

We like quick wins. They set the foundations for successful transformations as without the basics in place true digital transformation will fail. To be successful we need the foundations of a modern environment to enable staff collaboration; a flexible network to optimise consulting time; and a scalable infrastructure underpinned by strong security and business continuity. We help to put the building blocks in place for a successful start for a successful digital journey, while clearly structuring and addressing smaller projects individually rather than trying to tackle everything at once without any preparation.

With these strategic principles in place, we then create a comprehensive set of processes, projects and roadmaps. With over 30 years of experience, our team builds on your in-house capabilities to successfully manage your solutions and services.

#mjdnet

My name is Mike Davis and I have been managing and supporting transformational change within major corporates for over 30 years. I am a keen contributor to the digital agenda and would be very interested in supporting and advising on successfully delivering business transformation change programs. Feel free to review my LinkedIn profile and should you wish to have a brief confidential discussion, a project or program review or engagement for a bid or program delivery please do not hesitate in contacting me.

Hopefully, these are useful and at least one or two of the ideas above can make your delivery more manageable.