Structuring to drive a digital transformation of the business
Shaun Orpen
Partnering with clients to reduce the time to market, risk and cost of developing software
Just had a very energising meeting with Dermot Hill who leads a boutique search firm. We were discussing the role of the COO – and its relevance in today's market . With more companies making a full digital transformation (some call this the 4th industrial revolution) of their business, the key question for me is : How best to structure to drive this transformation? In my view, placing the responsibility for company transformation at the door of the person who is running the day to day operations of the business makes more sense and has less ‘moving parts’ than the alternative approach of creating a separate unit with the remit to drive a digital transformation across the whole business.
For the last few years I have been talking to Telcos around the world who are heavily embracing such a transformation and figuring out how to harness the value from huge volumes of structured and unstructured data in their organisations. The more advanced are investing heavily in Customer Experience Management (CEM) which includes a full digitalisation of the customer experience. All this needs in my view a very analytical and commercial stance for fear of making it a big academic exercise with little tangible affect for the end Customer.
I was interested to read Dermot’s blog on current recruitment trends - that shows the rise of importance of the COO role. In my view not only for the reasons sited in the article but also to help drive this digital transformation of business. I am sure Dermot would happily engage you with further views for those that are interested.