Are We There Yet? Digital Transformation & Driving Directions

I am one of those people that loathes driving without directions. To me, there is nothing worse than being lost and not having any idea where to go. And, it’s not just being unsure of how to get there. What gives me the most anxiety is the unfamiliarity with all of the landmarks, street names, and quirks about getting anywhere. Whether you give your buddy street names or navigate by “turn left at the giant blue thing”, you want to ultimately arrive at the end destination intact.

I’ve used a similar analogy in working with customers more and more lately. Digital Transformation is a process and often the opposite of a straight line. But it is a journey every organization is on right now. When I have these conversations, I use this thought: When you are looking up directions for where you want to go, you only know two things. You know where you are currently and where you want to end up. That’s it.

Punching the end destination into the map application of your choice is the easy part. Every organization wants to be more efficient and use technology in an effective way. While it may look different for each organization, their end destination is reasonably similar. They want processes to improve, the cost of doing business to go down, and their teams to be more productive. Not exactly groundbreaking stuff.

Digital Transformation doesn’t necessarily have a defined endpoint, but once your tools are in place for a particular initiative, knowing what to do with them and how to support them day forward is crucial.

Understanding the best way to get there for you is the hard part. When driving, do you take the highway? Are there traffic jams or construction to look out for? Is it going to be easier to take the train or hop on a plane? Can I drive myself there or do I need help? Where are the best donuts and coffee shops along the way? Maybe that last bit is just for me, but you get the picture. Knowing where to go is easy, but there are a few moving pieces, literally and figuratively, along the way.

Embarking on your Digital Transformation is much the same with a lot of questions to answer on how you get to your end destination. There are three key things to consider when looking up directions on your journey.

1)     How do I know where I am starting from?

It’s a loaded question that requires a lot of introspection and fact finding. If we use Accounts Payable processes as an example, some things are just metrics. How many invoices? What is the average days to pay? How many people are involved? But there are also more complex issues, such as understanding approval processes, the technology in place today that supports those processes, and the business rules that govern those processes. Taking an honest assessment of all of those components is crucial to better understanding the next steps needed for any organization. Sometimes, what was once good enough isn't actually good anymore.

2)     How do I want to make the trip?

Just like going on a trip, you need the right means of transportation. Maybe you can drive yourself or maybe you’ve got to hop on a plane. Again using Accounts Payable as an example, there may be a need to implement a new ERP, stand up a content repository for historical records, or configure an approval workflow to speed up the current process. There may also be piles of boxes or physical records that need to be scanned. Not every organization has the manpower or bandwidth to perform all of this work themselves. Most of us can drive our own car, but how many of us can fly our own plane? Along those same lines, Digital Transformation often requires finding the right partner to get you to your end destination.

3)     What do you do when you actually get where you are going?

I remember my first trip to the legendary Hard Eight BBQ in Coppell, TX. I finally got there and had no idea what I should do next. Until someone walked me through how to order and pay for my food, I was clueless. Digital Transformation doesn’t necessarily have a defined endpoint, but once your tools are in place for a particular initiative, knowing what to do with them and how to support them day forward is crucial. Is there training for users, managers, and administrators that increases the likelihood of success? Are there peers or user groups where best practices and lived experiences can be shared? Are there experts on those tools I can leverage to continue to look for areas of improvement and maximize the ROI of the solution? 

Whatever your reasons for starting your Digital Transformation journey is, Konica Minolta is here to help. Whether you’re looking to get rid of paper, move on from outdated systems, or increase process efficiency, there’s a solution to get you there. 

Joe Russo is an ECM Account Executive with Konica Minolta, a Hyland Software Platinum Elite Partner and a 2020 Kofax Partner of the Year. Joe has previously contributed to the The OnBase Blog and The Hyland Blog. His work has also appeared on Mic.com, The Fraternity Advisor, and Factory of Sadness, a Cleveland sports website operated by Fansided.