Managing Digital Transformation

In today's highly competitive business environment, organisations have little choice but to adopt digital technology to connect and serve their clients and workforce.

The word "transformation" gets thrown around a lot these days, but it can have different meanings for different individuals and companies. In a world of unprecedented disruption and market turbulence, transformation today revolves around generating new value — to unlock new opportunities, drive further growth, and deliver new efficiencies.

Even before the COVID pandemic, many businesses grappled with the unexpected challenges of technological change, rapidly developing consumer tastes and a reconfiguration of the global economic order. 
 
COVID-19 added further turbulence, disrupting supply chains and causing an all-out war for scarce talent. To say nothing of the incredible work-from-home (WFH) phenomenon that was thrust upon us with no time to prepare for it. In fact, we are still trying to come to terms with it.

The world is in a period of constant change and opportunity. Businesses know they need to reinvent themselves digitally to thrive. But what to do first — and how to do it — may not be so oblivious.
Being at the vanguard of digital transformation, CIOs must stay ahead of ever-changing digital trends to meet rising demands and accelerate their digital transformation.

Every corner of the modern organisation – from procurement and supply chain to finance and human resources needs to be transformed. As the saying goes, if you are not moving forward, you are going backwards. It needs digitisation, breaking out of its protected silo, and connecting with the rest of the business to deliver actual outcomes now and into the future. If ever there was a time to double down on digital transformation to advance operations, drive tech enablement and integrate emerging technologies, then this is that time!

By taking self-assured actions and a business-centric approach to transformation, organisations can be well-positioned to lead and grow with the customer in the middle of the mix.

The big transformation hazards

A well-executed business transformation means your organisation can survive and prosper as you pursue new innovation-driven opportunities that emerge, respond to shifting market demands, and navigate evolving regulatory hurdles. 

Festina Lente (Latin) - One must hasten slowly, i.e., to act with due diligence, focus and attention to detail to avoid mistakes and finish the project in a better position than when the project was started. Going too fast too soon can be disastrous!

Transformation today takes place at dizzying speeds, requiring a level of integration and alignment that many enterprises need to prepare to handle. Because many initiatives that once took years to complete are now being implemented in a year or less, many organisations need to manage mountains of information, compressed timeframes, and countless decisions affecting nearly all aspects of strategy and operations. The risk of failure is significant, but companies that can pull disparate elements into alignment can achieve their objectives now and in the future. It is not easy, but it can be done!

Understanding the strategic keys to achieving breakthrough value, considering the potential risks and aligning all of the elements to get business transformation "right" requires more than an A-to-B roadmap. It requires an integrated approach linking business strategy to transformation ambition to execution discipline to unlock innovative value.

About the Author

Martin Conboy is well recognised as one of the leading voices of the outsourcing / shared services industry and its role in facilitating outsourcing success throughout the Asia Pacific. Martin was voted into the top five most influential and respected people in the global call centre outsourcing industry in 2014. 

Martin Conboy is an accomplished writer and public speaker and has delivered keynote addresses at BPO - ICT and Shared Services conferences in Australia, Bangladesh, China, Hong Kong, India, Korea, Malaysia, Mauritius, the Middle East, The Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and USA.

Martin is a blockchain enthusiast.