The impact of COVID-19 pandemic changed all aspects of our lives, from the way we interact socially to the way we operate professionally with customers and employees. This emergence offers an opportunity for business leaders to push their organization’s differences toward cultivating growth and strengthen their competitive advantage.
Although the pandemic has collided across the board, not all digital leaders in all regions face similar outcomes. Thus, the pandemic didn’t solely create the need for digital business and solution; however, it brought forward the conversation and accelerated the adoption of those the company previously relied mainly on the traditional model to stream revenue.
According to a McKinsey Global Survey, companies have fast-tracked digitization and creation of value chain networks, and workplace operations by three to four years. Furthermore, the digital transformation that empowers products in their portfolios has been fast-tracked by seven years.
The key result is that digital transformation is positioned as a priority business transformation because it leverages diverse technologies to integrate, and enables initiatives to be launched that can deliver business continuity and customer experiences (CX) to survive in this highly digitised world.
Where it comes to responsibility, CDOs should encourage and drive collaboration between IT and the rest of the business to achieve that goal, this equates to a fully optimized digital transformation in all aspects of the enterprise. They have to create an environment where people feel empowered to be creative with agile technologies and implement their digital solutions without sacrificing security or governance.
A call for digital transformation
Customer expectation, shopping habits, buying behavior, have recently migrated to a digital platform. In a way, customer experience (CX) differentiates from personal assistance towards total digital utilization, thus, CDOs and CX leaders must look beyond the traditional way and focus on digitization to change gears or risk of being left behind competitors.
Most companies consider implementing a digital strategy instead of simply aligning with specific functional requirements and digitising them. A well defined digital strategy integrates all aspects of customer touchpoints (customer loyalty, cash management, compliance report) to process data via an operating model with specific repetitive use cases.
Creating a resilient digital strategy requires the CDO to work closely with the CEO, CFO, and business unit leaders; active participation inside and outside the sector provides a comprehensive breakdown of market trends and expansions in technology and customer movements.
As customers increasingly demand contactless services, companies have experienced a tremendous push toward intelligent automation, which has enhanced the speed and agility to create customised services. It also eliminates technical difficulties as there are fewer steps that must be handled directly by the front line, thus making it easier for brands to create a positive impact and flawless experiences for their customers.
Seven essential steps to building effective digital transformation strategy (DX)
Step 1: Align with your Goals and Mission- define needs and goals to set your digital transformation up for success. Align with the organization’s existing strategic goal for your 5-to-10-year plan, use KPIs to measure the next steps of your effective digital strategy and help determine the results.
Step 2: Assess competitive landscape and market trends – your digital transformation strategy should be based on a consumer-centric model or personalized target customer segment. Keep in mind that the objective of digitization is to improve customer experience and close the gaps between your customer and organization.
Step 3: Develop a budget plan – it is crucial to have a financial plan before investing in the long-term project. Create sufficient DX budget for implementing digital transformation, measure potential risks or delays that can trigger changes to your DX investment.
Step 4: Prepare for cultural change – the concept of digital integration influences the working style and organization’s culture and how it engages with members and customers. The C-suite must empower and inspire collaboration to ensure everyone understands the reasons behind the change and ensure there is representation across the primary value chain – IT, OT, Sales, Marketing, etc – that aligns the teams mindset at all times.
Step 5: Build your team– this is a conversation at the C-suite level to restructure the skill and knowledge of your employees, determine their willingness to learn and adapt to the new technologies as your organization continues to evolve.
Step 6: Evaluate the critical partners - having CXOs in DX tech decision-making helps the organization choose the right technology that suits business needs without substantial performance drawbacks. You must seek a partner who will complement your strengths and understand the current infrastructure to implement it according to the imminent changes.
Step 7: Measure and revise as needed – it is necessary to update and reorganize your implementation base on current market trends and conditions even though you proceed according to the key performance indicators (KPIs) for each project. Since the digital transformation process doesn’t end, create strong feedback interconnection with stakeholders and make sure all parties are as receptive and the project is a success.
Roles and Responsibility of Digital-Driven Team
While catching up, digital transformation is crucial as having the organization’s central role linking the proper business operation, procedures, knowledge, and skills and facilitating new systems accomplish the future growth direction.
Digital transformation is carried out by many CIOs, padding the Chief Digital Officer (CDO) position to describe their remit. At the same time, the organization rebranded the CDO because the magnitude of this transition ensures that C-suite requires a deep commitment across the enterprise and using technical knowledge to drive revenue growth.
As it stands, software engineers are aware of industry-relevant integration patterns, microservices, and DevOps practices with the help of the essential roles of digital product managers for telling stories and constructing product data. With the help of the project manager’s mindset produces reliable data and ensures obedience to security standards in a short period result.
Data scientists and data analytics are also active participants analysing digital blueprints, linking IT toolkits with statistics resources, and business strategy.
When it comes to unique user-centric design, UX designers and content writers must understand the customer journey and develop an enhanced experience to help shape creative encounters like interactive narratives. Where customers rely on the interface, every organization should prioritize to improve the user experience.
Next: The importance of digital transformation driving CX. Read on.