Margo Miller, Terillium

The term “Digital Transformation” is thrown around continuously in organizations, but many people don’t understand what it truly is and how they can embrace it. Streamlining operations with technology is at the forefront of this evolution. Industry challenges centered around pain points in all areas of a company have been met with new, modern technologies. These enhanced technologies and strategies provide companies with better insight into all areas of their business.

What is Digital Transformation?

Digital Transformation is a culmination of two key aspects: digitization and digitalization. Digitization is the process of changing from some type of analog to a digital form. For example, converting music from a CD to MP3 or paper to a digital file saved on a computer. Converting this representation of a physical or non-digital thing into a digital format allows you to now use that information in a computer system. Creating digital versions of these so-called physical or carriers of information allows us to now extract that data. Now we can use, process, and transmit it to optimize our processes within a system.

Digitalization is the use of digital technologies and digitized data and how it impacts works getting done. This is going to transform how customers and companies engage, interact, and create new revenue streams inside of your organization. Digitalization is the initiative that allows you to utilize converted information, transform it, and leverage analytical tools to gather insights to mitigate risks and promote efficiencies on future projects. It is embracing that ability and those technologies to capture and assess data and make better decisions to enable new business processes.

When we think of Digital Transformation as a whole, it is a much broader topic. It combines these two components, but it’s more than just applying and digitizing your data. Digital Transformation is profound and accelerating transformation of business activities, processes, competencies, and models to fully leverage the changes and opportunities brought by the digital technologies and the impact across their society in a strategic and prioritized way. It is not just leveraging technology; it is not just digitizing your data. It is bringing all that together and utilizing new processes and more intelligent technologies to make your company more efficient.

Benefits of Digital Transformation

Digital transformation is driving a different culture of innovation and preparing companies to anticipate any disruption. Being prepared from a digital transformation standpoint, allows companies to gather important insights and be nimbler. This increases the speed of decision making and demand to the market. By leveraging new technologies and processes and not having to use manual spreadsheets and paper, you are going to make your processes more efficient which ultimately, is going to give you a cost reduction from a processing perspective.

6 Key Components of Digital Transformation Strategy

1. Strategy and Leadership
   • Focus on future value and drive fueled by experimentation. Who can drive the strategy?
2. Culture and Organization
   • Organizational and cultural changes to facilitate Digital Transformation. Are people prepared for this?
3. Process Automation and Optimization
   • Reinvented processes and customer journeys through automation and agile processes. How can I make myself more efficient?
4. Data Analytics
   • Usable and relevant analytics tied to goals and strategies. How can I leverage this data to make decisions?
5. Technology
   • Technology to enhance and support core functions and rapid development. What technologies are needed to meet my goals?
6. Results
   • Concrete KPI’s and targets. What are the results I’m looking for?

Digital Transformation Roadmap

Creating a Digital Transformation Roadmap can be a daunting task. By breaking down the most important variables and identifying pain points, you can determine how to drive change that meets your company’s specific needs.

1. Assessment – Determine current state
2. Opportunity Scan – Identify DX opportunities
3. Business Cases – Create business case & strategy for defined opportunities
4. Commitment – Gather commitment for strategic leadership
5. Scale/Implement – Begin your digital strategy
6. Re-View, Re-Cycle – Review and prioritize DX backlog

For everything you need to know about Digital Transformation check out Terillium’s comprehensive workshop.