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The Definitive Guide to Digital Transformation 2023

Definitive Guide to digital transformation

This practical guide to digital transformation will provide you with the information and resources you need to identify, validate, create, execute, and report on the success of your transformation programme. In short, this definitive guide will blueprint your digital transformation roadmap from start to finish.

Throughout this article you will find useful resources such as a workbook on planning a digital transformation strategy or tables highlighting transformation KPIs. This will help you formulate a successful digital transformation framework that meets your unique set of circumstances. Start by downloading the digital transformation roadmap workbook and the digital transformation eBook PDF to use as a guide.

Download Digital Transformation Roadmap Digital Transformation eBook

Introduction to digital transformation

What is digital transformation?

‘What is digital transformation?’ is probably the first question you will ask yourself and, to be honest, it’s critically important you fully understand the answer as it will ultimately determine the success of your digital transformation framework. Digital transformation isn’t just about new technology, it’s about bringing the power and adaptability of digital technology together with a cultural shift in the way organisations are run.

Digital Transformation is probably a phrase that you have heard or read during the past few years as it has been widely used by analysts, CEOs and thought leaders when discussing how businesses can stay competitive and relevant.

In fact, it’s this final statement that defines what Digital Transformation is. It’s not a mind-blowing concept just for the enterprise – it’s simply understanding how to do business in a digital environment.

Digital transformation technology is already engrained into all aspects of businesses – whether this is recognised or not – through the adoption of business software, mobile technology and new machinery. It’s just how far do you exploit your digital transformation effort?

And this is the big question in relation to digital business transformation.

Every business is different and will have its own business transformation goals or transformation strategy, so it is difficult to give a specific definition of digital transformation. However, it’s widely accepted that it’s the adoption and integration of digital transformation technology, and thinking, into every aspect of the business that leads to a fundamental change in the way in which businesses operate and interact with customers.

So, what is digital transformation?

Put simply, digital transformation strategy steps include:

  1. Establishing very clear business transformation objectives
  2. Identifying where current business processes do and do not align with these objectives
  3. Validating that the business transformation objectives and proposed transformation changes will deliver the desired business benefits
  4. Executing a controlled rollout programme
  5. Monitoring and reporting on digital innovation achieved against the expectations set out during the validation stage. And then refinement, if required.

Guide to Digital Transformation - 5 Digital Transformation Strategy Steps

Diagram: 5 Digital Transformation Strategy Steps

The most important takeaway from this entire article is that digital business transformation is not fundamentally about new technology.

This might sound strange coming from a business that clearly provides business transformation software, but it is true. We only facilitate part of a much wider transformation strategy that incorporates more than business process automation, system integration and portal software. For example, it could incorporate strategic adaptions to the way people are deployed, suppliers are managed, or customers are serviced.

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Why does digital transformation matter?

Quite simply, businesses that don’t start thinking about their digital strategy will be left behind.

Customer demands are extremely high, and they expect services and purchasing experiences to run smoothly, be mobile friendly and secure. If the business systems in place are not working, then customers will simply avoid the product or service and go elsewhere.

Likewise, the workforce also needs to be fully engaged and have the digital tools at their disposal to perform their jobs in the most efficient and productive way possible. This can range from utilising mobile devices and introducing intelligent business systems or artificial intelligence to remove manual processes through process automation or robotic process automation to enable them to concentrate on more productive tasks.

A good user experience for both customers and employees is critical.

Digital business technology has also made it extremely easy for new disruptive businesses to be established and replace activities and services traditionally carried out by more established companies. Organisations therefore need to make sure that they stay cost competitive by not only delivering products and services that customers are demanding, but also in an extremely efficient and customer centric manner.

Business survival strategies will be determined by the way that digital transformation technology is deployed and used, so every organisation needs to consider and constantly evaluate how effective its business processes and systems are. This can range from the initial customer experience on the website or eCommerce store, to include more targeted activities such as predictive analytics, accounting, accurate business forecasting, sales and marketing, real time monitoring and instant customer support. The technology needs to be in place to be able to adapt and react to market changes and facilitate company growth.

There are many reasons why digital transformation is needed, but whatever the end goal is, the customer must always be at the core of your strategy. With this focus, everyone in the organisation will be working towards a common goal and aligned around a common cause.

Most businesses will already have started implementing digital transformation in some form or another using CRM and ERP systems and social media to data analytics and distribution. However, it is the way that these systems and devices interact together that will determine successful digital transformation of the business.

Adopting digital transformation technology affects every part of the business. Everyone needs to be involved from the top to the bottom – from the accounting and marketing departments to senior management and the warehouse. As each department relies on its own business technology to operate specific functions and processes, these systems and technical devices need to be connected and fully integrated to work smoothly.

It’s almost impossible to transform business processes overnight, but organisations can easily start to focus on key aspects of the business that need to be addressed and identify opportunities that can help bring people, business data and processes together to deliver a great customer experience and maintain a competitive advantage.

Customer experience in digital transformation

Putting customers at the heart of digital transformation

Customer experience must be at the core of any digital business transformation strategy. It is vital that every interaction a customer has with your brand or organisation, at whichever touch point, is consistent and continuous. Their interactions, journey, and overall experience, with all aspects of your organisation, will determine their buying habits, attitude to your organisation and future engagement.

It’s not a simplistic process by any means. The digital age philosophy needs to be adopted and implemented throughout the company, from the board room to the customer front line. With some organisations, this could mean a radical shakeup of their strategy.

There are many examples of companies that haven’t acted quickly enough to change and suffered as a consequence. Customer behaviour is constantly changing at a rapid pace, so your organisation needs to make sure that it can react accordingly to changing market forces in order to stay competitive and, ultimately, survive.

Understanding the digital transformation customer journey

The first aspect to address is understanding the customer journey – What are they looking for? How do they want to interact? – then coordinating people, technology, and processes to make sure it is as smooth and stimulating as possible.

The customer experience in digital transformation is key to keeping them on the journey, therefore all touch points, whether web, mobile, instore or over the phone, must be coordinated and be able to deliver the right information at the right time. Organisations therefore need to develop a cohesive multichannel offering, providing the content that they are looking for to deliver the right experience.

To achieve this many organisations are turning to automation and even implementing self-service apps and systems. Automation is helping to reshape customer engagement, as a recent Forrester report clearly outlined: “The new opportunity in the age of the customer is engagement: deploying technologies that will help customers receive better service automatically or better serve themselves.”

It is something that West Lancashire County Council has invested significant time and money into, having built a bespoke self-service mobile app for its tenants. The app, approved by Apple and Google, provides its tenants with the ability to easily access tenancy information, make payments, submit anti-social behaviour (ASB) and arrange property and gas repairs.

This approach is becoming more commonplace as businesses utilise the technology at their disposal to replace historical methods with non-voice interactions. It enables organisations to deliver personalised, real-time information to assist customers on their journey, help them make decisions and, hopefully, make a final purchase.

The Definitive Guide to Digital Transformation 2023

Image: Customer portals may be used to enhance the customer experience in digital transformation.

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Digital transformation analytics

To provide the right information, businesses need to monitor customer behaviour, interactions, and satisfaction, analyse the data, and then make improvements to areas that are underperforming. Digital transformation analytics will enable your organisation to be able to react to market changes, if not predict future trends.

The data can then also be exploited for marketing automation, artificial intelligence and promotional activities, cross-selling and upselling products, or services because of purchasing habits or enquiries to relieve the pressures placed on marketing teams.

Analysing customer data and Implementing these tactics will improve the customer experience and put you in a strong position to retain their interest and custom.

Mobile first digital transformation

With remote working becoming more commonplace, and sales and field workers requiring instant access to data and information wherever they are located, digital business transformation has become essential. Mobiles, laptops and tablet devices all need to be connected to a central server and provide access to relevant information.

In fact, mobile devices are becoming more widely used within an organisation itself, whether this is by the sales team, in the warehouse or at companies who adopt a hot desk philosophy. Collaboration and networking tools such as Slack and Trello have also started to become essential within this environment, as it allows salespeople and frontline staff to identify experts and get questions answered in real time.

There are many avenues that organisations can explore and experiment with digital transformation. Whether it is the way internal business processes are implemented, the way people work and collaborate, or the way in which you communicate and serve customers, there are huge benefits to be gained. Ultimately though, any strategy needs a strong vision, complete buy-in from the entire organisation and the leadership to carry it through.

Digital transformation challenges and opportunities

On the surface, digital transformation appears to be a big business subject, but this assumption is wrong.

The fact of the matter is that changing business processes, working culture and systems within an organisation of 10,000 employees is much harder when compared to one with just 100 employees. So, the great news is that smaller organisations can be in a better position to achieve the opportunities faster.

Technology is obviously the driving force and enabler behind digital transformation. The last decade has witnessed incredible advancements in mobile technology, significant advancements in programming and application development, as well as a substantial increase in the adoption of digital technology, by both customers and employees. It’s obviously a phenomenon that is not merely going to disappear.

One of the main hindrances to organisations adopting digital transformation is their inability, or reluctance, to get rid of legacy systems and replace outdated processes. If these are not addressed, then digital transformation is simply not going to be achievable. Research from Forrester suggests that businesses only spend 28 percent of their budget on innovation and projects in comparison to the 72 percent spent on managing existing IT systems. Not exactly a progressive strategy for digital transformation.

Organisations need to have the technology and processes in place to be able to change and react quickly and easily. This scalability will provide forward thinking organisations with the infrastructure and capability to deliver a better service, explore new opportunities and survive in this digital age.

But what are the common digital transformation challenges and opportunities?

Businesses only spend 28% of their budget on innovation and projects in comparison to the 72% spent on managing existing IT systems.

Digital transformation challenges

Knowledge

Most businesses, regardless of size, struggle with the strategic planning aspect of business transformation. In too many instances, businesses rush out and purchase business systems badged with ‘digital transformation’ with no clear objective, process-aligned plans, validation, or rollout, monitoring and reporting plans.

Existing Systems

Digital transformation in IT can be a major challenge when trying to modernise your business model. It is often too expensive. This is exactly why the validation stage is critical in a digital roadmap, as it is this activity that can burn through the largest of budgets.

It is also important to understand that business transformation does not necessarily mean new systems. In many instances, software integration, process automation or portal creation will enable you to leverage your greatest assets: your existing processes, data, people and systems.

Money

The availability of a budget is often the number one challenge you could face, but it really shouldn’t be. If you have planned your automation and digital transformation initiative correctly the validation phase will remove any budget objections you may face. If the business benefits exceed the initial investment there really cannot be a case for not pursuing a business transformation strategy.

Digital transformation business objectives

The most critical stage of any business transformation project is establishing your business goals. At this stage you should be defining very clear strategic objectives that are not technology based. Technology is just an enabler and potentially just one tool in your armoury.

Make a note of your primary business objectives by downloading the digital transformation roadmap workbook below.

Download Digital Transformation Roadmap Digital Transformation eBook

Below are 3 common digital transformation strategy objectives examples that illustrate the above:

Business Objective 1: Change or diversify the company’s business model

COVID19 completely transformed the way that businesses think. Digital transformation for small and medium enterprises very much became a ‘thing’, with many organisations pivoting their business from Manufacturer – Retailer – Consumer to Manufacturer – Consumer.

Digital transformation changing business functions

Image: Digital Transformation and Changing Business Strategies

Therefore, manufacturers adopted eCommerce platforms such as Shopify, Magento, WooCommerce in their droves to facilitate transactions directly with the customer. However, this technology-led pivot in business models opened-up a whole host of problems down the line because adequate digital transformation initiative and planning was not undertaken. Problems included:

  1. Manual order processing between eCommerce and accounting solutions
  2. Heavy administration when processing orders through courier services and handling returns
  3. Adapting to more rapid changes to stock levels
  4. Establishing JIT systems with material suppliers
  5. Dealing with customer service issues directly
  6. Aligning marketing activity with production and stock activity
  7. Bank reconciliation pressures placed on under-resourced financial teams
  8. Onboarding and management of trading partners

Some manufacturers that pivoted without an end-to-end digital transformation roadmap in place haemorrhaged money through ‘pushed down’ administration, struggled with customer experience and damaged brand reputation.

If this sounds like a familiar experience, or is something you are looking to implement, please download our mapping eCommerce processes workbook and learn how to map your eCommerce processes to avoid the pains so many have experienced.

Download eCommerce Process Workbook

Business Objective 2: Reduce operational costs

An example of digital transformation is cost reduction. Cost reduction can be a perpetual business objective, but decision makers often focus solely on siloed cost centres without considering the wider business process. For example, finance departments are increasingly moving towards the digital capture and processing of employee expenses through spend management solutions, such as SAP Concur.

Without question, spend management tools significantly reduce administrative overheads and play a role in transforming business operations. However, like so many siloed approaches they can, in some instances, inevitably ‘push down’ costs.

Processed expenses ultimately need to be written back into an ERP or accounting solution. Therefore, whilst some of the administration has been removed, other manual costs are often created. This gets even more complicated when intercompany trading is part of the value chain.

Learn more about expenses management and how to avoid pushing costs further down the company value chain within your digital business transformation strategy by reading: Expense Management Integration with Accounting and ERP Systems.

Business Objective 3: Improve customer service

Amazing customer support and service is the hardest competitive advantage to copy. As a result, businesses are beginning to look hard at their current digital transformation vision and evaluating whether it is still fit for purpose when aspiring to create this competitive advantage.

Enabling customers to purchase products or services when they want, have their complaints resolved quickly or get the information they need via any device, is the backbone of great customer service. Choice is also very important, so businesses should not undervalue the importance of person-to-person contact.

Improvements in customer service will inevitably result in some form of digitalisation, but enhancements to employee training, process flows, and feedback loops may play a more fundamental role.

Discover how The FD Centre revolutionised its customer service levels, reduced costs and exceeded customer expectations through the enhancement of existing IT investments and the addition of a simple customer portal.

“The first benefit received is the saving of time. From a finance perspective, having automated the billing process we are saving around three to four days a month in the UK alone. Once each country is added, I believe we’re going to save a month of an individual’s time. I estimate it will save us around £50,000 per annum in time / monetary savings. The system will ultimately pay for itself (and some).”

Financial Controller, The FD Centre

Make a note of your primary and secondary business objectives by downloading the digital transformation workbook below.

Digital Transformation Roadmap Workbook Digital Transformation eBook

Digital transformation key success metrics

The success of your digital transformation project ultimately depends on realistic planning and robust implementation. The key Digital transformation success metrics typically include:

Clear Objectives

Digital transformation objectives are the foundation of everything and are key to the success of your digital transformation plan. They need to be clear in terms of business benefits delivered to the business, customer, supplier or other stakeholders.

More importantly, these objectives must be clearly communicated to people that play a role in the delivery of your digital roadmap.

People

Digital business transformation is not about technology. The relevant stakeholder(s) must buy into the strategic objectives of the company. However, you must accept that in some circumstances this may not be possible.

For example, call centre operatives will not go above and beyond to define the question trees for a self-service, customer portal unless it is made clear at the very onset that this will not result in their role being made redundant.

Typically, the common stakeholders required to achieve digital transformation include your company’s leadership team, employees and value chain partners.

Processes

Mapping existing business processes upfront can save you a lot of time and money. The temptation of any digital transformation project is to acquire lots of new systems when it is the business processes that flow through them that can impact most on the success of your project.

Measuring digital transformation success metrics

Measuring digital transformation success metrics ultimately results in the creation of digital transformation KPIs being set at an operational level. It is important that at this stage you do not go KPI crazy and set hundreds of key performance indicators when only a core selection really matter.

The key to setting digital transformation KPIs is to set a weighting to them in terms of importance. For example, in the customer service function, which KPI is more important between:

  1. Processing more customer services requests per hour, or
  2. Achieving a higher customer satisfaction score

You would think the answer to the above is obvious, but what if you customer satisfaction score is already the best in the market, or your own 90% of the market with no short-term competitive risks? Therefore, setting digital transformation KPIs should be intrinsically linked to the organisations overarching business objective(s), strategy, and current market position.

Common business-specific digital transformation KPIs examples that may be relevant to your project or industry may include:

  1. Customer revenue types
  2. Reduction in operational costs
  3. Order to fulfilment times
  4. Employee performance
  5. The speed in which new products can be launched
  6. Market share
  7. Brand recognition
  8. Profitability ratios

Applying an agile digital transformation strategy to internal processes can have a significant impact on a business, greatly improving efficiency and performance, resulting in a reduction in costs and an increase in profitability.

The key aspect here is the management and manipulation of big data. Each department and employee needs to have access to real-time, relevant data to achieve this. However, far too many businesses have department or system silos with data stored on various databases contained within a wide range of business systems – accounting, CRM, ERP, HR, product development.

These systems often lack the integration required to share and use the data to best advantage. Organisations therefore don’t benefit from the business intelligence and strategic insight available that can help drive the organisation forward.

Embracing system and data integration will enable your business to bridge the gap between systems and cloud computing applications, providing an environment in which they can talk to each other. This will help reduce process bottlenecks and remove repetitive data entry tasks, thus having a significant impact on efficiency.

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Digital transformation roadmap

If you’ve scanned through this article and are looking for how to create a digital transformation roadmap, the good news is it’s all laid out for you below with your own project planning workbook available for download. This section will help you to outline your digital transformation blueprint that is unique to the way your organisation works. Following the digital transformation roadmap examples detailed below will enable you to establish your unique digital transformation framework by considering the business requirements and resources available within your organisation. Once your digital transformation roadmap has been defined, you will be in a strong position to discuss the options and next steps with your chosen digital transformation solutions provider. A digital transformation roadmap can help you identify areas for improvement, where automation is required and where technology can be used to improve operational processes. A visual overview of a digital transformation roadmap example can be seen in the image below:

digital transformation blueprint and digital transformation roadmap example

Diagram: Digital Transformation Roadmap Example

How to create a digital transformation roadmap

Start planning your digital transformation framework by downloading the accompanying digital transformation eBook PDF and workbook. By following the process outlined in this section and using the digital transformation workbook you will be able to identify key areas, capabilities and potential bottlenecks within your organisation to build a digital transformation roadmap.

Download Digital Transformation Roadmap Digital Transformation eBook

Follow the steps below to create your unique digital transformation blueprint:

Decide what you want to achieve in your digital transformation framework

The key to making a digital transformation roadmap is to smart small. It may be to create a self-service experience for customers or to streamline purchase / payment processes. For example:

Business ObjectiveBusiness BenefitsPrimary Risks
Enable customers to self-serviceReduce costsCustomers might prefer speaking to a person

Map your current and proposed business processes

Map the current and proposed business processes and itemise the points where people, systems or other stakeholders contribute to the process. Having a visual flow of your business processes will help you to identify any prerequisites and constraints involved within the project. A great resource for helping you start this process can be found here: Guide to BPA Project Management.

Stress test your proposal

This is when the senior management team should look to analyse the potential gains against the investment. A simple scoring card can help with this analysis.

Benefit goalChange required and its projected costMeasurement of successProceed with project (Y/N)

Reduce cost of customer service

Improve customer satisfaction levels

Change customer behaviour towards self-service

£20,000

Likely adoption rate of self-service compared to contact centre calls to exceed 50%

Customer satisfaction levels to increase by 20%

Potential £70,000 cost reduction to be achieved through self-service

Y

Start planning your digital transformation roadmap by downloading the workbook below.

Download Digital Transformation Roadmap

Execute your digital transformation project

Project plans differ significantly between organisations, but at the very core of you plan should be the following elements:

  1. Clear summary of the project
  2. Roles and responsibilities of all stakeholders
  3. Realistic timelines
  4. Agreed budgets
  5. Monitoring and checkpoint systems
  6. Agreed criteria for the closure of the project

Run the outcomes of the project against your stress test

By the time you reach this stage of your digital transformation project it will already be clear whether you’ve achieved your goals. However, it is very important to collectively share and analyse the results with the senior management team.

The reasons why you should formally review your project post-delivery at board level include:

  1. To get collective acknowledgement of the outcomes delivered
  2. To identify common problems to avoid for the next digital transformation project
  3. To discuss the speed in which future projects can or cannot be achieved
  4. To evaluate the value-add of external suppliers and their future relationship with you
  5. To establish reward systems for key stakeholders that are key to future projects
  6. To recognise gaps in people, resources, and knowledge that the project highlighted

Digital transformation technology is very accessible and can be extremely easy to deploy. Whereas businesses used to have to adapt business strategies to fit technology systems, many have realised that this shouldn’t be the case and are exploiting the wealth of applications and SaaS products that have become available to address particular aspects of the business.

With Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) readily available, businesses can build their own SaaS applications from scratch.

The refreshing thing about these customisable applications is their ability to exploit application program interfaces (APIs) – a secret weapon for embracing true digital transformation.

APIs have opened software technology in an unprecedented way. They now provide organisations with the ability to integrate a wide variety of best of breed digital technologies together to create an ecosystem that is fast, flexible and can handle incredibly large volumes of data fast.

Sales orders, documents and any type of data can be easily transferred from one system to another quickly and easily. With dedicated business process automation software, it is also possible to remove much of the manual processing that businesses rely on by automating the transfer of this data. This can help organisations streamline business processes and free up staff and departments to concentrate on more proactive and lucrative tasks.

Digital transformation examples and case studies

Through over 20 years of implementing business process automation software our team of consultants have performed thousands of digital transformation projects to help organisations of all sizes enhance their digital capability and operational performance. Every business has its own unique processes and will approach its digital transformation strategy differently to its competitors. The following digital transformation case studies will provide you with an indication of how businesses of all sizes across various industries and specialisms are becoming more agile and effective by using technology to accelerate digital transformation.

Digital transformation case studies

  • French Connection moved to the Shopify Plus enterprise eCommerce platform in November 2021 as the replacement platform for its eCommerce websites (French Connection UK, US & EU and Great Plains). However, it needed these websites to integrate with Options, French Connection’s existing customer service and warehouse fulfilment solution. Using BPA Platform it integrated these four websites in time to meet its deadline and automated numerous eCommerce processes, including processing of orders and payments, as well as order risks and fulfilment information.
  • Moore Stephens LLP needed an automated cross-platform database monitoring solution to integrate and monitor over 500 databases linked to its document management systems, issue notifications and alerts regarding data problems and distribute reports, purchase orders and correspondence. This has improved internal services and quality, and reduced manual administration tasks
  • The Woodland Trust integrated its CRM, fundraising and charity management system with its other business systems to automate Direct Debit checks, financial management tasks and other day-to-day repetitive, manual processes to improve productivity.
  • Graff Diamonds gained significant ROI by automating a multitude of business processes with BPA Platform. Using it to integrate SAP Business One systems, over 50 EPOS systems and SAP Concur, the Graff family and employees now have a complete overview of the company’s operations and can reallocate resources to expand the business.
  • West Lancashire Borough Council saved over £1m in 12 months by providing up-to-date, modern services to its customers whilst trying to reduce costs and resources. By automating specific tasks and processes it resolved certain pain points and enhanced services offered.
  • Grant Westfield improved its digital transformation framework by upgrading its existing integration and automation digital technologies with a new platform that could take on the tasks already being run, whilst improving stability and maintenance, as well as allowing for future functionality with other systems.
  • Fashion Edge transformed its business processes by integrating its primary ERP system with three external business systems and then automated the transfer of SKU data, reports and dispatch notices. Fashion Edge has also used BPA Platform to automate the creation of good receipts, POs and invoices, thus automating supply chain management.
  • Ardent Hire saved hundreds of hours per month by improving customer service whilst increasing revenue streams through digital transformation.

Discover more digital transformation case studies.

Benefits of digital transformation

Automating processes in daily operations such as order management, fulfilment, invoicing, cash collection and expense approvals enables businesses to eliminate manual data inputting and each system can utilise real-time data.

This will boost the capacity of a business, as staff and business processes become quicker and more efficient. It will also enable businesses to redeploy staff to higher-value activities to help the business innovate and grow and help avoid new hires that would otherwise be required to manage these processes.

With full integration between systems, every department will have access to the most up-to-date information, which will enable them to perform their jobs better as well as explore new growth opportunities and improvements to procedures.

This is particularly relevant for the marketing department which will be able to analyse all the data available to deliver effective campaigns and content that customers are looking for. Much of this can also be automated, thus improving response times and making sure that the message is timely and relevant.

To achieve this, however, organisations need to understand the habits of consumers and deliver the information via the channels that they are using – which, as we know, is now mostly digital: apps, online eCommerce stores, social media, etc. Even email is still a useful and effective medium.

Digital transformation technologies provide organisations with the platform for digital innovation and the ability to explore new opportunities. Application development is becoming much easier with platforms available to develop apps quickly and easily, system extensions and web portals with little or no code at all. This flexibility ensures that businesses can react quickly to changes and allows them the scalability that is required during growth periods.

business benefits of digital transformation

Diagram: Business benefits of digital transformation

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Digital transformation checklist

When starting your digital transformation journey an assessment of business practices, customers, company vision and culture, strategic goals, technology, and data should be performed. The following digital transformation checklist may be used in conjunction with the associated transformation roadmap and brings together your digital transformation challenges, objectives, success factors, technology, and people to help build your digital roadmap.

Transformation Strategy

Develop and establish a clear vision of business transformation objectives and outcomes.

StrategyBusiness BenefitsPrimary Risks
Define business overview. Where are you now?
Where do you want to be? Detail future plans and strategy
How will you get there?
Obtain Stakeholder buy-in
Outline business objectives to the wider organisation

People

Establish your project team, roles and KPIs as well as prepare the organisation for change.

PeopleBusiness BenefitsPrimary Risks
Establish a project team
Define project team roles
Provide training and instruction where needed
Centralise access to documentation for strategy plans and progress
Set and define attainable KPIs, targets and roles

Technology

Establish existing business systems, department systems, where critical data is found and how technology will be used to improve processes.

TechnologyBusiness BenefitsPrimary Risks
Detail business systems and where data is held (Cloud, On-Premises, Hybrid Mobile etc.)
Do these systems need integration?
Establish in-house skills, servers, and back-end administration tasks
Establish budget and deployment costs
Map business processes for each department involved
Establish Governance e.g., are there any legislations on where you can store data?
Establish a digital transformation technology and partner

Partnering with a digital transformation solutions provider

Identifying the right digital transformation partner can be a tough task. Your partner must have a wide range of technology consulting experience and specialist knowledge, whilst having an understanding of business operations with a wide range of digital technologies that can help you on your journey.

Look for digital transformation solution providers that can entertain detailed business transformation discussions, provide product demonstrations, and highlight case studies and transformation examples on the type of project that you are looking to achieve. You need to ensure that your chosen digital transformation expert is a good fit for your organisation and can deliver projects that provide you with an ROI.

Codeless Platforms has a proven track record in deploying digital transformation projects, delivering system integration best practices, and streamlining business processes that enable organisations of all sizes to achieve successful transformation. Its highly skilled and knowledgeable workforce offers consultancy, professional services and technical support to end users and its partner channel, providing them with the knowledge and freedom to achieve end-to-end transformation efficiency.

Your digital transformation project can be a challenge which requires people, processes, and technology to adapt to changing business requirements and customer expectations. Our digital transformation blueprint has been established through customer requirements and insights with examples of digital transformation projects that span across a wide variety of departments, processes, systems and industry specialisms.

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Conclusion

You now have everything you need to start your digital transformation strategy. However, the most important takeaway should be that digital transformation is not about technology. Don’t be duped into buying software just because it’s positioned as such. Engage with your colleagues, suppliers, and stakeholders in a consultative fashion to identify what will really make a difference to your business. When you have planned your digital transformation roadmap, enhance your integration strategy by becoming familiar with system integration best practices to increase performance.

System integration and business process automation software provides companies with the agility to further explore and implement digital transformation and removes the digital silos that are often found in many organisations. Sharing real-time information around the company is paramount for success.

Data analytics can be used to shape digital marketing activities, explore new opportunities, and understand how customers use and think about products or services. It will improve collaboration between departments, enable digital innovation to flourish and ultimately provide customers with a better service and experience.

Technology is also central to user experience, whether this is from the viewpoint of the customer or an employee. Digital technology has been adopted by most people and they now expect this to be reflected in the workplace or with the companies that they interact with.

Customers expect faultless online services, mobile applications, and simple payment systems. Employees require intuitive business systems, the ability to work remotely and relevant information at their fingertips.

Business owners and IT teams need to understand what the users of the applications need, whether internal or external, and how they use them. It isn’t a case of simply providing access. They need to provide the functionality and flexibility that they have become used to with digital technology.

Remember, digital transformation isn’t just about new technology. It’s about bringing the power and adaptability of technology together with a cultural shift in the way organisations are run. Only then will they be able to truly explore the benefits of digital transformation.

For more information on how you can start planning your digital transformation journey download the workbook below or arrange a call with one of our business transformation experts.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Digital business transformation isn't just about new technology, it’s about bringing the power and adaptability of digital technology together with a cultural shift in the way organisations are run. For example, it could incorporate strategic adaptions to the way people are deployed, suppliers are managed, or customers are serviced.
Setting digital transformation KPIs should be intrinsically linked to the organisations overarching business objective(s), strategy and current market position. Common business specific digital business transformation KPIs that may be relevant to your project or industry may include: customer revenue types, reduction in operational costs, order to fulfilment times, employee performance, the speed in which new products can be launched, market share, brand recognition, profitability ratios.
Cost reduction can be a perpetual business objective, but often decision makers focus solely on siloed cost centres without considering the wider business process. For example, finance departments are increasingly moving towards the digital capture and processing of employee expenses through spend management solutions, such as SAP Concur.
Measuring digital transformation success ultimately results in the creation of business transformation KPIs being set at an operational level. It is important that at this stage you do not go KPI crazy and set hundreds of KPIs when only a core selection really matter. The key to setting KPIs is to set a weighting to them in terms of importance.
The common challenges of digital transformation include: knowledge, existing systems and the availability of budget.
The purpose of a digital roadmap is to help you to identify the business processes that you would like to improve. We’ve put together a workbook for you to start planning your roadmap.

Digital Transformation Roadmap Workbook

Digital Transformation Roadmap Workbook

Learn how to plan your digital transformation project to ensure it runs smoothly and is delivered on time.

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