Companies that don’t embrace new technologies to help them work faster and smarter will fall behind the competition and ultimately fail. Digital transformation is required in the new world of business to improve efficiency, connectivity, security, and data insights. Digitization even gives you the ability to innovate and grow in new ways.
10 tips for digital transformation success
If your company is lagging behind with its technology, these tips will help you get started and be successful in your digital transformation.
- Find a digital transformation consultant
The right partner–whether internal or external–can act as a guide, project manager, financial planner, and more in your digital transformation journey. A digital transformation consultant will ask you the right questions to help you prioritize goals, cut down on waste, and get results faster.
- Define your desired outcome
Create a plan or roadmap to designate priorities and track progress. Group priorities into themes for easier execution. Be intentional so you’re not just throwing money at technology without a plan. Document where you want to be in 5 or 10 years.
- Set a budget
Carve out a budget for digital transformation, even if it’s small in the beginning. Be specific in how it aligns with business goals. This helps you prioritize transformation and keep your initiatives moving forward.
- Get excited about transformation
Some companies get stuck in a mindset of thinking, “We’ve always done it this way,” or “If it’s not broken, why fix it?” If you don’t explore the possibilities, you can miss out on exciting opportunities.
- Don’t bite off too much at once
Trying to change everything at once is the fastest way to fail at digital transformation. If you try to go too far too fast, it will be costly and risky because you will have trouble seeing if you’re headed in the right direction. If you’re not, it can be too hard to correct across the organization.
- Create a plan of adoption
Employees have to use new tools to make digital transformation successful. Expect some resistance and friction to new technologies, then create a plan to roll out or get buy-in for each tool. Begin by listening to those who are resistant and try to find out the source of their objections so they don’t reject the tool or end up using both old and new systems. Keep everyone in the loop about new technologies and set expectations early.
- Determine ROI
Cost is a common concern in digital transformation, but calculating ROI helps you see if the cost is worth it. The costs of technologies, implementation, and training can be significant, but it’s important to compare these to the costs of not transforming.
- Stay aware
Keep up with what others in your industry are doing with technology. Pay attention to competitors and industry news, and apply that knowledge to grow your business or to help your teams work more efficiently. Don’t get stuck in your company’s bubble because If you’re not paying attention to industry trends or what competitors are doing, you risk falling behind.
- Start small
The best approach to starting your digital transformation is to find a small change that will make a big impact. Most often the first change will be automating a manual process. For example, if people in your organization are still manually entering data or creating reports, start there. If you use technology to integrate data from different systems into a single interface and then automate reporting, you will save many hours of work each year.
- Experiment and iterate
Be smart about change by being agile and iterating as you go. Commit to enough responsible transformation to confirm assumptions and ensure you’re heading in the right direction, then iterate. Treat everything like an experiment on a small scale. Bucket goals into themes or impact areas, then prioritize them and execute against your plan.
How Corsica transforms work
Digital transformation is no longer a luxury. It’s necessary for any company that wants to stay competitive. Corsica partners with clients to develop a digital transformation plan and implement or build effective transformation systems. We advise you throughout your technology journey to help you meet your goals.
