Opinion
is no longer the sole domain of the CTO. In fact, for
the majority of businesses, it is the desire of the
CEO to create fundamental business change that is
driving the need to seek out and develop new digital
solutions. And it is these CEOs that are demanding
far greater insight into the solutions that are being
employed and exactly how they will positively
impact their business.
With these changes in attitudes come changes in
trends, such as a growth in customised solutions.
With enterprises like Google, Amazon and Uber
making huge strides in technological advancements,
organisations can no longer substantiate the
argument they are simply too big to run tailored
solution programmes.
If you’re an enterprise looking to implement
these customised solutions, it’s also worth noting
For example, the goal could be to create a
customised tablet application that improves all
processes for staff working on construction sites,
therefore enabling them to execute tasks that
were previously paper-based, on easy-to-complete
digital forms that feed immediately into the system.
This application will eliminate the risk of paper
loss, inconsistency in filling out written forms,
unmanageable data, no clear reporting or real-time
analysis and delays in sharing data with relevant
parties. This is a potentially straightforward digital
approach but it has far-reaching benefits.
There also needs to be an understanding that a
digital transformation project is not just a paint-
by-numbers exercise and that priorities and
demands will evolve with time, especially within
larger businesses running longer-term projects.Any team running a transformation project must
be empowered to make changes and decisions
as required. More often it’s how a project is run
as opposed to what is being delivered that will
determine success, whilst remembering why you’re
doing it in the first place.
How you decide to measure the success of your
business’ digital transformation will depend on
the kind of changes you’ve made. However, with
greater senior level involvement and scrutiny,
having clearly defined key performance indicators
(KPIs) agreed with your CEO is important to help
quantify the real impact of the digital initiatives and
therefore provide a robust measure for determining
success. Undoubtedly these will be anchored in how
these changes help the business grow its revenue,
maximise profit, meet scalability ambitions and
enhance its wider market status.
By also evaluating success using metrics that
consider technical adoption rates as well as wider
business objectives, you’ll create a powerful
scorecard that assesses the impact of your new
digital programmes in the round. With solid data to
hand, you and your businesses will be well positioned
to identify where improvements are needed so you
can define, adapt and scale.P
ROFI
LE Rashleigh is technical director at Audacia and a Microsoft-certified
solutions developer, who is also responsible for handling Audacia’s
technical infrastructure.
w: http://www.audacia.co.uk“Ensuring you build the right team and everyone
shares and values the end goal is the most crucial
part of a successful digital transformation piece”
that it doesn’t have to be a large-scale task. The
first step would be to review current processes,
potentially within a single department or business
function, then look at how technology can support
these, as opposed to just saying ‘we need a mobile
app’. It would be beneficial to look at whether you
can achieve this with off-the-shelf or bespoke
technology or a combination of the two. Basically,
don’t bend a CRM system into a large complex ERP
system and don’t rewrite an accounting system when
an off-the-shelf product would fit.
Ensuring you build the right team and that
everyone shares and values the end goal is the most
crucial part of a successful digital transformation
piece. Make sure you’re running a project that
benefits someone or something, not just running a
digital transformation project because everyone else
is. Furthermore, gaining company-wide buy-in is a
crucial factor to consider before running your digital
transformation project.
Having a clear vision for what the new technology
will do – and why – is critical in easing any fears
or apprehension employees may have. It should fix
specific pain points and have a strategic purpose
unique to your business, rather than simply being an
IT solution.