Why are companies struggling to keep up with innovation and digital transformation ?

The competitive landscape is constantly changing. Your business needs to be innovative, creative, and constantly strive for perfection if you want to capture the attention of the customers. On the other hand, enterprises will not be able to overcome this challenge without the help of digital transformation and innovation.

Having said that, we all know the importance of digital transformation and innovation in a business, but how do you go about doing it? There are a lot of business leaders who struggle with this, and end up trying to do too much too quickly. This leads to a lot of stress and wasted time. In today’s blog, we will take a look at  why some companies adapt to digital transformation, and why do others get left behind?

“Digital Transformation” can be defined as the integration of digital technology into all areas of an organization, fundamentally transforming operations and values. Organizations with outdated systems, inefficient processes, and nimble competitors are reaching a tipping point. i.e., they must either evolve or expire. According to Forbes, over 70% of the companies who expected to invest $1.3 trillion to leverage digital solutions last year failed to reach their stated goals. Why?  Most of these organizations failed to reach a solid understanding of the root of their issues—their purpose—and then align internally to plan and execute a unique transformation strategy. Another study done in 2020 by Boston Consulting Group discovered that a staggering 70% of digital transformation projects tend to fall short of their goals— even when leadership is aligned.

1) The Right Data

The pandemic definitely forced organizations to change their business models. Thus, they had no choice but to move pilot programs in to production in order to accelerate digital initiatives. Considering that, capitalizing on data growth to deliver new solutions is a must for surviving in this new digital economy. However, getting the right data to the right place is problematic because data is distributed across clouds, devices and machines.

2. Partnering with Poor Onboarding Processes

The most common underlying reason for failed digital transformation projects is poor onboarding processes and a lack of purpose-built systems for onboarding and implementation projects. In order to prevent such disasters, ensure transparency and accountability from both the sides via regular project and collaboration tools

3. Unwillingness to accept change

Despite the organization’s efforts and investment. Digital Transformation is bound to disappoint if it is introduced to broken processes and teams that are resistant to change. To avoid such disappointment, leaders must develop integrated strategies which begins with a goal-driven process and organizational design change management. Overall, digital innovations should harmonize efforts taken by the senior management.

4. Resistance to change

Digital Transformation requires the entire organization to be aligned towards one single end goal. Unfortunately, most people involved in the very process of digital transformatio are reluctant to change as they prefer the status quo. Thus, making it  extremely difficult for leadership to move forward. If the entire organization does not undergo a cultural shift, with winners and losers there is absolutely no point.

5. Failure to set clear End-User Experience Goals

It is essential to have concise goals in terms of end-user experience. Most companies fail to properly benchmark end-user experience beforehand, during and after migrations. Thus, the failure percentage is higher when there are hundreds of legacy applications to migrate to the cloud.

6. Goals of the project are miscommunicated

Miscommunication is the root cause of failure in many businesses planning. Misunderstandings are most likely to occur between the need versus the solution built. For instance, if the project’s goals are ambiguous or not communicated properly, the end result will equal to misalignment and failure. Overall, an organization which lacks a culture of transformation with resistant employees when it comes to change is bound to have a difficult digital transformation.

7. Goals are not coordinated between teams

Miscommunication is the root cause of failure in many businesses planning. Misunderstandings are most likely to occur bA holistic approach with true syncing and alignment across the organization’s platforms create any successful digital transformation. Communication for coordination and establishment of desired outcomes is essential for leaders and teams to decide their parts. Besides that, understanding the outcome for the business as a whole is equally important. There may be numerous moving parts supposedly a company neglects any one of these; digital transformation will fail.

8. Assuming Digitization and Digitalization are the same

Absolutely not, digitization is the conversion of products or processes to a digital form whereas digitalization is using every opportunity gained from the digitized products and processes. If an organization fails to differentiate between the two as “digitization is table stakes, while digitalization is transformation” the journey ahead for the organization looks rocky.  

9. Utilizing An Outdated Tech Stack

Miscommunication is the root cause of failure in many businesses planning. Misunderstandings are most likely to occur An outdated tech stack may be the reason your digital transformation projects are falling behind. It is crucial for an organization’s tech stack to foster unification between sales and marketing teams, driving results with all the tools, services and analytics needed to execute larger organizational strategies.

10. Commitment & Dedication are lacking

MThe second most important ingredient of digital transformation is commitment. Whether it is commitment to keep moving forward or never giving up. It is not just essential but a must for companies to learn to do things in a new manner. Therefore, the right leadership is required to endure not only staying aligned but deeply understanding it is going to hurt. All in all, companies who are committed in embracing the Stockdale Paradox of all good-to-great will endure no matter how hard it may be.

11. Fearing Failure

Miscommunication is the root cause of failure in many businesses planning. Misunderstandings are most likely to occur Fear is bound to prevent change as it only holds back organizations from been comfortable at where they are currently. Initially, along the transformation journey setbacks will occur but if business units fear such failure the, more resistant they may be.

Therefore, employees are scared due to the negative connotations that many digitalization projects have. Sometimes, application of continuous improvement mindset may help but it will slow down the pace of projects.

12. Lacking appropriate skills

Miscommunication is the root cause of failure in many businesses planning. Misunderstandings are most likely to occur Resources are scarce and it is no brainer. Digital Transformation requires transferring all of your organizations processes to the cloud to create a better, more seamless experience for customers enabling employee’s collaboration at any place at any time. Thus, the process is time consuming and organizations must endeavor all efforts effort and change management to move workloads to the cloud. Even though, the demand for cloud skills is on the rise, such talent is hard to come by.  

13. Underestimating Costs

Last but not least, most companies have the tendency to overestimate the benefits while underestimating costs. It is important to note that aligning leadership means nothing if actions are purely based on inaccurate or inadequate information.  

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