There are many reasons for the growing interest in IT from business leaders, but the crucial one is: digital business transformation is not just a matter of competitiveness or market positioning, it is a matter of survival.
While the stakes are so high, many leaders find themselves trapped by inaction because they fail to follow the fast pace of new technology and do not know where to start or how to put these technologies in place in a global and coherent manner. To overcome this impasse, it is essential to understand the ‘why’ and especially the ‘how’ of such a process of transformation.
The why?
Digital transformation aims to improve business performance by investing wisely in information technology. All digital transformation processes begin with a comprehensive analysis of the needs of the company, in order to determine the potential and specific digital advantages in each of following four sectors.
1. Client Experience
In the past, we bought products and services and also a brand with specific values. Today, we are looking for a more personalised experience. The customer experience is therefore at the top of business leaders’ priorities. IT can optimise the customer experience by strengthening the client’s sense of solidarity, improving their understanding of the brand and by offering options best suited to their needs. These are all advantages that translate into important business opportunities.
2. User Experience
Another priority for business leaders is to facilitate the work of their employees, to make them more efficient and effective. By providing the right tools, IT can improve their user experience, simplify their tasks and, therefore, maximize performance.
3. Operational processes
This involves computerising and automating manual tasks that make management and production processes more cumbersome within a company. Leaders want to reduce time and errors, which translates into substantial savings.
4. Business models
All experts agree: the current way of doing business is on the verge of drastic change. Several companies have already successfully directed all their activities towards digital. Consider La Presse +, Uber or AirBnB, the last two in the taxi and tourist accommodation industries, yet without any physical assets! The redefinition of the business model based on available and future digital technologies is therefore an important preoccupation for businesses.
The How?
In order to meet the different needs of business leaders, it is essential to build a concerted strategy to build real digital leadership, improve internal operations and optimise the available financial resources.
First part: Digital Leadership
For an IT transformation to translate into revenue for a company, it is essential to work closely with senior management. In fact, it is the leaders that are able to identify, initiate, help and direct the whole operation.
Possible solutions:
• Identify potential areas for digital advantage.
• Educate IT on the other lines of business, and vice versa.
• Create a common plan and work closely together.
• Adopt a new business culture.
Second part: optimise internal IT operations
This involves improving IT processes to make them more fluid, less costly and more effective. This frees up significant funds, which can then be reinvested in initiatives focused on the growth of the company.
Possible solutions:
• Automate operations.
• Integrate, converge and consolidate data storage.
• Upgrade existing infrastructure so that they can support the next generations of digital technologies.
• Identify which critical applications must remain physically onsite and which ones can be migrated to the cloud.
Third part: revenue optimisation
This component aims to use the recovered funds gained by optimising operations for digital investments that increase business performance. At this stage, it is important to consider and define the characteristics of the new business model.
Possible solutions:
• Adopt a bi-modal IT model that addresses the mutual preoccupations of both the IT experts and those of the lines of business.
• Invest more financial resources in the IT for systems of engagement.
• Develop an innovative business model that breaks with traditional models.
Present supports companies in their IT transformation. The evaluation and analysis of your current infrastructure and future goals allow us to propose a transformation strategy aligned with your real needs. We offer an honest and objective external opinion, as well as relevant recommendations and possible solutions, to both optimise your IT infrastructure and to develop a digital advantage in your industry.
Next step
To start the new year off on the right foot and find some simple changes that can have a major impact on the year’s success, we are offering to present a study we had commissioned from a research firm, which describes the 3rd platform that we are entering and how we can leverage IT as a business contributor for increased success.
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