Why should you care about digital business transformation building blocks? Well, if you are an executive at any firm, the pressure to go digital is coming from all quarters. Digital, alas, is the new “Plastics.” So, today we have all been conditioned to think going digital is a strategic imperative and the only survival strategy. Yes, that is true. However, what is less discussed is what are the levers to enable digital business transformation and the building blocks of digital transformation.

Digital business transformation is all about strategy and business. It is not about technologies alone. Of course, you will need significant technological underpinnings, but without a well-crafted digital business transformation strategy, flawless execution, and ongoing operational excellence, even the most superior digital technologies can come to naught.

Creating a digital strategy and transformation roadmap is essential. To do this effectively, you must think about the following key digital business transformation building blocks.

Digital business transformation is all about strategy and business. It is not about technologies alone. Of course, you will need great technological underpinnings, but without a well-crafted digital business transformation strategy, flawless execution, and ongoing operational excellence, even the greatest digital technologies can come to a naught.

Digital Business Transformation Building Blocks

  1. Know who you are? Well, it is not you. You will need to know the company and its essence. What is the nature of your business, how is the competitive landscape, what are the potential avenues for disruption, which emerging players are giving a run for your money?
  2. Envision what do you want to be? Will digital commerce – whether online or mobile – an essential part of your future? How do you envisage future state customer experience?
  3. Is your executive team aligned to a common shared purpose of making digital the center of your strategy and execution? Does the leadership understand what digital means in the real sense of the term and the implications? Is digital a buzz word or considered a transformational strategy?
  4. How do you make money currently and how to you want to earn money in the future? Which business models are a part of your future? What do you intend to be the sources and composition of your revenue in the future?
  5. Does your organization structure support your future digital vision? Is digital a small group of 6-members down in the dungeon or is it the pervasive theme across the organization?
  6. Is your culture amenable to change to meet the challenges of the digital age? Beyond the digital team, it is essential for all employees to think they are a part of a digital revolution and have a role to play. Is your company primed for a change? Alternatively, will resistance doom the efforts?
  7. Do you have the people with the right competencies, skills, and commitment to succeed in the digital age? competencies The digital business transformation demands a talented group of individuals with broad skills and skills and scarce availability. If you already don’t have such team members, are you willing to acquire such skills and engender the right kind of environment for the teams to succeed?
  8. Are your processes aligned to be optimal and effective to produce an excellent customer experience? This is not yet about design, digital technologies or any such shiny object. This is about your sales and service processes which need to support the customer experience as a part of the overall digital business transformation. If not, you will have a deeper level effort to level the playing field so that the digital aspirations can be supported by realities on the ground.
  9. What is your channel strategy and how will it vary in the digital landscape? Existing companies have current revenue streams, distribution channels, and sales teams. Wishing them away is not going to solve the problem. What roles do these channels play in the future and if not how to transform your ecosystem including partners and external channels to simultaneously transform to support your digital business transformation endeavor.
  10. How is your product portfolio will look like to compete in the digital marketplace? Some products can be sold as e-commerce or m-commerce. Some products may be modified to meet the digital needs. Some other products may have digital wrappers. Moreover, some need to envisioned anew. So what will your portfolio look like and how will you plan on phasing out your losers in the new paradigm?
  11. Are you building the right tech stack and digital technologies? Bolting on a few additional applications and solutions is like putting lipstick on a pig. Underlying issues like data, application architecture and the proliferation of legacy applications need to be addressed and resolved for you to be successful.
  12. Are you investing adequately in the digital business strategy? Digital transformation, in the context of a large, complex and a global firm, is not going to be cheap, easy, or simple. Knowing what it takes and funding the entire journey is vital to have a chance at succeeding in digital business transformation.

What Digital Business Transformation Building Blocks are important to your firm? We hope you have asked and answered these foundational questions and have a clear mandate and a solid roadmap to transform your enterprise into a digital business. May digital be with you!

Please review how should you go about transforming customer experience and also how to craft an omnichannel customer experience strategy.

Learn more about how IMD and Cisco have defined a framework for digital business transformation and how MIT things about the integral elements or in our parlance, the digital business transformation building blocks.