Technology Trap for Digital Transformation

Today while talking about Digital Transformation (DX), the first thing comes to mind is tech investment. Companies assume that the more they invest in IT, the faster they will become digital. In many companies DX programs are handled under IT departments and it is tried to be carried out independently from business processes and organizations, but unfortunately IT departments usually aren’t capable of providing value by themselves. One of the biggest misconceptions is keeping the process isolated from business strategy and needs.

DX should be considered as a transformation of the way of doing business. From this point point of view the following questions need to be answered:

  1. What are the company’s current business capabilities? (Capability Analysis)
  2. Where do you want to move business skills? (Business Strategy)
  3. Is the organization sufficient for change? (Situation Analysis)
  4. Which organizational structure is required for change? (Organizational Change)

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If the main focus of the program is closing the gap, it might cause a fatal error because the steps should also be aligned with the corporate vision and mission and gain C-Level support which is one of the most important assets of a DX initiative.

The motivation for transformation should be considered at the beginning. In today’s competitive markets there is no luxury to make mistakes, to waste money and lose time for enterprises. Even worse, possible unsuccessful results that will be encountered and might create a prejudice against digitalization phenomenon and technology infrastructure within the company.