In Altimeter's latest findings from their 2014 State of Digital Transformation research they continue to find that investing in new digital technologies, such as social, mobile, big data, cloud, etc., doesn’t in of itself equate to “digital transformation.” The realignment of business models is about uniting individual technology efforts around a common vision supported by an updated, integrated infrastructure to effectively compete as a unified business in connected markets.
People, process, & technology without a vision to see how markets are shifting and the leadership to identify, organize and drive new opportunities, digital transformations can become yet another victim of technology-first efforts that miss the human mark. Understanding your Customer's Journey and identifying how to realign your business models to address the ever changing needs of our mobile / cloud first world is key.
Change of course is not without its challenges. It's not surprising that their findings highlight company culture (63%) as the greatest antagonist to change. Digital transformation is as much about introducing new technologies as it is seeing new opportunities and working toward them differently than in the past - moving away from the "this is how we've always done it" mentality.
Additional challenges facing digital transformation specific to DCX include…
- Thinking beyond a campaign mentality (59%)
- Cross-functional collaboration (56%)
- Resources (56%)
- Understanding digital customer behavior (53%)
- Securing executive support (42%)
Is your organization struggling with understanding how Digital Transformation can apply within and across your business?
Sources: 2014 State of Digital Transformations, Digital Transformation By Any Other Name