Digital Transformation Conference lanyard card

Insights

Will your digital transformation fail or succeed?

23 Nov 2021

In the “exponential age of digital”, you’d think digital transformations would be more successful. 70% of digital transformation projects fall short of their goals (Forbes, 2020). We attended the #DIGTRA conference to discuss and reflect on the successes and challenges of digital transformations.

Keeping up to date with the latest industry trends is important in delivering successful digital transformations for our customers. Roar Media’s Digital Transformation Conference in October allowed us to gain inspiration and maintain best practices from fellow professionals in the digital industry.

There was such a great variety of speakers who all told the stories of their own experiences in digital transformations. Each speaker took a unique approach to their presentations – from memes to a metaphor about pockets on women’s clothing (don’t ask). But seriously, there were also some reality checks about what it means for businesses to make the move to digital.

What were the key takeaways?

  • Be disruptive
  • Be customer obsessed
  • Be convincing and educate
  • Be aware of the obstacles – or they’ll trip you up

Be disruptive

Nick Hodder from Imperial War Museums grabbed everyone’s attention. Where digital innovation has grown rapidly over the past 30 (or so) years, the biggest players in the field have been disruptors. Apple didn’t get to be the digital leaders in the world by playing it safe and following the lead of other tech giants.

To be successful in positive disruption - start with WHY? Then figure out the HOW and the WHAT. Not the other way around.

Tariq Maonah from Legal & General told us that digital innovation should be centred around a problem, and adding value. There’s no point trying to fix problems that aren’t there or don’t exist yet. It won’t work.

Be customer obsessed

Digital transformations and innovations should always be created for the customer – whoever they may. Maybe they’re the business’ customers, or maybe they’re the business’ employees but are the main users of the digital platforms.

In any case, be Agile. Define the users. Define their pain points. Be user driven in your approach. As Louise Smith from Lloyd’s said – “be customer obsessed”.

A digital first approach for both the customer facing ecosystem and for internal operations will ensure a successful digital platform. But beware – don’t just try to move ‘in-person’ processes to digital, it won’t work. Processes need thought leadership to be transformed to digital in their own right.

Be convincing and educate

It’s all about trust. Why should people trust you?

Louise Smith from Lloyds described digital change as a leadership change. Without the right leadership in place, employees’ attitudes towards digital transformations will be poor, and therefore the change will not be successful.

Of course, as a supplier of digital transformations, our clients have approached us after they have gone through a leadership change internally – otherwise they wouldn’t be talking to us. But we recognise that even where businesses self-identify the need for a move to digital, there will always be opposition in team members if they don’t lead the team to the same conclusion too.

We support our clients, where possible and if needed, to help educate their team on what a move to digital could mean for their business. Read more about how we do this in our guide to simplifying digital transformation.

Be aware of the obstacles

Liam Dyson from BT described the biggest challenge in one sentence – “you can’t implement digital transformation products without having the supporting culture internally first”.

This challenge connected all the speakers at the conference. There is a need for a company culture that is accepting of change and willing to do what is necessary to improve in the digital age. Of course, the pandemic forced a transition to digital whether they liked it or not. But many are still resistant.

We’ve seen this challenge too. But as mentioned before, we will help you in any way we can to improve the position of your company, both internally and externally.

Reflecting on the day

Matt Mawdesley from Together summarised the day perfectly in a collection of memes, with the following high level points:

  1. Set up infrastructure for the new world
  2. Data will always be key
  3. New people typically bring new ideas
  4. Leverage the broader ecosystem, within reason
  5. Culture is the big one - create culture change

When embarking on a digital transformation project, we take time to understand your needs and build a solid relationship. That way we avoid the kinds of challenges discussed at the #DIGTRA conference – and we don’t fall into that 70%. 

Be disruptive, be customer obsessed, be convincing and educate, and be aware of the obstacles – or they’ll trip you up.

Do you need help introducing digital processes to your business?