Whitepaper
Five dimensions of successful digital transformation
What leaders need to understand to enable success
July 13, 2023
Boards and senior executives know that technology needs to be a significant part of the DNA of their organizations in order to remain successful in the future. A 2022 survey from Gartner noted that almost 90% of board directors say that digital initiatives are embedded in their growth strategies [1]; yet the same survey showed that only 35% think their organization is on track to achieving successful digital transformation.
One of the keys to a successful digital transformation journey is a smooth transition from legacy business models to a technology-first strategy. From a generational perspective, there is still a significant lack of technology-first thinkers in board seats and senior executive positions in many organizations (especially organizations that aren’t technology companies).
As a result, digital transformation concepts can seem so abstract and unfamiliar to boards and senior leaders that they may end up depending on a too-narrow set of credible voices on digital transformation within their organization.
As worldwide IT spending is projected to total $4.5 trillion in 2023 [2], an increase of 2.4% from 2022, organizations are continuing to propel towards digital transformation. And with so many technologies, applications and services available, it's difficult to decide which path will provide the most value to an organization.
As these initiatives take both significant time and investment, board members and senior executives need to ensure they’re fluent in the following five dimensions of digital transformation to provide strong governance over these efforts and ensure their success.
Simplifying the language and concepts of digital transformation can help board members and senior executives better guide their organizations through the digital transformation journey. Digital transformation can be simplified into the following five critical business dimensions:
5 dimensions of digital transformation
What leaders need to understand to enable success
In today's digital age, boards and senior executives recognize the importance of integrating technology and digitization into their organizations, yet many digital transformation concepts still feel unfamiliar or abstract.
Through these five simplified digitization concepts, leaders can strengthen their fluency and feel empowered to provide strong governance and ensure digital transformation success.
Modernizing legacy infrastructure
How do you stage and pace your legacy infrastructure forward while creating ROI along the way?
The majority of organizations face the common barriers of data concerns and budget limitations during digital transformation. Overcoming these requires robust data governance, cybersecurity and analytics capabilities, as well as careful consideration and gradual modernization of technology investments.
Organizations that proactively address transformation barriers and embrace technological advancements can modernize their legacy infrastructure while ensuring a positive ROI throughout their journey.
Additional resources
- Explore our enterprise solutions and digital strategy service offerings
- Get help deciding which technologies to adopt with our Technology overload: A guide to making smarter decisions e-book
Interested in learning more?
Building modern data infrastructure
How do you bring an organization’s technology systems together and leverage them to create enterprise value and streamline operations?
Data is at the core of both challenges and solutions during digital transformation. An organization’s success relies on their data maturity, which works to improve data utilization for decision-making and drives positive change in their people, processes and overall business results.
Leaders should understand their organization’s data maturity to implement relevant solutions as effective data infrastructure and governance facilitates the use of data-driven digital solutions.
Additional resources
- Explore our data solutions service offering
- Learn more about implementing an effective data governance plan
- Get started deploying your data strategy to drive business growth
Interested in learning more?
Leveraging the cloud
How can the advent and evolution of cloud services accelerate innovation while simplifying processes and reducing costs?
Cloud implementation goes beyond data storage, offering benefits such as lower innovation costs, faster market entry, enhanced security and more efficient infrastructure spending. Cloud-native technologies can help simplify operations and streamline workflows.
Choosing the right platform based on your organization's maturity level enables better data integration and generation of actionable insights, facilitating connectivity between systems like never before.
Additional resources
- Explore our cloud solutions service offering
- Get help deciding which technologies to adopt with our Technology overload: A guide to making smarter decision e-book
- Learn more about Cloud transformation: What it is, why it’s inevitable and how to get started
Interested in learning more?
Unlocking new business models
How can you diversify revenue streams by monetizing elements of your digital ecosystem?
Organizations can monetize the data through various means such as improving business performance, selling data or offering data-related products and services. But they must first view data as an asset that adds value to multiple areas of the organization.
To unlock new business models, organizations can shift to subscription-based models by repurposing technology to address market challenges.
Additional resources
- Explore our data solutions service offering
- Learn more about viewing your data as an asset
- Get started using SaaS metrics to gain real-time visibility
- Learn how to leverage AI and ML to drive value in your organization
Interested in learning more?
Personalizing experiences
How do you reimagine your customer touchpoints and employee experiences for the digital age?
Understanding the investment required for foundational technology enables leaders to identify and implement new solutions that better serve employees and customers.
Successful organizations excel by meeting or exceeding customer expectations in terms of response time, quality and price when compared to competitors or the status quo.
Additional resources
- Explore our digital strategy service offering
- Learn how digital transformation enables a culture of business innovation
- Understand the hidden cost inaction can have on your organization