Digital transformation is the latest buzz word being used by all the consulting companies and organizations, but what is it? One of the more comprehensive definitions that I have found is from i-scoop.eu.
Digital transformation is the profound and accelerating transformation of business activities, processes, competencies and models to fully leverage the changes and opportunities of digital technologies and their impact across society in a strategic and prioritized way.
Source: i-scoop.eu
Another simpler definition of digital transformation can be found from Wikipedia.
Digital transformation is the changes associated with the application of digital technology in all aspects of human society.
Source: Wikipedia
In my opinion, digital transformation is not just about technology. The digital part, of course, can only be achieved using technology, but transformation requires vision, strong leadership and strategy.
A research report from MIT Sloan Management Review identifies three key areas that organizations can focus on for digital transformation.
For each area, the report also provides three elements that are changing.
- Customer Experience
- Customer Understanding
- Top-line Growth
- Customer Touch Points
- Operational Process
- Process Digitization
- Worker Enablement
- Performance Management
- Business Model
- Digitally Modified Business
- New Digital Businesses
- Digital Globalization
These elements provide a good starting point for organizations looking to digitally transform. Of course focusing on all of them at once might be overwhelming, so each organization will need to prioritize what elements to focus on based on their goals.