The Death of Digital Transformation
Digital transformation was once hailed as the next great savior of business evolution. It promised streamlined business processes, thrilling customer experiences, and growth. (Or at least that companies wouldn’t become irrelevant in the “Digital Age”). Fear of being left behind became a source of funding. Suddenly, every project had the word Digital slapped on the front of it. Business Process Reengineering became Digital Process Engineering—a management consultant’s dream. However, people would eventually realize that simply digitizing existing processes is not enough; transformation requires fundamentally reimagining how value is created and delivered to customers.
How did we get in this state?
In some form or another, Digital Transformation has been going on since the 1960s. Does anyone remember the computer scenes in Hidden Figures? Companies spent decades digitizing their business processes. There were 3270 terminals everywhere, from offices to the shop floor. And the reams of green bar paper with endless figures coming off printers that never stopped. (We now call that legacy.)
In the 70s, we introduced mid-range platforms. Remember Digital Equipment Corporation? In the 80s, the PC revolution replaced terminals with desktop computers. We discovered the world of Apps! Word Perfect, Lotus 123, and You’ve Got Mail! We now could “crunch” all those figures (not that we turned off the printers yet, but we still hadn’t figured out how to get the data out). In the 90s, we created The Web, digitizing our catalogs so that we could have an online presence. In the 2000s, we got away from static pages and embraced Web 2.0 and the world of eCommerce. You could now buy all of that catalog stuff right from your very own laptop!
These events transformed how businesses operated using the latest “digital” technologies. So why did the world not achieve the Digital Maturity that Digital Transformation promised?
What now?
Digital Transformation programs often imply a “start” and thus an “end” to something. It is as if the company is moving from “analog” to “digital”; thus, the project would eventually be complete. But that’s not true. We have been digitizing our business all along the way. The part that these programs missed is that real transformation never stops. It’s called “continuous improvement”.
And so, while it may have had a beginning (the moment you realize the house is on fire and you need to do something), it has no end. It was true for old-school manufacturing, and it’s true for the digital age.
Everything has become faster. Businesses must realize that a transformation program isn’t a one-time project with a defined endpoint. They can no longer be a company with an IT Problem Department. Amazon is not a bookstore. Apple isn’t a manufacturing company. Your business isn’t a traditional bank, retailer, or telco. Companies must shift their mindset and reevaluate their priorities. Emphasis must be on outcomes over buzzwords. Become a tech company that specializes in your customers.
Businesses are moving beyond reliance on superficial digital initiatives to become a learning organization that thrives on continuous adaptation with a more nuanced understanding of how their people, processes, and technology should be driving sustainable growth and competitive advantage.
