Vijay Sethi, Chairman, Mentorkart

When you talk to any CEO or a CXO in an organization on IT, the discussion invariably moves towards Digital Transformation and how their company has embarked upon (or is planning to embark upon) Digital Transformation. While people excitedly speak about Digital transformation as to how it could change their organization, at the same time, there are enough and more statistics available in public domain that show that a large number of digital transformation efforts either fizzle out (after the initial euphoria is over) or are abandoned mid-way or are termed failure as they are not able to meet the objectives that were set up for them.  
Analysts believe that only a handful (15-20% and some say even lesser) of digital transformation projects can be called successful and have led to significantly high business benefits and improved performance and are sustainable in the long term.  

Despite the success rate of digital transformation initiatives being so low, companies still continue to pursue Digital transformation for three simple reasons as I see 

•    For those who succeed, the benefits are immense and there are so many examples where companies have altered their business models or started new revenue streams or significantly enhanced their products or customer service or time to market etc. because of digital transformation initiatives. 

• No one thinks that they will fail or will have to abandon the project mid-way or the utilization would be low (there is a tendency that while it may have happened at other organizations, it will not happen to us – similar to what many people think of ransomware and other cyber attacks) 

• And most importantly, in today’s times, Digital Transformation is not optional but a must for all organizations  
 

I feel, for success of digital transformation, one first needs to keep following Five basic factors in mind before even starting (and at all times later on): 

• Digital Transformation is not another IT initiative but has to be a business owned (and business led) initiative and all the business leaders have to commit to the success of the initiative as this will require a huge commitment of resources (not just financial but also time and manpower), would have an organization wide impact and would involve redesign of lots of processes, policies and even organizational structure. For this leadership commitment and ownership is a must.  

• Digital transformation is not about chasing best technology and getting it implemented or about automating manual activities or about upgrading software or hardware to new versions. Digital transformation is about moving away from outdated business models, processes, products and most importantly from “legacy” mindsets. It is about using technology to create new business models and revenue streams, enhancing customer and employee experience and enhancing products and processes. It is about driving a fundamental change in how organization works and is about enhancing business agility. It is about changing the culture of the organization to being a Digital savvy (or a Digital First) - a culture that welcomes technology, encourages innovation, openness (discourages silos), risk taking without fear of failure and agility in decision making. We also need to remember that Culture always from Top. Top leadership team has to lead by example. If the top leaders themselves do not believe in using technology (for example many delegate the system access to their EAs or other team members) or if they do not believe in Data based decision making, Digital Transformation efforts will never succeed. 

• Digital Transformation cannot just be either “Top Down” or “Bottom Up”. For Digital Transformation to sustain, it has to involve everyone, it has to empower everyone and entire organization has to embrace it and make Digital part of the DNA of the organization.  

• Digital Transformation is not a “Sprint” or “Marathon”. I see it as a combination of both and may be beyond that. Organization needs both speed and power of a sprinter and stamina and endurance of a marathon or a long-distance runner and a long term commitment to Digital Transformation.  

• Digital Transformation is not a Destination but is a Journey. As one goes along the journey, it evolves, organization has to do ongoing course corrections based on changing customer needs and expectations, technology outcomes and other experiences. And we should keep in mind that this journey is not same for all organizations. Each organization has a unique journey that depends upon its strategy and objectives, culture, processes, history, products and many other factors. One cannot do a Cut Copy paste of the strategy or process followed by other organizations, one can only learn from experiences of others and then see what learnings can be adapted or adopted in their own organization. 

Finally, the decision for the organizations today in case of Digital Transformation is not whether we should go for Digital Transformation or not but is how soon can we start, where should we start from and what all can be done to make it a big success. In this journey, there will be times of joy and despair, tears and laughter, some real tough times and some real happy times but if Digital Transformation is done well, it will lead to huge benefits to the organization.