Let’s be honest: digital transformation is no easy task. Evaluating and reconfiguring established processes and procedures is a serious undertaking, and the allure of “business as usual” can be strong—especially when trying to overcome a conservative organizational culture or a “one campaign at a time” mentality.
But doing nothing is not an option. Here’s why.
What does digital transformation mean? And why is it so important?
This guide is intended to help you develop a strategy to modernize your data and information management processes and procedures in order to fuel digital transformation. The tasks are ordered from the small—things you can get started on as soon as you wish—to the big—those initiatives that may require cross-functional support and executive buy-in. By the end, you should have an idea of where your resources, in both staff and budget, should be allocated.
You’re in no way obligated to follow in this order; they merely serve as a recommendation. You’re free to jump from step to step, choosing what works for your organization. Our goal is to help you lay the foundation for your digital transformation—no matter where on that journey you may be.
Digital transformation is a broad, catch-all term, encompassing just about any initiative to use digital technology to improve business processes and activities to better meet the needs of today’s consumers and the bottom line. It means different things to different organizations. A financial institution using machine learning to detect and predict fraudulent transactions? Digital transformation. An e-commerce retailer searching for new and innovative ways to serve personalised recommendations to customers? That too.
And while digital transformation can serve different ends, we believe every digital initiative starts with modernising data and information management. After all, how can you effectively digitally transform high-value, customer-centric operations when your basic, everyday workflows are still reliant on manual, paper-based processes or your ability to draw insights from data is hindered by outdated and comparatively inaccessible means of storage?
Research backs up this belief. According to IDC1, investment in digital transformation and information governance leads directly to better financial results.