If you want to increase the pace of innovation and drive business performance, a framework for digital transformation could help. When you design, develop, and implement a high-performing digital ecosystem, you improve the availability of data-driven insights.
By following a proven framework for digital transformation, you can develop the building blocks of a modern data ecosystem. Consequently, you will be able to create an agile business that incorporates new ways of thinking and build velocity and momentum.
What is a digital transformation?
A digital transformation leverages the power of data and technology to impart change to business systems, processes, people, and technology.
A digital transformation can have huge monetary, efficiency, and staff satisfaction benefits when executed correctly. The results can include process improvements, increased accuracy, a reduction in costs and processing time, and access to real-time data.
How can a framework help?
Unfortunately, 84% of digital transformation projects will fail. This is due to several factors, including, poor leadership, no change management plan, and a lack of clear goals. The commonality here is a lack of structure and planning. With the proper framework in place, you can avoid these common pitfalls.
“He who fails to plan is planning to fail” – Winston Churchill
Furthermore, a framework provides your organisation with a common reference point and a roadmap of strategies to help you succeed and evolve to changing business conditions.
Minerva’s Framework for Digital Transformation
We like to refer to our framework for digital transformation as the Minerva flywheel.
Our framework is built on 6 objectives and processes that you need to address as you move through your innovation program. By following the framework, you will gain a clear vision and develop outcome-based metrics that will help guide your decision making and increase your odds of success.
1. Data and performance management strategy
The first step of the framework focuses on developing your data and performance management strategy. It will become your roadmap and help you maximise business value from your data assets and technology investments. When developing your strategy, you need to be aware of the broad aspirations of the company. You also should select a playing field that supports your strengths.
Roadmaps are most successful when project teams have worked with Senior Management to develop a unified strategy that has been agreed upon.
2. Outcomes
Step two of the framework for a digital transformation involves identifying and aligning business results with your digital roadmap to create synergy.
What big problem does your Board or CEO need you to fix? In its simplest form, is it to increase revenue, reduce cost, improve customer experience, increase productivity, organisational agility, or innovation?
If strategy covers the broad aspirations, outcomes are the concrete goals against which you will measure your progress.
Work with leaders to identify those root goals of the company and communicate these clearly with everyone who works on the project. Therefore, by getting clear on your company’s goals, you can begin generating real value for stakeholders.
3. Use Cases
Step three of the framework for digital transformation requires you to priorities projects in line with company guiding principles. Your ideal goal here is to create value for your customers and business users.
This is all about identifying a usage scenario for any new digital technology adopted. Use cases should identify solutions to problems. They provide structure for gathering requirements and setting the project scope. Use cases also allow you to ‘test’ the system as it is being designed.
4. Technology
Step four of the Minerva flywheel framework delves into the design and deployment of the high-performing modern, digital ecosystem.
Technology is no longer “just” a supporting tool, instead, it is an indispensable enabler that drives decision-making and performance. Thus, it is imperative for CxOs to identify and embrace the right technology to harness opportunities as they arise, as well as eliminate potential risks.
However, for CFOs, it is essential to partner with the CIO and CTO to fully understand how the information strategy fits into the organisation. With a clear understanding, CFOs can better evaluate IT investments, and ensure the business is supported with the right technologies for executing outcomes and optimising performance.
Hence, we believe it is important to engage individuals who have experience dealing with a wide range of technologies. Because of this, they can guide you on long-term architecture, lifecycle and support considerations that you may not be aware of.
5. Culture
Step five of the framework for digital transformation focuses on the importance of people. In order for your digital transformation to succeed, you need employees to embrace a digital culture.
Accordingly, the best way to encourage this is through empowerment, training, and education. You want to create a smooth transition for staff, and that involves mitigating negative reactions by increasing organisational support for change initiatives.
It’s critical that you provide clear and consistent communication to employees on what the change means for them. People are most resistant to what they don’t understand. For this reason, transparent communication will help employees not just tolerate change, but embrace it.
6. Data
The final step in the framework for digital transformation is leveraging internal and external data sources for deeper analysis and insights.
Data may be your most valuable asset and is at the core of successful digital transformation. When the correct data is identified, extracted, transformed, and provided to users in an understandable format, it can and will transform the experience of end-users.
Summary
Minerva has used this framework with 100s of mid-to-large size businesses to impart fundamental change to their systems, processes, people, and technology. If you are interested in learning more, we recently released our free 6-part video series that delves into the digital transformation framework in more detail. For a sneak peek, or to sign-up visit: Minerva on-demand video series.
