The results: what digital transformation does
The study polled more than 200 IT pros working in businesses ranging in size from 250 to 25,000+ employees.
The largest segment (46%) said they were well on their way with digital transformation and seeing some pockets of successful implementation. A combined 38% said they were putting an initial case for digital transformation together or running a small pilot program, while 16% reported that they were already at company-wide rollout.
IFP asked all of these different groups to report on the success level of their digital transformation program:
- 3% said it was going poorly
- 24% said the program outcome thus far was fair
- 58% rated the program success as good
- 15% said they were seeing excellent outcomes
With a combined 73% reporting either good or excellent program success so far, it looks like digital transformation can deliver on its promises. That said, the survey also revealed that these programs are not without their challenges.
The biggest obstacles to digital transformation success
Survey respondents were asked about the roadblocks they face in their efforts to implement digital transformation at their companies. They shared that their top five obstacles are:
- Economic uncertainty impacting budgets (51%)
- Competing tech priorities (49%)
- Change management issues (42%)
- Security and compliance issues (42%)
- Expensive or unforeseen costs (28%)
Recent fears of an economic downturn have absolutely impacted efforts to enact any type of change, including digital transformation. Many of these programs require an upfront investment. Even if it should be recouped over time as the program realizes its ROI, some leaders have been hesitant to invest in the last couple of years. In fact, 66% of survey respondents who said their digital transformation program was already at company-wide rollout said that economic uncertainty was their biggest challenge.
Overcoming digital transformation challenges
Your team can’t do anything about economic uncertainty. It can, however, set itself up for success as you launch into your digital transformation program. Here are a few tips from our team of consultants. We have extensive experience helping companies realize gains from their digital transformation efforts and we recommend the following:
- Prepare your data first. Any digital transformation program needs to be built on the foundation of integrated data. If your sources are bad or you’re missing key data sets, you lose out on the full potential of the program — and could run into notable problems. Make the first step of your program to pull in all of the required data and clean it up.
- Start small. Doing too much too fast sets you up for failure. Instead, work with key stakeholders to identify a small but meaningful pilot project. Once you find success there, you can scale it out. But starting small allows you to address obstacles and fine-tune processes on a much more manageable level.
- Take a test-learn-optimize approach. Don’t expect success right away. So much of the power of digital transformation comes from what it reveals. As you move your program forward, you might uncover a bottlenecked process or a data lake issue. An iterative approach lets you address any problems you discover head-on. The people behind the most successful digital transformation programs aren’t afraid to take a step back and reevaluate. When you apply a “test-learn-optimize” approach, you can continually fine-tune your program, helping you achieve better outcomes over time.
- Have an integration plan. While we absolutely recommend starting small, you should have a game plan to expand the reach of your digital transformation program. If you’re implementing new martech, for example, think through how it will integrate with your stack. If you’re establishing a new process, make a plan for fitting it into the overall workflows of the impacted team members. You don’t want your digital transformation program to live in a vacuum with limited options for company-wide implementation.