Companies worldwide understand the importance of going digital. The past 2 years have been a testament that if businesses have to survive, they will have to undergo digital transformation at the earliest. Most customers have already adopted the digital way, and the companies are following them as they want to remain in business.
Let us first understand the scope of digital transformation.
What is Digital Transformation?
Digital transformation is a process of making business-wide changes to an organization’s internal systems and processes with the help of new-age technological initiatives to achieve better operational efficiencies and create a positive customer experience.
It is a critical change as it impacts all aspects of a business.
But it is easier said than done. Let us look at factors that may act as barriers to digital transformation within a company.
Barriers to successful Digital Transformation
1. Lack of Management Support
Digital Transformation cannot succeed without support from the top management. It requires endorsement from the leadership team. All the departments should understand its importance, and for this, it is essential that top management leads and drives this initiative.
The core team may have to make several critical decisions requiring the management’s buy-in. It will ensure that the entire organization works towards the common goal of achieving digital transformation successfully.
2. Lack of Strategic Approach and Planning
The digital transformation process considers the goals and objectives of your business. It requires strategic insight and planning. It involves analyzing the current systems and processes across different departments to understand their pain points, requirements, and specifications. Then you should evaluate various solutions available in the market and select the one matching the needs of your business.
It also requires an in-depth study of the current resources and determining ways to fill the resource gaps, if any. Set benchmarks to evaluate the process at regular intervals. Mechanisms should be in place for course correction, if necessary.
If these things are not planned meticulously, the project will run into troubled waters and cause delays and losses.
3. Lack of resources and skill sets
The company should allocate adequate time, money, and personnel for this process. If any of these are not available, it will lead to complications.
The company should identify key people from different departments to drive and lead the initiative. Also, if the necessary skill sets are not available internally, a company should consider hiring consultants or external partners for successful implementation.
It may also require the company to change employee KRAs, hire personnel or partners, allocate budget, and realign organizational structure.
The company should have adequate funds available to complete the project successfully. They should also have monitoring and control mechanisms to ensure proper budget utilization and prevent wastage. Inadequate budget and lack of skilled resources are major barriers to digital transformation.
4. Not focusing on the customer
One of the essential outcomes of digital transformation is to create a positive customer experience. You should not adopt digital initiatives just for the sake of it. It should be customer-centric and make their life easy while doing business with you.
A lot of companies do not focus on the customer and their challenges. They end up either redoing the entire exercise, which can be time-consuming and expensive, or have an ineffective system not beneficial for their customers.
5. No Change Management plan
Internal customers of a company, i.e. their employees, are as important as its external customers. Employees might resist the changes due to uncertainty or fear of losing their job due to the new technology. Also, the changes force them to come out of their comfort zone and adapt to new ways of performing tasks.
If a company fails to address employee concerns, it can lead to project failure. Employees are the end users, and it is critical to gain their support for the digital transformation to be successful. The company should draw a transparent and clear change management plan addressing all employee concerns across different stages.
6. Lack of training and support
The employees should receive adequate support and training. They should be comfortable with the new systems and processes. They should know how these new systems will benefit them and boost their productivity.
Also, in case of any queries or issues, the employees should receive technical support and assistance. The employees should know whom to connect to if required.
Lack of training and support can be a barrier to optimal utilization of new systems and processes introduced within the organization.
7. Lack of data migration plan
Each department within a business might be using different systems. Each of these systems will store and manage data differently. Post-digital transformation, effective data management is critical for a business. Hence a proper data migration plan should be in place during this process.
Many companies underestimate the importance of a data migration plan. Its absence may result in data corruption, several data errors, or data inconsistency resulting in data loss or inaccurate data.
Digital Transformation can unlock growth for a business if handled correctly. It can provide you with a great competitive advantage over your competitors. If you are looking for an expert partner to help you digitally transform your business, connect with our team of experts.
Direction Software is a multicultural Information Technology Solutions and Business consulting company with Indo-German Management, headquartered in Mumbai, India.
We offer Bespoke solutions on .Net, Java & open-source platforms, E-Business consulting, Back Office Support, Business Intelligence, and Mobility Solutions.
About the author:
Chirag Thakkar – Sr. Digital Marketing Consultant
At Direction Software LLP, Chirag works with the Marketing Team to enhance the Digital Marketing presence and Lead Generation.