Strategies to steer clear of digital transformation pitfalls

In India, companies are grappling with digital transformation due to infrastructure challenges, skill gaps, and resistance to change. Additionally, traditional businesses' shortage of skilled professionals and reluctance to embrace new technologies further complicates the adoption of digital platforms.

Digital transformation involves incorporating digital technologies throughout an organisation to enhance customer value. This entails leveraging technology to create new products and services, enhance current offerings, and optimise processes.

In this article, we explore the different phases, challenges, and tips to successfully achieve digital transformation across an organisation.

Challenges in digital transformation initiatives

If digital transformation were easy to accomplish, everyone would have done it already. However, the fact is that digital transformation—whichever type you’re trying to pursue—is hard.

Transforming internal business processes focuses on automation and efficiency to enhance resource usage, productivity, and operations. Implementing technologies like robots, AI, and workflow management systems helps organisations eliminate bottlenecks, reduce costs, and adapt to market changes, fostering growth and competitive advantage.

A lack of clear strategy and vision significantly hampers digital transformation. Surprisingly, many major corporations embark on this path without thorough planning, leading to ambiguous goals, disconnected projects, and a short-term focus, ultimately hindering progress and benefits.

"Personalisation," "seamless," and "omnichannel" often appear in discussions about enhancing customer experience. Though they seem like buzzwords, they are crucial because customers value them. Customers expect apps to recognise them, provide personalised recommendations, and streamline tasks like ordering and bill payment. Therefore, digital transformation is essential to meet these expectations.

To succeed in digital transformation, gaining widespread buy-in is paramount. Change is challenging, especially without executive endorsement. Convincing both the team and senior leadership of the benefits is essential.

Another aspect of digital transformation involves enhancing products or services. For example, a healthcare company could expand its reach by offering online consultations. Likewise, streaming services have revolutionised entertainment consumption, and "smart" technologies have transformed daily life.

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In technology procurement, the trade-off between "fast, cheap, and good" is well-known. Achieving all three is often unrealistic. While low-code solutions may offer an exception, it's crucial to recognise that digital transformation initiatives require investment. Prioritising quality over cost is prudent, as cutting corners can lead to greater expenses in the long run.

Furthermore, a strong digital transformation plan can be undermined if employees lack the skills to utilise the technology effectively. Many companies embark on such initiatives without considering the required skills, leading to employee overwhelm and suboptimal performance. This oversight may necessitate costly external consultations to address operational challenges.

Finally, many organisations' back-end infrastructure urgently needs digital transformation. Established organisations often rely on outdated software and hardware. Despite the familiarity of "the cloud," many are still developing their cloud migration strategies.

Your enterprise architect must be heavily involved to avoid repeating past digital transformation failures. Consider this analogy: You can't fuel an electric car at a gas pump; planning for electric charging infrastructure is essential.

These hurdles can all be overcome; it just takes a good plan and 5 big steps.

Ways to enhance digital transformation

In today’s digital landscape, Indian businesses encounter multifaceted challenges that span awareness, cultural resistance, security concerns, customisation limitations, integration, skill shortages, and misconceptions about costs. Limited awareness and understanding also pose a significant hurdle. In my opinion, by collectively addressing these challenges, Indian businesses can harness the power of digital transformation, paving the way for a more efficient and agile approach in the evolving digital landscape.

Here are the key steps you can take to successfully transform your business digitally.

The first step to resolving any issue is to identify three to five core areas where manual processes or outdated tech are problematic. Evaluate processes for automation potential to enhance efficiency and productivity, and reduce errors. Gather insights from IT, employees, customers, and partners. Provide specific examples illustrating the impact of identified issues on business operations. For instance, "outdated programming language causing bottlenecks as it is difficult to find developers with relevant skills" offers tangible examples.

After identifying key areas for digital transformation, evaluate and propose solutions aligned with goals and objectives. Define time frame and success metrics while identifying modern digital solutions, such as low-code application development solutions, to address the problem and deliver expected outcomes. Thorough research investment aids in evaluating the right choices.

Once you have some options in place, calculate the costs for proposed solutions, including software, cloud services, hardware, and skill set requirements. Consider expenses for upskilling or hiring. Outline costs for multiple solutions to facilitate decision-making and preparation.

Always remember that no digital transformation project is without risk. Challenges include compatibility, scalability, vendor lock-in, cybersecurity threats, and user adoption issues. To manage these risks, identify them clearly, propose mitigation strategies, and communicate potential impacts.

The final step is crucial. Your strategy should be realistic yet visionary, helping stakeholders understand its importance. Success comes when this vision materialises, demonstrating benefits and securing stakeholder support. With their buy-in and a solid implementation plan, you enhance your chances of achieving a successful digital transformation and gaining a competitive edge.

The biggest pro tip for digital transformation, at the risk of burying the lead, is that your easiest path is through a low-code platform. From delivering seamless and personalised customer experience to fixing issues with legacy infrastructure, a low-code platform can help you transform your business with utmost ease.

(Naveen Kumar Kalyankar, OutSystems India's Regional Vice President, has 24 years of experience shaping global sales strategies.)