The six steps have been presented by IT analyst Matthew Tharp, drawing on experiences of General Electric and Tokio Marine. Central to many of the processes described is the relationship between the overall business and the Information Technology department. This reinforces the paradigm that digital transformation is not the responsibility of one department; like quality assurance, it needs to be the responsibility of all.
Other road maps for digital transformation, pulling out equivalent themes, are laid out by the technology analysts E-consultancy and CIO.
The six steps called out, and discussed below, are:
Step 1: Map out the critical business processes
Mapping out the process is essential for constructing a digital narrative, giving the foundation to cope with rapid change and changing customer expectations. Before a business becomes digital or goes through major change, it is important that business processes are identified and documented. The process has an added benefit in that it allows different departments to interact and the importance of the ‘go digital’ message to be understood.
Step 2: Change management
Many organizations are ill-prepared for digital strategies. This is because change management has not been executed properly, with risks assessed and all parries on board and clear about their roles and responsibilities. To accelerate digital transformation through change management there are four pillars: Implementation, Adoption, Alignment and Change.
Step 3: Out-of-the-box capabilities
Businesses seeking improved agility in terms of speeding up the digital transformation process should avoid software that needs to be specially developed and instead use technology that can be implemented rapidly, such as platforms with out-of-the-box features and capabilities.
Step 4: Using AI
The use of artificial intelligence can assist with data-backed decision making and allows for more personalized customer experiences. Such systems can also give insights into bottlenecks and navigate more successful paths through a process. In addition, machine learning can be used to measure business results faster with real-time, predictive analytics.
Step 5: Unified technology
Ensuring that each area of the business is using the same or equivalent (compatible) technology makes the implementation process smoother and faster.
Step 6: Use of low-code technology
Many technology platforms use “low-code” methodology, which enables application development and automation without the need to do programming. This makes providing new services faster and reduces the demand on specialist services.
Although each path to digital transformation differs, the six steps provided by Tharp can be reviewed by businesses as a potential road map for adapting and developing.
