What are the reasons for the failure of digital transformation?

Flexera Recently on CIO And other senior management IT A survey conducted by leaders shows that , More than half of the respondents listed digital transformation as their top concern , Followed by network security 、 Cloud first / Cloud migration and improving the customer experience , These all depend on digital transformation .

Digital transformation is no longer just a buzzword ; Companies have realized that , Digital transformation is a necessary condition for success . More than $1 trillion in transformation work , But there is still the possibility of failure .

A study by the boston consulting team shows that , about 70% Our digital transformation project failed to achieve its goal . Some people still believe that digital transformation is all about infrastructure and IT , And ignore the company's culture 、DNA And business model . The reason for the failure of the project may be related to this .

Is your team facing the dilemma of digital transformation failure ？ according to Gartner CEO and outstanding vice president analyst of digital business leader practice Kristin Moyer That's what I'm saying , The three main categories of digital transformation failures are ： Retrogression 、 Poor performance and failure of the new digital plan .

• Retrogression , or “ Transformation cleaning ”, It refers to the brand's actions that have not been implemented before .
• When the enterprise is not satisfied with the project, it will have the problem of poor performance , Although there may still be some small gains , But the real purpose of the project has not been fully achieved .
• The failure of a new digital product or service is a complete failure , All the resources deployed for the project are wasted . In this case , The only feasible way is to terminate the project .

In order to ensure that the digital transformation plan does not fail , Need to understand the potential causes that may lead to plan failure , And know how to avoid these reasons from the beginning .

1. There is no high-quality digital transformation strategy

stay Constellation Research & WalkMe Yes 100 Bit wealth 500 strong CIO In the investigation report conducted ,77% Of respondents listed digital transformation as 2021 The most important priorities of the year . High quality digital transformation plan , You don't have to worry about stepping back 、 Poor performance or complete failure .

How to reposition the team in the digital economy ？ What action plan do you have ？

Digital transformation is not just about adopting a new technology , But to integrate innovation 、 Take advantage of emerging technologies and seek new operation and business models . To achieve the success of digital transformation , We need to find a way to completely reshape the business , While proceeding , The ultimate goal should be how to improve productivity and customer experience .

If the transformation strategy is desirable , Then the plan should take into account the nature of the challenges to be met , And identify key aspects of the challenge . There must be guidelines for meeting challenges . How to overcome the problems found should be clearly stated . The team must know which actions are important 、 When to take such action .

Without a clear explanation , They may have to rely on intuition , This can easily lead to retrogression . We must avoid the occurrence of scattered projects and aimless technology injection by the team , This will not add any commercial value .

2. Aversion to change

A lot of times , We will find that many people are disgusted with any form of change in culture and way of doing things . This is a setback 、 The primary cause of poor performance or total failure . Is change an absolute “ evil ”？ Why do we have to break the rules ？

The mindset of all those involved in the programme must be positive . although CEO Your role is most important for building the right mindset , But the leadership must practice from CEO All the way to middle management .

When CEO Passionate about transformation , And body language, body language has always shown this enthusiasm , This spirit will infect other employees .CEO Support for the plan has greatly affected the source of funding for the project .

Because most digital transformation plans are made by CIO be responsible for , So they can't just be ordinary implementation partners . They must act as the fulcrum of transformation , And willing to train others .

3. Do not hire high-quality talents

If you don't have the right skill set for the transformation project , Then the process of this effort is towards failure . Because it may make a wrong prediction , That is, think you have every talent you need to perform a successful digital transformation .

We must pay serious attention to the transformation of leadership positions . You need to master digital expertise and some broader skills . Such as determination 、 Pragmatic 、 flexible 、 Collaboration 、 critical thinking 、 creativity 、 EQ 、 Adaptability and learning agility do have a very positive impact .

Clearly know where talent is lacking , To find the right talent . When these talents cannot be directly employed , You can also fill the gap by outsourcing .

Fields like artificial intelligence and network security , You don't have to deal with it fundamentally . Introduce enough knowledge of digitization 、 And experienced personnel in such transformation can .

4、 Lack of necessary culture

The organization's culture may become a stumbling block to the organization's transformation plan . To succeed in the digital transformation , Everyone in the organization must embrace a collaborative culture .

These initiatives go beyond the Department , Everyone needs to work as a unit , So as to improve work efficiency . Whatever your goal is , From improving productivity to enhancing a better customer experience , Must go all out .

Only between employees 、 Establish a collaborative culture between different functional departments and different departments , To succeed in the digital transformation program .

Transformation management must be at its best , In this way, we can quickly find those who resist cultural change . Through education and training , They can participate in the transformation plan , It may even become the influencer of transformation .

Conclusion

Although the above points may not be all the factors leading to the failure of digital transformation , But they will greatly help us succeed in our transformation plan . No one wants to let the investment go to waste , But digital transformation requires hard work . Digital transformation cannot succeed casually , We must persevere 、 Careful analysis , And master all available data , In order to fully understand the goal to be achieved .