The guidelines for a successful transformation strategy are simple on paper. Take a lift and shift approach, change as little of the environment as you can in-transit, and save optimization and streamlining until after the first stage is complete. However, even seasoned transformation veterans find themselves making improvements on the go and to effectively take the initiative on transformation, CIOs should consider both the speed and scalability of their plans.
As the pandemic continues to influence decision making, many are now calling for dynamic solutions that can keep pace with the rapid changes in our personal and professional lives. While much of this change will be technological, some, like remote working, are entirely reliant on company mindset.
Either way, it now means that most businesses are now, to some extent, technology companies. And as the speed and scale increases, even some of the world’s the most analogue outfits will be forced to think technologically with their strategies.
How to take the Initiative on Business Transformation
Digital leaders such as the CTO, CDO, CIO are critical to the success of innovation and transformation, and as such, they will need to acquire the skillset traditionally more aligned to CHROs and CEOs. However, it’s clear that success in the modern approach will be down to speed and scalability:
Speed
For 39% of CIOs, digital transformation is the most important task given to them by their CEO. Despite this, prior to the pandemic, many businesses still contented themselves with a ‘slow and steady’ approach – iterating on group-wide transformation over time.
In the intervening months, the game of digital transformation has changed. Delivering overarching transformation plans at speed has never been more important.
Though this might sound counterintuitive with staff already at breaking point, it is possible that the need for speed might actually improve daily working life. For example, Ephesoft’s Head of Strategy and Evangelism Stephen Boals, recently stated, “we’ve seen a shift from lofty dreams of complex, long-term digital transformation plans to implementation of realistic digital transformation projects that solve problems in real time”. With greater agility, we’ve tightened our focus. With the potential to deliver on the projects which drive the most value and quickly, it’s foreseeable that we can drive results at greater pace.
The concepts of failing fast and rapid recovery have always been important building blocks for agile strategies, but now they are foundational. Business plans without space for these factors are unlikely to survive the pace of change required to navigate COVID and whatever comes next.
Scalability
Speed and iteration are essential to the digital transformation process, but equally, quick fixes are useless if you do not also incorporate the means of scaling these systems up when necessary. When judging scalability, CIOs should consider the following.
- Is there a tangible business need to implement this change?
- Are we well economically situated to implement this change?
- Are we the right company to undertake the task? Does it align with USP & value proposition?
In considering Speed & Scalability, CIOs can successfully define the direction of their transformation strategy in its earliest stages, create solutions which stick to the plan, and which help them to decide when it’s time to execute.
What does this mean for CIOs?
When it comes to Covid, no CIO can ignore the potential in digital transformation. According to Statista, the current projections suggest that worldwide spending on digital transformation will reach $1.3 trillion, growing 10.4% year-on-year. This represents reasonable growth, especially considering the economic recession caused by the coronavirus.
Additionally, earlier this year PWC revealed that whilst 52% of companies plan to cut or defer investments because of COVID-19, just 9% will make those cuts in digital transformation, such is its value. In considering speed and scalability from inception through to activation, CIOs will truly begin to take the initiative in their digital transformation processes throughout the lifecycle of Covid-19.
CIOs will need to be both the driving force and the deliverer of this change program. Their responsibility to educate and evidence the need for digital transformation is a necessary challenge to win the emotional and financial investment of their C-suite peers. Once they’ve achieved this, any organization will be better placed to execute their needs.
Continue the debate at the CIO Insight Summit, a GDS Summit, where we bring together senior supply chain executives who are actively seeking to share, learn, engage, and find the best technology solutions.
GDS Group hosts experts to help experts. We strive to provide an atmosphere for our attendees that enables them to confidently lead their companies through major transformation projects. For information on upcoming events, view our view our Digital Summits. To remain current on our activities, visit GDS Group on LinkedIn | Facebook | Twitter.
