Are You Prepared for Digital Transformation? 4 Ways to Ensure IT Readiness
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Digital transformation success is rare. According to BCG, only 30% of transformations succeed in achieving their objectives. In addition to culture issues such as change resistance and the absence of leadership buy-in, one of the major causes of digital transformation (DT) failures is IT readiness or, rather, lack thereof.
Digital readiness requires a basic level of technological maturity to enable the organization to receive and employ the benefits of next gen technologies. Which begs the question, is your IT infrastructure prepared for digital transformation? Here are 4 simple questions you can ask yourself to find out.
How integrated and agile are your enterprise systems?
Digital transformation can’t happen without digital system integration. A modernized IT infrastructure that fosters agility, scalability, and flexibility is one of the most important prerequisites for digital transformation.
Organizations mired with outdated, disparate systems make poor candidates for digital transformation as cutting-edge technologies require multiple systems to be able to talk to one another. Furthermore, establishing a plug & play IT ecosystems, whereby new technology can be seamlessly swapped in or out, will make your digital transformation both easier and more sustainable.
Do we currently have the ability to share and visualize enterprise data and analytics?
Without a doubt, business intelligence is the fuel that powers digital transformation. While systems integration is paramount to ensure data streams seamlessly move between systems, self-service analytics tools are critical for turning raw data into actionable insights.
Data management tools such as data lakes and warehouses allow a wide range of individuals to access and make decisions with enterprise data while also fortifying data protections and security.
How much are you investing in "Keeping The Lights On" (KTLO) technology vs. Innovation?
Digital transformations require a significant investment in not only IT solutions but talent, time and other resources. If the majority of your budget is wrapped up in KTLO expenditures vs. innovation, your organization may want to consolidate IT systems first as this is often an indicator of overall preparedness.
If this is the case, you are far from alone. In fact, according to ZDnet, the average enterprise spends approximately $3.5 million per year on KTLO. In addition, on average, IT budgets are growing slower than demand from the business.
Securing the IT budget necessary to enable DT shouldn’t rest solely on the shoulders of IT. When it comes to the matter of funding, the business should be closely aligned with the IT leaders on not only calculating how much the company should be investing, but outlining why with a compelling business case.
Which brings us to our next question…..
How aligned are business and IT?
It’s often said that digital transformation is “business-led and IT enabled.” However, this by no way means that IT should be an afterthought. Quite the contrary, successful DT requires the business and IT to be lockstep with one another.
As the importance of digital technology to a company’s overall profitability expands, so will IT’s role in strategic decision making. This reality must be embraced and nurtured through close strategic and operational alignment.
