Editor's Note: Take a look at our featured best practice, Digital Transformation Strategy (145-slide PowerPoint presentation). Digital Transformation is being embraced by organizations across most industries, as the role of technology shifts from being a business enabler to a business driver. This has only been accelerated by the COVID-19 global pandemic. Thus, to remain competitive and outcompete in today's fast paced, [read more]
Also, if you are interested in becoming an expert on Digital Transformation, take a look at Flevy's Digital Transformation Frameworks offering here. This is a curated collection of best practice frameworks based on the thought leadership of leading consulting firms, academics, and recognized subject matter experts. By learning and applying these concepts, you can you stay ahead of the curve. Full details here.
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Digital transformation is a process that incorporates digital technologies into a business’ information technology (IT). IT professionals do it for their clients because it makes their business processes more efficient. Typically, they start by replacing slow analog processes with faster digital services, devices, and systems. For example, they install apps to help businesses encode and scan paper documents to convert them to digital files, which are easier to organize and store.
Meanwhile, business owners audit digital transformation because they need to know if their investment is working in their favor. They do it after a set time when the changes in the businesses have been implemented. They often audit by hiring third-party IT professionals or letting their own IT department do it for them. However, in the cases of small companies, the business owners task themselves with this responsibility.
If you want to know how to do it yourself or have an idea of how it’s done, continue reading.
Embrace Digital Transformation as a Norm
The first step is to embrace digital transformation as a norm. You need to do it because most in the competition are either done with their digital transformation or have started digital.
Digital transformation isn’t a trend anymore. You can now expect that if you’re still doing everything traditionally, digital transformation can give you a lot of positive changes in your company.
Remember that this means small returns and improvements caused by this transformation shouldn’t be enough. So, start by setting a higher standard. Old systems won’t cut it anymore, and little increments or improvements should be scrutinized.
You may want to click here for Managed IT services and related information about it to get an idea of how immensely techs are of a higher standard nowadays and how you can set your expectations properly.
Establish Key Performance Indicators
After accepting that digital transformation is the norm and setting a higher standard for your company, it’s time to begin the actual audit.
First on the agenda is establishing key performance indicators (KPIs). You need to do it because you need guidance on how to gauge which changes work or don’t. Without a form of measurement, it can be easy to make a mistake in judging if the changes are helpful or not.
To begin, know the aspects of your business you expect the digital transformation to improve. It can be the sales numbers, expenses, number of employees, satisfaction ratings, and the like. Follow it up by giving each department and aspect of your business-specific KPIs for you to have a better view of the effects of your digital transformation efforts.
Check If Introduced Technologies Are Utilized
After setting KPIs, it’s time to begin the actual audit. Check if the introduced technologies are utilized. This is essential because many digital technologies and changes may not benefit a company and not go well with its growth plans if underutilized.
Case in point, having a delivery tracking application will be useless or underutilized if you already rely on a third-party delivery company that already has a tracking application that you can use.
The best way to check if introduced technologies are utilized is to use them yourself. You can even ask the employees who are supposed to use them if the tech they have is beneficial to their jobs.
Check If Introduced Technologies Are Making Things Efficient
When checking if technologies are utilized, you should also check if they are making things efficient. It’s your next step because even if technologies are utilized, they’re of no use if they’re not changing the way your business processes for the better.
To do this, see if the tech or changes reduce the amount of time a business process is finished. For instance, know if using a tablet to take orders is faster than waiters jotting the orders down in a notebook. Once done, consult the KPIs you created and see if the efficiency is worth sacrificing for the improvement of the other metrics you set.
Determine If Introduced Technologies Are Profitable
In addition to checking if the implementation of digital transformation is efficient and utilized, another aspect you should check is if they’re profitable. Doing this is a must because everything boils down to the profitability of every business decision you make. If something doesn’t provide you with any profit or benefit, then you should let it go.
With this one, you can just look at the changes in your business’ numbers. If there are positive changes, you can safely correlate the added profits to digital transformation. But don’t just base this on those numbers. Be a bit skeptical and understand that factors other than digital transformation may influence your business’ profitability.
Conclusion
Hopefully, you were able to gain some insight on how to perform a quick digital transformation audit. To recap, you should set your standards high, establish KPIs, and see if the changes and technologies are utilized, efficient, and profitable. Make sure to take notes, and apply them to your work.
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Want to Achieve Excellence in Digital Transformation?
Gain the knowledge and develop the expertise to become an expert in Digital Transformation. Our frameworks are based on the thought leadership of leading consulting firms, academics, and recognized subject matter experts. Click here for full details.
Digital Transformation is being embraced by organizations of all sizes across most industries. In the Digital Age today, technology creates new opportunities and fundamentally transforms businesses in all aspects—operations, business models, strategies. It not only enables the business, but also drives its growth and can be a source of Competitive Advantage.
For many industries, COVID-19 has accelerated the timeline for Digital Transformation Programs by multiple years. Digital Transformation has become a necessity. Now, to survive in the Low Touch Economy—characterized by social distancing and a minimization of in-person activities—organizations must go digital. This includes offering digital solutions for both employees (e.g. Remote Work, Virtual Teams, Enterprise Cloud, etc.) and customers (e.g. E-commerce, Social Media, Mobile Apps, etc.).
Learn about our Digital Transformation Best Practice Frameworks here.
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