Are organizations achieving desired business results from their Digital Transformation initiatives?

Digital Transformation is slowly but steadily emerging as an integral part of organizations across the globe. While all the intent among organizations to walk down the Digital Transformation road is very much welcome, the big question is: how many organizations have been able to chart out a successful Digital Transformation journey. According to an Everest Group study, a whopping 73 percent of organizations failed to deliver business value from their digital transformation efforts. The study further stated that 78 percent of organizations failed to meet their business objectives, which effectively means that only 22% of organizations achieved their desired business results. The findings from the study are a reiteration of the fact that organizations are struggling to orchestrate a successful Digital Transformation journey.

One of the key reasons why organizations are unable to undertake a successful Digital Transformation initiative is the lack of upfront commitment. This is because of the lack of desired support from the top management. It is all good to have a great meeting and talk about the need for change, but it will serve little purpose if the senior management does not commit to the massive change, in terms of doing what is necessary to achieve the vision and strategic intent on account of which Digital Transformation initiatives fail.

It is clear that organizations do not have an adequate understanding of how they can optimize their business by embracing Digital Transformation, which has huge promise to transform the future of business, of society, the way we live, work, interact, etc. It would not be wrong to state that organizations have a superficial understanding of Digital Transformation and this explains why organizations have been unable to maximize gains from their Digital Transformation initiatives or in other words not able to undertake a successful Digital Transformation journey. A study conducted by IDC stated that direct spending on Digital Transformation is predicted to reach $5.9 trillion over the 2018-2021 period.

Organizations are struggling to cap off a successful Digital Transformation journey simply because they lack the right approach. A successful Digital Transformation journey is only possible if they are guided by a broader business strategy and not unilateral targets. For example, there is a line of thought that Digital transformation is all about technology deployment. Of course, technology has a key role to play in Digital Transformation initiatives, but everything is not about technology. In fact, the technology-centric view of Digital Transformation is one of the prime reasons for failed Digital Transformation initiatives.