13 Digital Transformation Examples: Companies That Saw Dramatic Success
- Are you interested in other companies who’ve had successful digital transformation?
- Need to know how to incorporate technology at your company better?
- Are you not sure which consultancy will best suit your needs?
Then this article is for you…
Many consultancies specialize in digital transformation, including Why Stuff Sucks®. If you’re looking to amp up your digital game, it can be challenging to know what to look for in a consultancy. After all, digital transformation is a term that can mean a lot of different things.
That’s why we’ve compiled a list of the 13 most successful digital transformation strategies. Tried and true ways to implement modern digital services into your operations. we’ll point out why they work and who they work the best for.
Along the way, you’ll learn more about digital transformation and what it can do for your company.
Which Section Do You Want to Read First?
1. “Drop Kick” Your Legacy Software & Tools
First up, we have the phasing out of legacy tools and software. What are legacy tools? They’re outdated forms of tech that have far outstayed their welcome. If you notice that your bank is still using Windows 95, then they’re using legacy software. While that’s an extreme example, there are others (not as old) where it leaves you vulnerable.
The reason for this is quite simple; it’s very expensive to train your staff on new software. Not only that, but you have to purchase new equipment and programs. It can be quite a costly endeavor, which is why it takes an expert strategy to do it right.
The best digital transformation companies in operation today understand this. That’s why coming up with a detailed plan on how to upgrade your company’s technology is so crucial. It’s an invaluable part of digital transformation that a lot of companies need right now. If your company has ancient technology and software in place, then you need to address that.
With the implementation of new technology and software comes new capabilities. With the most modern tech, your company can:
- Speed up processes
- Improve your user experience
- Mitigate crashes and slow-downs
- Communicate more efficiently
The benefits of upgrading old technology will far outweigh the cost of implementation. Accenture is an example of a company that found great success through modernizing legacy systems.
2. Leverage the Most Effective Digital Technologies
Successful companies leverage the most relevant technology for digital transformation. In other words, they know they don’t have to install every single modern form of tech. Doing so would be very costly and wouldn’t make much sense.
Instead, it’s crucial only to invest in the technologies that are proven effective. Find technology that will improve the efficiency of your processes. For example, let’s say that you have a process in place that you can easily automate. An intelligent digital transformation company will focus on that technology to save you both time and money.
Investing in the most effective digital technologies is critical for success. If you waste your time implementing tons of fancy tech with no practical value, you won’t get very far. Oracle knows this very well, which is why they only focus on the most effective technologies. Doing so has made them a top contender in the digital transformation world today.
3. Buff Up Your Cybersecurity
Cybersecurity is a significant component in any digital transformation strategy. In today’s age, one cyber attack can ruin your company. To protect what you’ve worked so hard for, you need proper security measures in place. Seasoned digital transformation companies put a major emphasis on security. Techniques include:
Regularly and automatically forcing changing passwords
- Using VPNs for all connections
- Installing proper firewalls and ad blockers
- Using two-factor authentication for accounts
- Among many others
These are but a few of the techniques a digital transformation company can provide for you. You need to make sure that you keep your sensitive data protected from hackers at all times.
Oka is a company that places a lot of emphasis on robust cybersecurity. The company is a huge innovator in the field, and they have solid offerings in their quiver.
4. Increase Your R&D Budget for Digital Technology
You won’t get anywhere unless you give your development team a proper budget. As we previously stated, investing in digital transformation pays off in the long run. You’ll see a healthy ROI if you give your R&D staff a firm budget for developing new tech.
There are also a lot of clever ways you can go about increasing your budget by getting your whole team involved in the process. Try to get your employees brainstorming on new ways to incorporate technology, how to pay for it, and the ROI for each (in order to prioritize each).
Trust your R&D team & support their decisions. After all, they’re the ones working hard everyday to come up with ways to keep you on the cutting edge. IBM certainly understands this very well. They have a huge R&D team that they respect and trust with larger budgets.
5. Develop Systems with User-Friendliness in Mind
A digital system for your company should be intuitive and easy to use. Otherwise, you risk spending too much time and money on training. User-friendliness should be at the top of your developer’s minds when designing your system. If your digital systems are effortless to understand, you’ll see a significant increase in your efficiency. Your employees will be able to perform tasks twice as fast.
If simple tasks are buried behind confusing menus, your staff won’t be able to get much done. A user-friendly system will do a lot to increase your efficiency and productivity, so make sure to invest in one.
A great example of a company built around user-friendliness is Apple. As an early digital transformation company, their operating systems thrived because of how easy they were to use.
6. Use Data Analytics to Improve ROI
There’s a reason why digital transformation companies put so much importance on the cloud. That’s because having data analytics capabilities is crucial for any successful company. The more data you’re able to analyze, the more you can plan for success in the future, but you do have to figure out how to make sense of it all. AI and machine learning come into play here to speed up the process.
With data analytics, you can answer questions such as:
- Which products are customers buying most that have a higher margin?
- What products are our audience talking about in a particular location where we have overstock?
- What pain point are we not satisfying with our current product lineup?
That is all invaluable data that will help you improve your company and expand your operations.
Nearly every digital transformation company puts a lot of focus on cloud computing. Yet, a large innovator in this space is none other than Google. Through their Google Cloud Platform, they provide clients with a suite of cloud computing services to process the data and draw actionable insights.
7. Make Sure Everyone is On the Same Page
Alignment is necessary for digital transformation to work. We live and work in a very risk-averse culture at the moment. You see, lots of employees don’t respond very well to drastic changes. Their tasks may change, they may take on new responsibilities, and more.
To mitigate any issues, you should be careful when you roll out new changes and programs. Show your employees all the benefits they’ll enjoy by using the new tech. If they realize that they’ll save time if they learn a new program, it will help them adapt to the changes.
For an example of alignment in action, look no further than Intel. They have weathered many changes in technology and business model by being internally aligned and laser focused on the customer.
8. Use Integrative Solutions That Mesh With Other Programs
Top companies know they need to develop a holistic system and that there is likely no one offering that solves all of their challenges. In other words, systems need to seamlessly communicate and integrate with one another. That’s the best way to maximize your efficiency. But if you’re not careful, you could end up with disjointed digital systems. That can cause chaos at your company, with specific departments and systems not sure what the other ones are doing.
You need an experienced digital transformation company that will thoroughly plan out your systems beforehand. That way, they can ensure that they all act as one. SAP is an industry leader in creating systems that function in this way. They’ve also done a lot of work in IoT, which is a concept all about systems meshing together.
9. Create Company Policies to Encourage Digital Transformation
Remember what we said about using company policies to onboard your staff for culture change?
Well, it’s a very effective strategy in and of itself. If you’re going to implement any transformation at your company, you will run into resistance. Inevitably, some of your team will not want to change how they work.
That being said, it’s far from impossible. That’s where company policies come into play. It would be best if you used company policies alongside digital transformation. Using company policies can be a great way to get your employees to see the light regarding the “reason why” behind new changes and strategies.
Cognizant has rock-solid company policies governing their digital purchase policies & systems (concise and easy for suppliers to follow).
10. Implement Successful Employee Training Programs
Your company won’t stand a chance of succeeding if your staff can’t operate your new tech. Training is an incredibly crucial part of any digital transformation strategy. For example, if you’re going to start using a cloud infrastructure, your employees need to know how to use it effectively.
There’s a right way and a wrong way to train employees. To get the best results, you should opt for training that adapts to various learning styles (visual, practical, hands-on, etc.). If your staff gets a chance to perform their new tasks during training, they’ll likely adapt to them much quicker.
The best orgs know that investing in quality training programs is essential. Oracle is an example of digital transformation with a comprehensive list of training programs available for new employees.
11. Remain Adaptable to Technological Evolution
The technological landscape is an ever-changing and evolving one. If your company wants to compete in the modern world, then you need to be highly adaptable. As a rule of thumb, the quicker your employees can adapt to change, the more success you’ll find. The good news is that there are lots of ways to improve your adaptability. Talented digital transformation companies work with their entire team to improve their technological skills. They’ll provide training, advice, and other resources so that everyone has the opportunity to grow and not get left behind.
Any company integrating digital transformation needs to stay agile. You can expect to upgrade equipment every few years, and almost continuous new training will come with that. Improving your adaptability is necessary to compete in today’s age.
Microsoft continues to inspire others through their adaptability. Over the years, the company has had to change to keep up with the times. An example of this is the evolution of their Windows operating system (OS). They continue to change and adapt their OS to reflect the wants and needs of their consumers decades after the first version launched.
12. Leadership Derives Flexible Strategy from the Trenches
As a leader, you need to set a strong example for your company. If you want to see success from your digital transformation strategy, you need to own it. That means spending a lot of time with front line workers. It also means getting very familiar with your staff’s day-to-day struggles and issues.
The closer you are to those, the better strategies you’ll come up with. By being a leader that’s present at all times, you’ll inspire a lot of support and admiration from your team members. The results will be that they’ll work twice as hard to implement your new changes.
Accenture understands that flexible leadership is necessary for digital transformation to work. CEO Julie Sweet considers it one of her top responsibilities to ensure that the leadership team remains as flexible as possible in order to pivot and take advantage of opportunities that most enterprise companies can’t.
13. Collaborate Between Disparate Departments
Finally, you’ll need clear and open lines of communication at your company. That’s especially true for various departments. If your departments don’t break down their silos and communicate and collaborate freely, your transformation will be stalled. Remember, digital transformation is all about successfully implementing a well-crafted strategy.
Working together is the key to pulling off that plan. Virgin has seen soaring growth due to their superior internal communication & collaboration.
3 Steps & 4 Benefits to Turn “Things That Suck” Into “Success”
Okay, so we’ve looked at quite a few successful digital transformation strategies so far. Now it’s time to explain why our company should be your #1 choice. Our team will help you implement modern tech into your company:
- Painlessly
- Powerfully
- Promptly
You see, ‘digital’ isn’t a product; it’s a way of doing business. It’s this critical mindset that sets us apart from all our competitors.
Whether you work in healthcare or construction, digital transformation is absolutely vital. At our company, we can work with any type of organization, no matter what industry you’re in.
We will implement successful, battle-tested strategies to transform your company. It’s about more than upgrading your technology; it’s about alignment.
We will make sure that your people, resources, and digital systems are 100% aligned. It’s the best way to ensure that your team works together in positive and authentic ways. Our team specializes in this form of alignment, and we do it better than anyone else. We aim to:
- Take a detailed deep dive. The first step is determining what sucks at your company and what doesn’t. We’ll conduct a comprehensive audit of your current state. That way, we can identify the areas that are ripe for transformation.
- Use tailored solutions and precise analysis. My team makes use of advanced modeling software to analyze your data. When you combine that with our proven expertise and validation techniques, you get a solid strategy with a beefy ROI.
- Practice smart implementation and crucial execution. The final step is to make your new strategy a reality. We’ll work closely with you to make things happen. You can either use our in-house resources or one of our fantastic vetted digital providers.
These three steps alone will do a ton to transform your organization into a lean, mean, technological machine. There are lots of digital transformation companies that have found success. Compared to the others, we’ll provide:
- Fresh eyes for your situation. Oftentimes, an experienced new perspective is what it takes to innovate and set change ablaze.
- Proven discovery methods and alignment. Our process is a true game-changer, and it’s proven effective as evidenced by our case studies & testimonials.
- Our solutions will let you know what you need to get done. Forget plans that end up as a binder on a shelf. Our goals are prioritized and actionable.
- Our implementation experts always get the job done. Connecting to the right experts is how you make your plans turn into realities.
Please don’t wait to contact us to start or accelerate your successful digital transformation journey!
