The life cycle of information technology is becoming shorter every year. New competitors are disrupting industries by leveraging state-of-the-moment digital practices and processes. Therefore you need to modernize your company’s technology.
Customer expectations are constantly evolving in an accelerating race for the most advanced, hyperconnected, seamless experiences.
IT functions are under unrelenting pressure to support leading-edge capabilities such as data analytics, cybersecurity, automated processing, and integration with third-party systems.
The easiest way to do this is through platforms that connect everyone to the same cloud-based cross-industry digital infrastructure.
Understanding what to get right —the elements of your IT system necessary to reach your goals — is essential. Knowing how to get it right — how to plan, sequence, invest, design, and engage the enterprise around your technological modernization — is equally important. Some efforts fare better than others.
That is why we have detailed 10 common principles in successful efforts. You can consider these principles as essential guidelines for your digital transformation, from your legacy system to the platforms of the future. This week we bring the first one:
1. Customer Value First
Start developing a solid business case. The modernization effort, must show expected value and innovation. Include the most important outcomes for customers. Articulate, with clarity and precision, how each facet of the new IT system will contribute.
You should be able to point to measurable improvements in key metrics — for example, customer retention, user experience, sales, productivity, and recruiting.
Use cross-functional teams to plan and design this modernization effort. Experts from areas such as IT, strategy, R&D, customer interaction, and operations can all work together in an agile environment to design the changes around a set of coordinated specifications.
Link the leading-edge knowledge of the changing technology with the deep day-to-day awareness of the desired results. As you bring these teams together, you will establish a shared frame of reference. This also will help engage new stakeholders as they join in the effort.
For example, a major transportation company revamped its online system this way. Improving the integration between the website that handled passenger bookings and the back-office functions that routed travel. In its intensive sandbox sessions, the company set up temporary cross-functional working groups, which became known as “tribes.” Charged with planning and executing the modernization, the tribes included IT specialists along with people from finance, operations, and R&D.
Questions for putting customer value first:
• Why do we need to improve or transform our technology at this time?
Analyze the current situation of your company, to understand why it should improve or transform its technology.
• What problems do we hope to solve?
Discover and punctuate the problems you want to solve.
• Will this change be value for our customers?
Understand and visualize the advantages you will have for your clients.
To be continue…
