Before you can define your digital transformation vision and strategy, you need to understand your current state and the gaps and opportunities that exist in your organization. You can use various tools and frameworks, such as SWOT analysis, maturity models, or digital readiness assessments, to evaluate your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats in terms of your technology, processes, culture, and capabilities. You should also gather feedback from your internal and external stakeholders, such as customers, employees, suppliers, and competitors, to identify their pain points, needs, and expectations.
There needs to be a first step and a thread of repeated discussions throughout the baseline, strategy, and roadmap development and execution process focused on mission and vision. This starts with a talk about who you serve, along with how and why, and is a compass for the alignment process. Then as you perform the various stages, point back and connect the step and understanding to that mission and vision. Continue iterating as you perform the phases of your digital transformation process to reflect and retarget efforts towards the right activities and ways of thinking about the activities.
IT’s role in modern era has significantly changed from supportive or administrative to strategic one. To perfectly align digital transformation strategy with your organizational mission and values; Business acumen has become the must have trait for Digital Transformation Drivers. Its matter of fact that technologies are changing at the rate of not but still the basics of the business remain somewhat same. So, a deep understanding of how the company works and operates, the customers, the supply chain and logistics, and the overall business model is key to integrate your digital transformation road map with business core values and mission.
While users' qualitative perspectives are valuable, companies should establish a quantitative fact-base as well. "You can't manage what you can't measure" as Peter Drucker is often quoted saying. For example, process intelligence tools (e.g. process mining) can help organizations collect data on process performance without disrupting employees. This allows them to constantly identify issues and measure improvements. However, great measurement should come with a strong bias for action as Amazon champions. Many companies become overwhelmed with issues that they encounter once they learn more about their processes. Fixing a small problem today is more valuable than having a perfect problem list.
Use "VMOSA pyramid". Vision, Mission, Objectives, Strategy and most critical step which is the top of pyramid as the action plans. Make sure the action plans align well with the initial foundation of pyramid which is the vision and mission of the organization. Resources: Stakeholder analysis specially what I call it the 4 p of 1. Patients 2. Proxies 3. Payers, 4. Providers, HIMMS Analytics, Leapfrog group and IHI and great resources, SWOT environmental scan SMART goals tools.
Based on your assessment, you can define the outcomes you want to achieve through digital transformation. Align your vision and goals with your organizational mission and values, and ensure that they are relevant, realistic, and measurable. You should also consider the trends and best practices in your industry, market, and customer segments, and how you can differentiate yourself from your competitors. Your desired state should reflect your unique value proposition and competitive advantage.
The next step is to develop your strategy and roadmap to achieve your desired state. Your strategy should outline the key initiatives, actions, and resources that you will need to implement your digital transformation vision and goals. Your roadmap should prioritize the most critical and impactful projects and activities, and define the timelines, milestones, and success indicators for each one. It's vital to align your strategy and roadmap with your budget, resources, and capabilities, and identify the risks and challenges that you may face along the way.
It is important to ensure that important digital transformation initiatives can scale effectively and with some agility to accommodate and allow for an uncertain future that can positively or negatively impact business performance. Modeling and pre-defining how the roadmap and the staging and selection of key initiatives can change based on different business scenarios in a proactive versus reactive manner is key to maximizing strategic goal attainment, while staying true to your mission and values, and not being caught flat-footed, especially in more volatile market conditions.
A successful digital transformation strategy and vision requires the support and involvement of your stakeholders, both internal and external. You need to communicate and engage them effectively, and explain the benefits and value of your digital transformation for them. Solicit their input and feedback, and address their concerns and questions. You should also create a culture of collaboration and innovation, and empower your employees to participate in the change process. And leverage your partners and suppliers to enhance your capabilities and offerings.
As you implement your digital transformation strategy and vision, you need to monitor and evaluate your progress and performance. Use data and analytics to track and measure the results and impact of your digital transformation initiatives, and compare them with your predefined goals and indicators. Collect feedback from your stakeholders, and analyze their satisfaction and engagement levels. You should also review and adjust your strategy and roadmap as needed, based on the changing conditions and circumstances.
Digital transformation is not a one-time event, but a continuous journey of learning and improvement. Always look for new opportunities and challenges to enhance your digital transformation strategy and vision, and keep up with the evolving needs and expectations of your stakeholders. Try to foster a culture of learning and experimentation, and encourage your employees to explore new ideas and solutions. You should also benchmark yourself against your peers and competitors, and learn from their successes and failures.
Organizational mission and values express its purpose, goals, and intended methods for goal attainment. While generally stable, they can evolve as the organization envisions a new future with digital technologies. Digital, seen through a business lens, is a toolset for achieving the organization's purpose. Any digital strategy should start with mission and values, determining how technology aligns with the strategy. Documenting and implementing the strategy require a focus on business process impact—identifying new processes or how existing ones will change. This ensures stronger alignment and collaboration across functions, delivering transformative outcomes in line with the organization's mission.
There are some great tools in the marketplace. Planview can help enable organizations to better connect their business from ideas to impact, accelerating the achievement of what is most important. Planview’s portfolio management and work management solutions help create an organizational focus on strategic outcomes and empowers teams to deliver results. Especially useful and relevant is Planview’s ability to compare and prioritize strategic initiatives, based on risk and tradeoff scenarios to maximize business outcomes and results. I do not work for Planview or resell, I just was impressed with it as a tool to drive results in alignment with strategic goals.
Integrating your digital transformation strategy with organization overall mission and values helps to engage the key business functions with your goals. For example, if sustainability is the one of the organization’s core value then driving digital initiative to promote sustainability in your digital strategy road map like paper-less business process (digital platforms, e-invoicing) will ultimately contribute towards the common sustainability goal.