As a starting point of a digital transformation, you should have a clear vision of why you are doing it and why your business needs to become more digital. Make a list of the core reasons driving your desire for digital transformation. Is it to keep up with the competitors, improve your clients' experience, or manage the company's data more efficiently? Once you have a list of the reasons, you can plan your digital transformation and understand if they can be met.
To decide on the ultimate development pathway, you should realize where your company is currently. Review all the processes and systems you have at your disposal and estimate the effectiveness of their operation. If you are using digital technologies and tools, what are they, and are they working to their fullest potential? Study all your organization's functions, structure and working process.
You must be looking to deploy digital transformation because there are some blind and weak spots in your business or opportunities that are missing to make your business prosper. What are the blank spaces to be filled with cutting-edge technology? For example, are you using the data you gather in the company's operation to extract value from it? What makes the clients and leads engaged and retained after they appear to be your customers?
When you have cutting-edge technology in your pocket, you should revise what talents you have in-house to deploy it. Having even the most advanced above-and-beyond technologies makes no sense when you have no digital skills to steer them. What talents do you need to unfold the upcoming transformation, and do you have any in the company? Do you know how to upskill the current in-house employees so they can unwrap the new technologies to bring value to your business?
When you understand all the points mentioned above, such as the company's motivation, perspectives, resources, capabilities, gaps to be filled and the presence of the in-house talent to deploy the digital transformation, you can come up with a digital transformation strategy which you can rely upon in its course. After its creation, you could guide your business upon this roadmap which ultimately should be tied to KPIs and a capitalization plan.
A digital transformation strategy is something that should always stay the same. It would help if you were agile as the digital sphere is one of these, which changes quickly. Thus, you should always make room for change in case any factors which have been valid at the planning phase have changed. Agility is necessary when you are disposing of a transformation of such type, and your company should learn to adapt and change course if needed.