Digital Transformation Needs Its Own Reinvention

New technology initiatives often fail to deliver real value for businesses, leaving C-suite leaders to deal with the lack of tangible outcomes. In PwC’s latest Pulse Survey, 88% of executives said their companies struggle to capture value from their tech investments. How can you avoid being part of that group and take a new approach that will demonstrably achieve digital transformation goals?

Moving forward with a strategic vision, a clear understanding of what success may look like and an appreciation of the breadth of change management is central to digital transformation. Common pitfalls that hinder tech investments from creating value include misalignment with business objectives, lack of user adoption, emphasizing tools over strategy, confusion on how to capture value and ignoring cultural fit.

To overcome these challenges, we recommend taking a better approach to modernization. By viewing each product as an ecosystem with defined inputs, interactions and outputs, businesses can extract more value. Taking a deep dive into specific modules allows companies to concentrate their resources on solving vertical challenges, which include clear business problems such as reducing inventory or improving turnaround time. Working across different technologies, processes and functional departments helps to drive quick and consistent results.

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Transformative actions are often competing with traditional priorities; alliances across the C-suite can help pave the way for an increased investment in technology. Tech-forward teams understand that transformation requires collaboration and, as a result, work closely with key business functions from the get-go.

Tech and strategy leaders may benefit from building partnerships across the C-suite and with functional leaders. Digital value transformation offers a new approach and value framework for driving transformation. In this approach, “value” is achieved through vertical problem solving, alignment within the ecosystem, leverage through targeted solutions, desirable user experiences, and an evolutionary mindset:

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When these elements work together, businesses can create lasting value. For example, a consumer product company used advanced AI analytics to optimize product placements, incorporating feedback from stakeholders and tracking performance. This resulted in a 3% sales improvement, 10-20% higher customer satisfaction and enhanced relationships with retail partners.

Technology by itself isn’t a cure-all. A holistic strategy is key for ensuring that new skills and technologies work in harmony with a company’s ecosystem and toward objectives to solve business challenges, not just automating existing processes.

Digital transformation calls for shifting your approach, reorienting your strategy and, most importantly, recognizing that reinvention requires more than mere code and solutions. It’s about understanding the nuances of your business landscape and the needs and aspirations of your stakeholders.

It’s no surprise that the old legacy approach to business transformation doesn’t work as well anymore. Business transformation needs its own reinvention. It requires a shift in approach from tackling day-to-day challenges. Digital value transformation offers a new path for organizations to reinvent their tech infrastructure and operational DNA, recharting their future in quarterly sprints and delivering value at every point along the way.

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