History has shown a pattern of wars where new technologies are introduced to the battlefield only to be implemented with outdated tactics and strategies leading to untold horrors. (World War I for example.) While we in technology usually do not have to face such fundamental life and death consequences such as a war, we do face the same issue that military leaders have faced throughout history.  How do you proceed with an ever-changing technology landscape?  Customers and businesses now expect more and expect it now, how do you adapt? Your old way of getting things done in the past might have served you well for years but are you actually prepared for what is to come?

Every few years approaches come out that help arm us with new ways of solving problems and creating values with the new technologies that are now available.  Many of these new approaches are trendy, hyped, and fizzle out without really adding anything to the technology equation.  Some however, address problems that when solved can positively impact both people and business.  Eventually, they may cease to be a focus going forward but the approach is then folded into new approaches that have a greater breadth and deal with technological advances and new social and marketplace realities.

For example, Information Engineering was all the craze in the 1980s driven by the new mini-computer and client-server technologies.   It was attempting to address how to systematically develop systems and deliver functionality that was needed and added value. Going into the 1990s, the focus shifted to Business Process Re-engineering (BPR).  Everyone was comfortable with the development approach but the market decided it was a fine time to take a look at how things were being done within their company and improve the processes.  Therefore, projects now focused on using technology and BPR to build the most efficient process possible.  It should be apparent that the needs by these methods are focused on the internal needs of an organization.  Fast forward to the present day and they would not be able to address much in the way of the needs of businesses or people.

Today we have needs that were not envisioned during those times.  Businesses need to look outward to customers and vendors and include them as part of the overall process.  Business processes must change rapidly and often, and decisions are increasingly based or supported by data analytics.  Engaging with customers at a real-time pace is expected, not a luxury.  As you can see, old approaches can run you into a ditch very fast.  They do not address the breadth of the current issues nor were they built with a knowledge of modern technology capabilities.

What do we do now?

Digital Transformation. The current term for the strategy to deal with today’s technology and social realities.

I often cringe when hearing digital transformation discussed.  People will call anything digital transformation.  Are they wrong?  Yes and No.  A new mobile app or automated cloud environment that makes things better and cheaper indeed has utilized digital technology to “transform” part of something.  However, this is a simplistic and misleading usage of the Digital Transformation term.  This could be because “digitally transforming” something sounds like a better marketing hook rather than getting into a bunch of theoretical minutiae. But… it is more expansive and complex if you are applying it correctly.  It is not one project, one app, one dashboard, nor is it driven strictly by technology.  Most important it focuses everywhere an organization touches and provides the ability to quickly adapt to the unknown.

In this series of articles, I will provide detail on “focus areas” for Digital Transformation and hopefully give you some insight as to what it is all about.  In 5 or 10 years this strategy and approach may elicit an eye-roll or two, but this is where we are today so let’s make a difference.

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