Business leaders looking to transform to digital will often avoid being on the bleeding edge of technology. Instead, firms may be early adopters, or opt for a more conservative, mass market model when making the move to digital-enabled solutions.
Regardless of where your firm is on the maturity scale of digital adoption, it’s important to have a technology plan in place to avoid getting swamped by a technology wave ... or being left behind and disrupted in the backwater.
Enterprise technology waves must be more than Technology and Platform implementations
As with most enterprise technology waves, failure is common. Companies often forget the lessons learned from prior waves … that technology is only part of the solution.
Along with every exciting new wave of technology comes the need for change to our approach to people, process and policy. We can’t simply implement the technology on its own.
Technology implementations done as stand-alone initiatives always fail. Yes, the technology will work perfectly. Yes, it will include the entire scope within the requirements documents. And yes, it will be implemented on-time and-on budget. BUT, enterprise adoption will be non-existent and you’ll end up with a technology solution that rarely meets the true enterprise requirements to achieve your organization’s objectives.
Enterprise adoption is key
Looking to gain successful enterprise-wide adoption? Here’s a checklist of five key considerations:
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Leverage a user-centric approach to defining requirements. Engage the enterprise and end-user. Don’t create requirements in a vacuum.
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Build solutions that are highly intuitive and easy to use. Look for manual-free and training-free solutions. Remember your end-users are also users of the latest at-home technologies (iPad, Android Auto, Apple HomeKit, Google Home, Amazon Echo, etc.), and expect business technologies to be just as creative and intuitive.
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Meet and achieve both management and end-users’ objectives. We often see that management’s requirement are addressed well before those of the end-user.
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Incorporate the solutions into the culture of how work actually gets done. Off-the-shelf solutions rarely deliver the value promised as they fail to understand and incorporate the solution into a company’s unique culture and work style. They attempt to change the organization through technology, and this almost always fails.
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Don’t rely on ‘big-bang’ approaches. Big-bang approaches also usually fail. They tend to go off-track, often have ambiguous goals, and don’t provide value fast enough to gain organizational or executive commitment.
Employ the 4Ps of digital transformation
Digital transformation requires viewing the business through a holistic lens that factors in all the variables. It’s what we call the 4Ps, and includes People, Process, Policy, and Platform. Every project, big or small, must factor in each of the 4Ps to ensure that end-users adopt the solution and the optimum business value is delivered.
Meeting true enterprise requirements
Meeting true enterprise requirements should save you money and time. At PureFacts, we help you identify the requirements that make the difference between success and failure. We help you define program objectives and leverage the knowledge and skills of your end users. We also ensure that the digital solution fits with your firm’s culture and will be taken up with enthusiasm organization-wide.
If you’d like to learn more, or would like to discuss how your company can mature faster into becoming a digital enterprise, please contact us.
PureFacts provides Custom Digital Solutions and Consulting for the financial services industry. We turn digital disruption into a growth opportunity for your firm. Ask us how we can help you accelerate innovation, optimize your operations and engage your customers.