While sharing similarities in terms of desired outcomes of increased productivity, revenue and growth, one of the most critical things to understand, as a leader, is the difference between a business transformation and a digital transformation project.

In Brief:

1. Digital transformation focuses on the use of technology to drive organizational change across all aspects of a business, from processes and operations to vendor and partner optimization, with the goal of long-term success in the digital era.
2. Business transformation, on the other hand, focuses on improving operational efficiencies and go-to-market strategies, with the aim of boosting productivity, revenue, and growth.
3. Digital business transformation combines the evolution of people with advances in technology and focuses on driving change throughout the entire organization to achieve a digital mindset. It is a strategic shift that sets a business up for scalable success in the future.

Your digital revolution, or digital transformation, operates with one primary goal. Your goal is to drive organizational change across the board, from process improvement to vendor and partner optimization and beyond. Your digital transformation focuses on your entire operational models and works to implement strategies that drive for long-term success in the digital era.

A traditional business transformation serves a vastly different purpose. The business transformation model focuses heavily on production improvements to drive efficiencies and to be able to work better, faster and cheaper.

Before the digital wave, a traditional business transformation was enough to boost most organizations, at least short-term. Unfortunately, now, this method of thinking isn’t enough. While some quickly identified efficiencies might seem to propel your business forward, the result will be short-lived and detrimental. Without a full focus on digital transformation, your drive for change isn’t going to be scalable and sustainable.

Digitization, advanced technologies, and other forms of technology-enabled disruption are transforming all industries, pressuring organizations to produce stronger financial returns and re-imagine their identities.

It is worth noting that while a traditional business transformation isn’t enough to drive positive change, it could work hand-in-hand with your digital transformation process. Business transformations focus on operational efficiencies and go-to market models. Digital transformations focus on the technologies that support your total business efforts.

In the digital age we are currently operating in, the tables are turned a bit. For the most successful blueprints to change, your business transformation. in most scenarios, should be led by your digital transformation. Technology adaption and integration throughout your organization should drive all changes to go-to-market strategies, operating efficiencies, and cost-savings initiatives.

This is where many organizations fail. They still put a heavy focus on business transformation tactics, pulling in digital transformation thinking as an afterthought at the end when they are facing additional challenges with their operational model.

It’s critical to embrace the mentality that digital transformation should be the core to all business decisions. It should lead all change and should be the critical driver that develops an organization’s transformation blueprint moving forward.

According to McKinsey, one factor that is critical in today’s digital transformation is having a focus on attracting and developing tech-savvy executives and on better overall integration of tech talent into the organization rather than just getting new tech talent in the door. This further illustrates the need for a digital transformation to be all-encompassing.

What has been achieved by a well-executed business transformation has proven the need do away with old ways of thinking. The way businesses transform has changed.

The roadmap toward a successful digital-driven business transformation can be complicated. It’s easy to cut corners that favor immediate gratification over long-term success. It’s critical, however, do to the deep work needed to set your business up to excel in the digital era. This is where we come in. We help you drive positive change in your organization using data-driven outcomes to attain the strongest competitive advantage. We will help you execute a successful digital transformation from start to finish. Working with our team of experts eliminates the need to try and understand all the moving parts. We can help you hit the ground running and set your business up for long-term success without having to go through the vast learning curve required to understand the ins and outs of digital transformations.