3 Reasons Why Digital Transformation Initiatives Fail

More and more Filipinos are becoming digitally connected.

I recently helped out with a deck that talked about Accelerating Digital Transformation. One of the slides had a list of figures and statistical data about digital transformation (DX). It’s shown below.

From left to right:

• 97% mobile internet users as a percentage of total internet users
• 45% of Internet users in the Philippines aged 16 to 64 transfer money to friends or family on their phone every month
• 76% of Internet users in the Philippines aged 16 to 64 purchased a product online in the past month
• 37% of Internet users in the Philippines aged 16 to 64 who report using a banking app each month
• 28% of Internet users in the Philippines aged 16 to 64 made an online purchase via laptop or desktop in the past month
• 66% of Internet users in the Philippines aged 16 to 64 made an online purchase via mobile device in the past month

Data on the gray footer:

• 108.8 million Filipinos
• 73% of Filipinos are online; 9 hours and 45 minutes is the average daily time spent of Filipinos online
• There are 73% million total active social media users, 98% are mobile (accessing social media platforms on their mobile)
• Facebook, Youtube, Facebook Messenger are the top three most used social media platforms in the Philippines

The above data are as of January 2020. Sourced here.

This increasingly changing customer dynamics together with business continuity pressures amidst the pandemic are driving companies to accelerate their digital transformation initiatives.

If your business isn’t re-inventing the way you do business, you will become disrupted.

Our clients and prospects are exploiting opportunities. “We can’t just do nothing,” one of them said. “But we have to be pragmatic and that means understanding that DX requires an iterative, agile execution. It’s okay to start small to effect the right shift in culture alongside the implementation of digital technologies.”

We get it. Becoming digital is not easy. A recent survey points out that only 18% of companies rate their use of digital technology as “very effective”. (Harvey Nash/KPMG CIO Survey) In addition, eighty-seven percent of senior business leaders say digitalization is a company priority, yet only 40% of organizations have brought digital initiatives to scale. (Gartner)

We spoke to our customers, prospects, and partners and there are a few common answers to why their DX efforts are failing, enumerated below:

1. Weak strategy and vision. There may be a strategy, however the strategy may be incomplete and unclear, which makes it weak. Some have plans on where to go but have not outlined how they plan to get there. Some have goals that are too ambitious. This can lead to disengagement between you and your employees and /or you and your customers. Now there are some steps to building a winning DX strategy. First critical steps typically include getting leaders involved and defining a vision and desired outcomes. Then there’s typically an assessment of the current situation and planning your DX journey. “Many organizations fail short because they tend to work only on short-term wins, and fail to plan for long-term goals. We can’t blame them because businesses need immediate answers for urgent demands.”
2. Lack of alignment. Digital transformation, which often causes a shift in processes and structure, requires all functions of the company to be aligned and involved. Without a real partnership amongst leaders, DX will fail.

Lack of expertise. Many have shared about this and as a result, they’ve become stuck in a state of digital suspension. But companies can’t simply (always) hire to build the expertise because it’s just not practical. Hiring is not always the answer. A good solution is finding the right partner that can contribute to your DX goals.

Why are your DX efforts failing?

Originally published at https://amihan.net on May 17, 2021.