By IRM UK
While digital transformation is software-empowered, it’s most important characteristic is the fact that it is customer-driven.
Dispelling the canard that digital transformation is about technology is finally showing signs of catching on. “While every industry has different customer types, the customer is always waiting to be wowed by a flawless experience,” says Phil Walsh, Head of North American Field Marketing at Cognizant, in an article for Market Mogul. “This is true whether the focus is B2B or B2C; this distinction, frankly, does not really 
matter when it comes to digital transformation.”
This customer-focused principle holds in the public sector as well. “For public bodies, digital transformation is more than a revamped website, unified communications, a new CRM system, a Facebook profile or giving employees iPads,” explains Rob Whiteman, CEO of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance & Accountancy (CIPFA) in the UK, in an article for Open Access Government. “It’s fundamentally changing the way that organisations design and deliver services and how they operate internally.”
Not everybody is on the same page, however. Some technology vendors still struggle with this story. As I wrote last May, Dell Technologies for one talks a good game but fails to connect the dots between technology and customer-centricity.
Cisco Systems also faces challenges with this technology tunnel vision. “At its core, digital transformation is about adopting technology and harnessing its power to overcome business challenges and unlock growth opportunities,” opines Vatsun Thirapatarapong, managing director of Cisco in Thailand and Indochina, in an article for The Nation. “For any company to be successful with its digital transformation, it needs to fully understand the implications of technology, the impact it can deliver as well as the challenges with its adoption.”
Thirapatarapong may not speak for all of Cisco to be sure, and his statement is true on its face, but he fails to place digital transformation into the customer context – a core misunderstanding that is fortunately becoming less prevalent over time.
Read the entire article at http://www.irmconnects.com/digital-transformation-five-years-on-hype-or-reality/
