Digital Strategy
[Published December 2016]
Introduction
I have often been asked, "what is a digital strategy"? Usually because the initial thought is that it is about the technology. I say, wrong, it's about the business and the organisation.
So what is a digital strategy?
A Digital Strategy
Let's start with a departmental view. A digital strategy means different things depending on your bias and place in an organisation.
Marketing will focus on websites, social media, apps, and advertising.
Operations want data, analytics, processes and reporting.
Business/Commercial need products and services, customer experiences and revenue channels.
Finance look for cost savings, expenditure and budgets.
And IT want cloud, blockchain, AI, and every piece of emerging technology.
And HR, they don't know they want a digital strategy, however new ways of working and access to digital HR platforms (recruitment, self service, etc) will impact staffing, skills and HR processes.
No different to a business strategy, a digital strategy needs to service the goals of the organisation across all departments. Today a digital strategy is part of the business strategy as, in my opinion, today the two cannot be unlink. Perhaps the digital strategy will enable a business strategy?
A digital strategy focuses on using technology to improve the business performance and operations, and hopefully to disrupt the marketplace. Creating new products, new customer channels or improving processes. The strategy sets the path for the organisation to create new competitive advantages and where and how to achieve them. This can mean changes to the business model, especially as emerging technology makes it possible for innovative.
Perhaps it is possible to loosely define a digital strategy as; the application of digital technologies to the business and the business model, to create new and differentiating capabilities within the organisation and marketplace.
From a personal point of view, I start with five simple questions:
How will a digital strategy deliver the organisational goals?
What will benefit the customer base?
How can I create a “blue ocean”?
How quickly does it need to happen?
How will I pay for it?
Working with the leadership to answer, or at least part answer, these questions you can begin to formulate a strategy. Ultimately the digital strategy will result in a series of incremental steps towards a pre-defined destination – the high-level roadmap.
With your road-map you can plan the implementation and deployment of digital technologies. You can sequence the work; to achieve greatest impact for the organisation, or as the you can afford it, or when technology becomes viable (price and availability) - or most likely a mix of all.
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