Why Digital Transformation is Just Wrong
Today’s successful companies have not gone through a major transformation just for the sake of it. Instead, they have continuously evolved as they adapt to customer, business and technology changes. The most forward-thinking companies have actively accelerated this evolution when they have experienced business threats or identified opportunities to advance their market position. This could be introducing new business models, sales channels, the use of new technology or more efficient ways of working.
Unlike biological evolution, where a new species is born with the refined traits from its ancestors, many companies still carry all their previous development stages in the same body (both long and short beaks at the same time). Often, we meet businesses with a tech stack that includes a mix of old and new components that only partly support the current business model and imply huge limitations for business operations. Plus, a non-optimized technology stack makes it impossible to keep up with change such as new innovations, new customer behavior, international competition, and new regulations.
Very few businesses can switch everything out at once. And there’s no reason they should. Instead, use external help to review and challenge the current and future business needs.