There was one phrase to define priority number one for clients over the past year - digital transformation (DX). We’ve already detailed why it was
essential to organizational success in 2019, but now with 2020 on the immediate horizon, DX is a critical call for companies who have yet to adopt it.
There’s a good chance that you’re among this lot, as the most recent
Gartner CIO survey of 6,000 organizations finds that for 67% of them, digital growth has come to a screeching halt. With the fiscal year coming to a close, now is the time for action. Here is what you need to do.
5 Steps to Planning for Digital Transformation in Time for 2020
1. Set Your DX Budget
Don’t carry over the same IT budget that you used in the most recent fiscal year.
IDC reports that digital transformation spending will grow to more than 50% of all information and communications technology (ICT) investment over the next three years, beginning with 2020.
Concerned about the increased spend? Don’t be, as the same report expects that artificial intelligence (AI)-powered companies will respond to customers, competitors, regulators, and third-party partners at a rate that is 50 percent faster than their peers. That equates a competitive stranglehold on your industry and a very significant ROI.
2. Get the Entire Organization on Board
You and your executive team are excited about transforming your business for the new digital era, which is why you’ve budgeted for it. However, in order for it to be a successful transition you need to get the rest of the organization on board. Assuming that you’re adopting sweeping DX, everyone in the company will be impacted, from corner cubicle to backlot warehouse.
Don’t just tell your staff about it, get their input. When they see that you value their suggestions and feedback they will be more likely to embrace new technology. From there, you can formulate a training program to remove all fear of adoption, and ensure that everyone has access to the knowledge base and tools they need to leverage new hardware and software to make their jobs more efficient. View our
5-step guide to introducing new technology into the workplace.
3. Make Sure DX Incorporates Corporate Social Responsibility
2020 isn’t just about digital transformation in the corporate space, it’s also about organizations taking on more social responsibility. We live in a world where you’ll get called out by the public, media, and governing bodies quickly if you don’t align your IT systems with socially responsible best practices.
This certainly encompasses data protection, data privacy, and compliance, which is all a given at this point. Moving forward you must not only inform and train your staff on your organization’s DX strategy but also your customers/clients too. After all, they are the end-user of your product or service and you are digitally tied to them more than ever before.
View our guide to improving corporate responsibility as it applies to your DX plan and how it may impact your customers/clients.
4. Use the Resources Available to You
With a budget set and DX strategy in place to include and inform all stakeholders, it’s time to take advantage of the outside resources available to you. After all, you’re an expert in your field, not digital transformation. Fully Managed has already established a roadmap to help you with the entire process. Access one or all of the resource links below to get started:
5. Get Managed IT Support for Digital Transformation
Take note of the last resource link in item #4 above - what to look for in a DX partner. Therein lies the final step you need to take for success in 2020. You need Managed IT support from a firm with a background of DX success for both SMBs and SMEs, offers custom Managed IT solutions, has expertise in cybersecurity and compliance, has expertise in IT disaster recovery, and can provide affordable subscriptions to enterprise software-as-a-service (SaaS) among other DX tools.
Fully Managed delivers this full-service DX solution.
Contact us today to talk about what we can do for you as you plan for 2020.