Digital transformations aren’t designed for short-term gain. Thinking of a digital transformation as a set of activities designed to enhance your business processes or a solution to today’s issues instead of looking at it as a way to achieve agility, ensure your survival and engage a future filled with uncertainties could end up being dangerous. While disruptive companies are creating new ways of doing business, some companies are just trying to catch up with the new business engagement methods created by digital channels of communication.

Disruption is not new. It has been happening throughout this young planet’s history. The factor that’s changed is time — the speed of adoption. It used to take decades to achieve a critical mass for a new service offering or a new way of doing business, now it takes years or even months. This is the new terrain where the business game is being played. While many organizations have already embarked on transformation, others are struggling to get off the ground. Even though 87% of companies believe digital will disrupt their industry, only 44% are adequately prepared for projected disruption due to digital trends.

Like anything in business, there are no foolproof methods to ensure total success. However, when it comes to digital transformation, the best results come from a strategic step-by-step process. According to new research by the Altimeter Group – in co-operation with the world’s leading brands – there are six stages along with a maturity model which guides purposeful and advantageous digital transformation:

• Business as Usual: Organizations operate with a familiar legacy perspective of customers, processes, metrics, business models, and technology, believing that it remains the solution to digital relevance.
• Present & Active: Experimentation drives digital literacy and creativity, albeit disparately, throughout the organization while aiming to improve and amplify specific touchpoints and processes.
• Formalized: Make experimentation intentional to drive initiatives that are bolder and seek executive support for new resources and technology.
• Strategic: Recognize the strength in collaboration as their research, work, and shared insights contribute to new strategic roadmaps that plan for digital transformation.
• Converged: The formation of a dedicated digital transformation team to guide strategy and operations based on business and customer-centric goals.
• Innovative & Adaptive: Digital transformation becomes a way of business and a new environment and culture is established to identify and act upon technology and market trends in pilot and, eventually, at scale.

Plan to cut down on the chores that are not central to your business and digitize them so you can outsource them if you have not already done so. When using outsourcing services, do not look for the company with the cheapest interaction cost, look for the company with the business process that leads to the lowest total cost of ownership. Execute your plan by reusing those cost savings and hopefully incorporating some investment from your board as well.