6 steps to creating a Digital Strategy
If you want to stay ahead of the competition, you need a digital strategy for your business. At a high level, this should clearly outline the digital workstreams under the pillars of processes, capabilities, systems & technology, culture and purpose over a defined period. This digital strategy should complement the overall business strategy to ensure that both are aligned with agreed objectives.
Taking this approach will allow your business to leverage data, streamline processes and support operations using technology to give your business a real competitive advantage.
What does a good Digital Strategy look like?
If you want your company to succeed, you need to have a good digital strategy. But what does this look like? In addition to the pillars outlined above, when developing your business strategy there are a few things that should be kept in mind:
- Be customer-focused
- Make data-driven decisions
- Leverage current technology but be open to adopting new technologies
- Clearly understand how decisions affect other areas of the business
- Be transformative
With these components in place, you’ll be well on your way to success.
6 easy steps to create a Digital Strategy
There are a few key steps to developing a successful digital business strategy:
- Understand the base level of digital competency in your organisation.
This can be done easily using the Enterprise Ireland Digital Ready Scorecard.
- Define why a digital strategy is required (the purpose).
This may be to improve customer experience, improve efficiency, improve decision-making or gain a competitive advantage.
- Identify the challenges to meeting your defined purpose in 2.
This may be a lack of digital skills, traditional, rigid processes, or a lack of digital leadership.
- Determine what is needed in order to overcome challenges & achieve the goals set by the organisation:
What capabilities help us meet objectives?
What is the priority for implementing change?
What level of change is required to meet objectives?
- Define the packages of work that are needed.
In order to achieve your objectives, you need to define the packages of work that need to be completed and the sequence in which they are undertaken. This will ensure that all of the necessary work is completed in a timely and efficient manner.
- Clearly communicate the complete digital strategy with the business.
This will ensure that everyone is on the same page and working towards the same goal. Without clear communication, it will be difficult to implement and achieve the desired results from the digital strategy.
Digital strategies and digital transformation are closely linked. In order to successfully transform your business, you need a comprehensive digital strategy that incrementally transforms your business over time,
Your digital strategy should address specific problems within your organisation and create solutions that achieve optimal results. You may understand at this point that a successful digital transformation strategy goes beyond traditional software rollout by your IT department!
In summary, a digital strategy should involve a complete rethinking of business processes to take advantage of new technologies, standards, tools, and capabilities. The workstreams carried out should be done so with a common set of objectives in mind. The culture of the business will shift over time in line with the incremental change addressed through the strategy. By investing in these strategies, your business can stay ahead of the competition and maintain a strong presence.
At LBSPartners Our Digital Transformation process will help you define your Digital Strategy and ensure your platform is optimised to reach your goals. Take the first step today and contact us to discuss your Digital Journey.
