Vikas Mujumdar, January 28, 2020
There is so much being written and spoken about digital transformation today that you would be right in asking why you should read another series of articles that probably say the same thing. There are three reasons I believe it could be worth your while to read this series.
One, I personally have been on various digital journeys for over two decades, each with a different destination. Having had computers around since my first step into the business world, my assignments have always been to digitize some aspect of the business. I am therefore going to map what is different today and why is digital transformation is being talked about as if it is the greatest thing to happen to mankind, when in reality it has been around for many years.
Two, I believe in taking a contrarian stand very often. Not because I don't believe in the value of the proposition, but because I feel it encourages a 360-degree view of an idea so that the final decision is well-informed and not biased by populist opinion. This series of articles will challenge the value proposition of everything that is hyped to deliver never-before value to humanity.
Three, technology is now discussed like politics and sports have been for many years. Most people know very little about either, but have plenty of opinions. Technology itself is to blame for this. Taking media digital has opened up more "word space" which was hitherto reserved for the more popular subject matters, thus allowing more commentary and opinion on technology making it appear simple. In reality, the opposite is true. Technology has become so complex, that the end-user solutions it provides have become super easy, giving a false sense to people of being knowledgeable. This series of articles will reveal how complex new technology really is and how sometimes it may be too complex to be relevant or practical for real world applications.
The state of the global economy is not the best as we start the new decade yet optimism is high. One of the reasons for this is that digital transformation is seen as a way to reduce costs and establish new business models that will boost the economy in the years to come. While this can be very true for many businesses, it is also possible that for some businesses, this may not the time to be affected by the FOMO syndrome and spend indiscriminately on digital transformation that may not lead to any business value. The contrarian stand that I mentioned earlier should allow a more balanced evaluation so that money is spent judiciously with tangible returns.
As the title of this article suggests, Digital Transformation is a journey, not an overnight change. It is unlikely that any modern business has not embarked upon this journey in some form or manner. So it is not about digital readiness (all of us are ready) but rather about determining where you are in the journey and defining where you want to be in the short- (6-12 months) and medium- (12-24 months) term. Given the pace of changes in and emergence of new technology I would not advise making plans for much beyond 24-36 months, rather build upon plans incrementally, making sure you leverage the best that's available at the time.
This series of articles will follow a recommended sequence of implementation of technology. It is not the law, it does not mean other approaches won't work. This is just a logical progression, based on deriving the highest value at the lowest cost and ensuring no investment is redundant.
Industry analysis is a huge business and in the absence of a definitive source of truth, analysts' reports are relied upon to understand trends and make decisions. There is often a lot of marketing push for all technology, couched in fancy business terminology that convinces more by confounding rather than by explaining. This series of articles will be devoid of any push, marketing or otherwise. Plain facts and examples of success and failures will leave the decision on relevance, applicability and feasibility to the reader depending on the space they are operating in.
I hope this introduction has been convincing enough to read a few more of the articles in this series, by which time I hope to have you gripped. I will be trying to churn one out every week, but if my day job gets in the way I may be a bit delayed.
All opinions are my own and are not the absolute truth in any form or manner. I don't consider myself to be a renowned expert, just a reasonably aware practitioner. So to misquote Steve Jobs, you may read and agree or disagree or you may ignore but there is no point in debating or challenging as I will just give in. Of course, if I am totally wrong about something and there will be dire consequences to my assertions, please do point them out to me.