The Top 5 Challenges of Digital Transformation

Today’s market is evolving into a more digital market with more and more direct customer user experiences attached to company products. With these changes comes the need for businesses to adopt a digital transformation strategy capable of taking full advantage of all the opportunities new technologies supply us with. Digital transformation has become necessary for business advancement, but with these changes surface many challenges for companies wishing to develop new digitally aware business strategies that successfully reach their current and future customers. We have compiled our list of the top five challenges of digital transformation facing companies today and our advice on how to tackle these potential issues.

We hope you enjoy our list and find ways to make your digital transformation smoother!

1. Leadership

Leadership can be one of the major challenges facing digital transformation. Executive teams that recognize the company need to adopt digital transformation, but are hesitant and not fully committed or supportive of a company change, can be detrimental to company progress. It’s important to the success of initiatives that leadership develops a digital mindset and takes full advantage of the changing market as it appeals to digital engagement with customers, employees, and suppliers. However, leaders do not need to take on this change alone; managers can provide input and help implement a newly developed business strategy through the digital transformation process. Involving leaders of the company’s IT department can make for a smooth transition as well.

2. Customer Experience

The customer wants and needs have always been the focal point of businesses, driving their product design and their business strategy. Today, the customer experience is even more important because of how much control customers have gained in product designs, transforming businesses to develop products customizable to individual customers and their specific needs. Consumers are used to being able to customize products, give reviews, and interact with previous customers, all instantly and all online. Companies such as Amazon, Southwest, Starbucks, and Uber have mastered the digital experience and push competing companies into a full commitment to digital transformation.

3. Culture

Before an organization can successfully execute a major change, such as digital transformation, a change of culture is necessary. Openness to change is a good place to start. Being afraid or resistant to adapting and evolving the old tried and true methods can be the difference in becoming a major success or one of the many businesses left behind. From here, changing the mindset of the company to be more agile is the next step to developing a new company culture. A culture rooted in agility will recognize the need to adapt to digital transformation as advancements in technology and systems push businesses to adopt new methods enabling them to work in our evolving digital economy.

4. Customer Data

Another challenge facing digital transformation is the immense amount of resources available to companies, both during the transformation process and after the process is complete. Sometimes the amount of information can be overwhelming and bog down companies. The most sought-after and useful information is customer data; customer data is what drives digital success. The challenge for many companies is sifting through the vast amounts of information and finding the data that works best for them. The most efficient way for a company to effectively utilize digital transformation and the amount of customer data that can result in this transition is to determine the ten to fifteen key attributes that would help them best serve current and future customers. Once this is determined, organizations can quickly gather and store data that is relevant to their specific company needs and easily access the data when they need it.

5. Communication

The last, simple, yet significant challenge facing companies’ implementation of digital transformation is communication.  Communication can often be overlooked as an important challenge when dealing with technology and digital strategies, but without clear communication, the company plans to adopt digital transformation will be challenging to execute. Leading executives, the IT department, and marketing strategists should all be in constant communication, and all be on the same page throughout this process. Clearly defined goals, strategies, and desired outcomes are necessary and helpful for creating a smooth transition.

Taking Action

As companies evolve in today’s digitalized market, digital transformation becomes more and more necessary; but with change always comes apprehension, questions, and different challenges. We hope you enjoyed our list of challenges facing digital transformation and found our advice on how to tackle these challenges useful.

Didn’t see a big challenge you encountered during your digital transformation process? Share it with us on social media. And as always don’t forget to share our list of Top 5 Challenges of Digital Transformation and How to Tackle Them with your friends, colleagues, and on social media!