Being Digitally Ready

Nobody disagrees that to be digitally ready or digitally enabled is an imperative in today’s workplace, especially these days when the Covid19 pandemic has transformed the issue from most interesting to urgent. Digital technologies touch virtually all facets of our lives, so no enterprise, public or private, can ignore the opportunities afforded by the vast array of digital technologies:

Big data

Social media

Mobile

The Cloud

The internet of things (IoT)

SaaS, DaaS, PaaS, IaaS

However, digital enablement (or digital readiness) is not a yes or no issue. Where an enterprise is along the digital readiness journey, determines the degree to which it has harnessed digital technology for the purpose of doing things faster, cheaper and better – therefore creating a competitive advantage. This is typically achieved through digital tech enablement of:

data acquistion and analysis

Internal and external systems and processes

Customer and partner relationships

The problem often lies in siloed cultures and the fact that the skill sets required are, at best, scattered across the organization whilst digital technology awareness is often woefully inadequate at Board level where strategic decisions are taken. Reconciling these gaps is often the biggest challenge for organizations. The pandemic has definitely elevated the issue to a key strategic (not just operational) concern. Getting this right has profound implications along several performance indicators:

revenue growth

time to market

efficiency

product quality

customer experience

So, becoming a digitally driven business can make the difference between obsolescence and resilience. No issue is more strategically vital at Board level.