Chapter 10Digital Business Strategy
Digital transformation became one of the most overused buzz-words in the history of technology about 10 years ago. The concept was not new, as technology-based disruptions have been hot topics of discussion for several decades. But the current definition of digital transformation involves leveraging new and emerging technologies to enable significant changes in business activities, which in turn drive business growth.
Discussions of digital transformation generally include mention of robotic process automation, advanced data analytics, artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things (IoT), applications of the metaverse, and other new technologies. However, and I know this is going to come as a surprise, digital transformation is not about technology. And it's not enough to just say “It's all about the people and the processes.” To be clear and accurate, digital transformation is all about the transformation of business processes and the impact it has on customers and employees.
Recent research shows that while many business leaders believe they absolutely must engage in digital transformation to survive, few businesses have an accurate and complete understanding of what the term means, let alone a strategy to support it. Some will lump every technology project into the digital transformation bucket. However, not every technology-based improvement can be considered a digital transformation according to the current prevailing definition.
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