by Ken van Ierlant
Virtually every firm in every industry is being shaken up by the digital revolution. No chief executive can ignore the onslaught of mobile computing, big data, artificial intelligence and the like. These new technologies offer the promise of huge efficiency gains, but also the threat of being walloped by some upstart from Silicon Valley. This according to an article in the economist What we have seen over the last 2-3 years in the european market is a hype around Digital Transformation primiraly as a Digital CRM and big data topic driven by IT consultants and system integrators with the promise to deliver short term topline growth.
Clients with large legacy systems and organisations thought they had found an aspirine to cure a temporarly headache in attaching the new paradigm to the old. Though, unwantedly connecting the old systems to the network they opend up the doors and windows of their companies by letting in unwanted malicious visitors creating havoc and causing huge damages to their businesses. At the end of the day (after two years or more of Digital experiments ) the cost income ratio’s of these company has gone completely out of hand and all investments in the so called Digital customer journey have failed. Due to the fact that they treated Digital as a technical thing and not as a business transformation issue many ended up in the trough of disillusionment A lack of understanding what digital disruption is all about and driven by opportunism by external consultants and internal vested interests leadership within large corporation jeopardized the future of their business by focussing on easy quick wins to overcome the economical downturn. Strangely we see a difference in behaviour and attitude towards Digtial between Continal European companies and Anglo American counterparts.
Where in Europe Digital is merely perceived as an IT technical topic in in the Anglo American zone Digital innovation is regarded as a business transformation in order to extend the competitve edge of the company. Leadership in the Anglo American zone apparently has probably more taste and guts or sense of urngency to go through a painful process then their European counterparts. Digital transformation is not an IT project and not a front office digital CRM point solution. Digtial Transformation is a complex paradox driven by a shortage of time and money in which companies have to change every discipline in order to persevere. It’s existential and therefore a task for Digital leaders and not for softies that thave the tendancy to go wobly when it’s going to get tough. Doing nothing or just a little is certain garantee to become obsolete. After experimenting with Digital over the last 2 to 3 years it’s about time to get serious and face the consequenses to pick up the ball and show leadership and responsibility.
The author, Ken van Ierlant, is Digital Thought Leader KNVI.
