DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION ASSESSMENT RESULTS

The summary of results highlight areas you may want to explore further. It does not replace a comprehensive deep-dive assessment of your organization’s transformation program. For insights specific to your organization, please schedule a conversation with one of AndPlus’ Digital Transformation experts.

Results Summary

A defining characteristic of success in transformation is a multi-dimensional approach that intersects across Experience, Technology, Process and People. If your organization scored Below Average, it is lagging in more than one dimension compared to other companies’ transformation progress. This is common for orgs that are early-to-mid transformation journey and for orgs that are undertaking a narrow transformation (e.g. Agile Transformation, IT Transformation, etc.) instead of a comprehensive enterprise transformation.

The good news is that even if you’re behind today, you have the opportunity to catch-up and even get ahead. Be strategic and action-oriented to address what’s holding the org back from accelerating progress. Focus on closing the gap between your org’s digital transformation strategy and execution of that strategy. Most high mountains can’t be climbed in a day, but put in the work and you’ll make progress towards the summit and pass other travelers along the way.

Experience

Organizations that score Below Average typically have a suboptimal experience overall for customers, employees, and other key users. A single channel (in-person, phone, web, mobile, etc.) may have an optimized experience. However, the user cannot seamlessly do business and interact with the company according to individual preferences or switch channels with minimal friction.

The root causes for a suboptimal experience vary. Common challenges are technology constraints, siloed internal operations, lack of data and insights, leadership misalignment, and a culture that isn’t customer-centric. Correctly addressing the root causes, not just the symptoms, is critical because it should influence the priority of the work in the other dimensions of Technology, Process and People. Aligning the objectives and outcomes across dimensions to support desired experience will help ensure you obtain the maximum value of your transformation investments.

Technology

Organization that score Below Average typically have significant technology constraints or gaps. The current technology platforms and practices are unable to support the organization’s desired future state capabilities, customer expectations for personalization and choice, and modern ways of working. A common challenge that orgs have in this space is determining how to balance the technical debt required to solve current problems while investing in the larger, longer-term efforts that frequently stretch across several years and potentially cost millions of dollars.

Process

Organization that score Below Average typically lack business agility. These orgs may be using Agile methodology for software development or IT teams, but they generally lack the broader organizational agility to pivot quickly in response to changing business and technology needs. There is often limited understanding of the true flow of a process between teams, functions and departments, which can result in friction and waste. Processes are often redesigned or automated to preserve internal barriers instead of redesigning based on how to best support customers’ needs and improve employee efficiency and effectiveness.

People

Organization that score Below Average have the most predictable challenges across industries and company cultures. Understandably, the fundamentals of behavioral psychology and change management aren’t top of mind or prioritized in most companies. The People dimension often lags farthest behind because of a lack of focus. Culture takes years to fundamentally shift in most organizations, and it can be challenging to measure progress. However, a failure to adequately manage change across the org will throttle business results and transformation progress for years if left unaddressed. Over the course of your org’s transformation, invest earlier and consistently in change management and incentivize behavioral change through the journey to ensure alignment of people’s hearts, minds, and hands.

For more specific insights about your organization, schedule a conversation with one of our Digital Transformation experts.

Summary of Results:

A defining characteristic of success in transformation is a multi-dimensional approach that intersects across Experience, Technology, Process and People. If your organization scored Average, it is doing relatively well in more than one dimension and is generally on par compared to other companies’ transformation progress.

The good news is that you are well on your way. The bad news is that companies in this phase of maturity often regress or stall in their transformation journeys. The early gains of new technology and ways of working have added value, but orgs often start to experience setbacks, competing priorities and visions, complacency with early results, and even misplaced bets on future state technology. The original transformation roadmap is often lacking the level of detail to paint a clear path to desired outcomes a few years into the journey. Many companies haven’t refreshed their strategy based on actual progress and learnings, shifting market forces, and emerging technology. It is imperative to ensure alignment on a clear and actionable strategy, close the gap between that strategy and execution, and remove friction and waste to get unstuck, keep momentum, and sustain progress. You’re halfway up the mountain, but it’s risky to rest and take your eyes off the summit.

Experience

Organizations that score Average typically have a good experience overall for customers, employees, and other key users, and pockets of greatness may exist in specific channels. A user may not be able to seamlessly do business or interact with the company across all channels at will, but the experience is generally acceptable in the primary digital channels of web and mobile.

The challenges that orgs face in the Average phase is often connecting experiences across channels and touch points. Sometimes this is a technology, tools and data issue, but often the barriers are internal operating processes, politics, and misaligned incentives favoring (often unintentionally) specific channels.

Technology

Organizations that score Average typically have invested significantly in technology platforms, tools, capabilities, and talent. Progress has been made in implementing more modern platforms, but constraints and gaps still exist as the org’s processes, people, and the connections between platforms must be advanced and matured. At this phase, orgs are often unsure if the value of the technology investments is being achieved, which puts continued and future commitments at risk. Orgs at the higher end of Average are dabbling in emerging technologies but have yet to commercialize or advocate widespread adoption and the value delivered in the near-term is often questioned.

Process

Organizations that score Average are relatively agile in terms of IT management, but the rest of the organization is still adapting to support agile thinking and operating. A common challenge in this phase is that technology capabilities are implementing faster than the supporting business processes. Many orgs have made progress in automating processes and workflows, although often for operational efficiency vs. customer-centricity, which can lead to unintended consequences that negatively impact customer experience and satisfaction.

People

Organizations that score Average continue to experience predictable challenges that can be separated into two categories based on how transformation was approached early in the journey: (1) orgs that undertook change management work early; (2) orgs that de-prioritized (intentionally or unintentionally) change management. At this phase, leadership is aligned on transformation priorities, but commitment and attention often begins flagging. Individual employees and teams are usually working differently from a process standpoint, but shifting behaviors and mindset remains an ongoing challenge. Overall, it’s not unusual for employees at all levels to be suffering from change fatigue, putting current and future performance and progress at risk. It’s critical to reinvigorate people at this phase to overcome the inevitable barriers and sustain momentum.

For more specific insights about your organization, schedule a conversation with one of our Digital Transformation experts.

Summary of Results:

A defining characteristic of success in transformation is a multi-dimensional approach that intersects across Experience, Technology, Process and People. If your organization scored Above Average, it is doing relatively well in all dimensions with excellence in more than one dimension compared to other companies’ transformation progress.

Congratulations! This is rarefied air at the summit, but beware of resting too long. It has been said that transformation is never really “done.” You may have achieved the initiatives and outcomes outlined on your original transformation roadmap, but along the way customer expectations, market forces, and technology have continued to evolve as well. If your org has achieved true business agility, then these shifts are accounted for across all four dimensions in near real-time. The question is: from your vantage point at the summit, what’s the next mountain you should scale?

Experience

Organizations that score Above Average typically have best-in-class experiences for customers, employees, and other key users. A user can seamlessly do business and interact with the company across all channels at will, and the level of personalization and customization is continually improving. The challenges that orgs face in the Above Average phase is leveraging emerging technologies to stay ahead of competitors and maintain their competitive advantage while continuing to delight customers.

Technology

Organizations that score Above Average have typically implemented modern technology architecture and platforms to meet current needs while providing flexibility to enhance and meet future needs. At this phase, orgs should be able to quantify the cost of capabilities and make data-driven decisions on where investment drives the best outcomes. Above average orgs have commercialized more advanced technologies and continue to invest and explore newer innovations, be it technology or modern ways of working.

Process

Organizations that score Above Average on Process are relatively sophisticated in their operating processes. The most successful orgs at this phase have redesigned and automated processes to best meet customers’ needs while also driving down operating costs and removing friction & waste that impacts employees. This dimension is typically the one that continues evolving at a great pace farther into the transformation journey as data generates more insights on opportunities for continual improvement. At this phase, agility is a way of operating and thinking for most of the company, not just delivering software. The challenge is staying alert and guarding against the bureaucracy that can naturally begin creeping back in.

People

Organizations that score Above Average on People is the rarest of all. It’s not unusual for an org to be Above Average on Experience, Technology and Process, but rate Average on People. This is generally because culture takes longer to evolve in large orgs. The interesting trend we see emerging in Above Average companies is friction and waste increasing because of bureaucracy that often finds its way back into the institution in the name of leadership control and process standardization, which takes a toll on employee morale, engagement, and productivity.

For more specific insights about your organization, schedule a conversation  with one of our Digital Transformation experts.

Kudos for making transformation a priority for your business! Don’t be discouraged if the resulting score doesn’t yet reflect your org’s commitment, investment and progress in transformation. High mountains are not scaled in a day. 

• Which dimension is neglected? Is it an oversight or intentional de-prioritization?
• Can you quantify the transformation progress that’s been made and how far behind you are?
• Are your org’s transformation efforts and investments sequenced to gain momentum and sustain progress?
• Is your change management sufficient to bring the people in the org along with you? Or is resistance creating friction, talent management issues, and dragging down results?
• Do you have the right people with the right skills in the right roles?

While those questions and the challenge of accelerating transformation may seem daunting, don't be discouraged.

AndPlus can help!

Additional Resources

While you are visiting the AndPlus website,  checkout these additional resources to help you diagnose your challenges, identify solutions, and inspire you for the transformation journey ahead:

• Podcasts
  • Digital Transformation: The Strategy-Execution Gap
  • How to Spot Digital Transformation Friction in Your Organization
• White Papers
  • Guide to Digital Transformation
  • Using Artificial Intelligence in Digital Products
• Blog Posts
  • Inspiring Transformation Within Your Organization
  • Digital Strategy: Precursor to Transformation
• Online Guides
  • The AndPlus Guide to Digital Transformation
  • Online Guide: Managing Touchless UI Expectations

Feel free to visit our Resources Library and select information from the many topics and formats available!

Increasingly, companies realize that their existing business models and processes are holding them back and causing them to fall behind in the competitive race. For these companies, digital transformation offers the possibility of creating top-down, organizational change that leverages digital technologies and business models to improve business performance and deliver new levels of customer value.

At AndPlus, that’s what we do.

We're a digital technology consulting and development firm that helps clients accelerate digital transformation by closing the gap between strategy and execution. Fusing deep technical and business expertise with a custom Agile development process, we help our clients rapidly implement digital transformation strategies that achieve optimal results with less risk.

Driven by a passion for excellence, AndPlus creates digital transformation strategies and reliable digital products that also deliver exceptional user experiences. Our deep expertise and custom Agile process enable AndPlus to iterate quickly, provide transparency, and deliver on time and on budget — helping our partners get to market faster with less risk.

The AndPlus Digital Transformation Assessment is comprised of fifteen questions with responses weighted and aligned to the four dimensions that comprise AndPlus’ Digital Transformation Framework. The overall score and dimensions scores are charted in the “speedometer” format. Based on the resulting score, respondents’ organizations are ranked as:

• Below Average (red zone)
• Average (yellow zone)
• Above Average (green zone)

Rankings are relative to other companies (large enterprises spanning various industries) that AndPlus has worked with and studied over the past decade.