• Insufficient funding, inadequate guidance and direction, unempowered business units, legacy infrastructure, inconsistent working processes and practices, and issues acquiring the right talent cited as primary reasons for the widespread shortcomings.
• Companies are unprepared for the complexities that accompany such a journey, BCG says.

About 70 per cent of organisations globally have failed or are falling short in their digital transformation attempts and Middle Eastern organisations are no different.

The ongoing pandemic on businesses has been felt across every sector and the majority of companies are experiencing difficulties as they attempt to regain control of their top and bottom lines.

Even though recent events have propelled the urgency to transition to digital, Boston Consulting Group (BCG) report, titled ‘The Five Imperatives of a Successful Digital Transformation’, stated that businesses have also exacerbated the risks and challenges already facing organisations due to the outbreak. 

The reported said that companies are unprepared for the complexities that accompany such a journey. Questions concerning how to set up governance, infrastructure, and technology frequently arise, while adopting new ways of working and different organisational cultures are, more often than not, proving complicated to navigate. 

Changing business landscape

“Many organisations have identified the need to react to the changing business landscape but have struggled to implement and advance their respective transformation agendas,” David Panhans, Managing Director and Partner at BCG, said.

He cited insufficient funding, inadequate guidance and direction, unempowered business units, legacy infrastructure, inconsistent working processes and practices, and issues acquiring the right talent are all primary reasons for the widespread shortcomings.

It is also important to acknowledge that the pre-pandemic business-as-usual environment will not be resuming and obstacles to overcome have “multiplied” in terms of difficulty, he said.

These challenges shed light on the necessity for company executives and decision-makers to double down on digital transformation by making it a top corporate priority – to stay relevant and to survive, Kaustubh Wagle, Managing Director and Partner at BCG, said.

Operational resilience

 “Although success in this direction is no easy feat, it is certainly achievable. In every sector, digitally-savvy players have moved ahead of their competition by accelerating digital transformation and embracing new ways of working,” Wagle said.

Despite the pandemic’s repercussions, Shoaib Yousuf, Partner at BCG, said that companies making sustained progress on their digital transformation journeys have demonstrated more operational resilience due to their ability to serve customers digitally.

Because digital is here to stay and is the way forward, he said that it is imperative that company heads act now, implements these steps, and proactively set a long-term agenda, so they can fulfil every requirement of a complex digital transformation journey.

Five imperatives for digital transformation success:

• Institutionalised digital governance: Businesses can become empowered to execute transformation initiatives by identifying specific KPIs, developing a business-led portfolio, and revamping corporate processes.
• Reimagined journeys: Adopting new ways of working will streamline customer, employee, and partner experiences and rapidly launch products and services. 
• Next-generation technology and delivery: Migrating to modular technology architecture and decommissioning legacy infrastructure will result in dynamic market adaptability, newfound agility, and faster go-to-market timeframes. 
• Digital talent and culture: Promoting a unified digital mindset internally will infuse innovation in company DNA and build digital capabilities. 
• Unlocked data and analytics potential: Creating an analytics monetisation strategy and aligning analytics operating models with clear roles and responsibilities will build the required capabilities to utilise data and analytics.