Digitalisation has been a journey of discovery for the Middle East. One would argue that now we are starting to see that digital transformation can be complex and risky, involving multiyear commitments that cause considerable disruption. If these projects go wrong, investments are wasted.
So, perhaps one of the most important lessons the region has learned about digital transformation is that the term itself does not describe the optimal strategy. Instead, we should aim for a culture change and an approach that delivers continuous, scalable, sustainable innovation.
Enter digital acceleration. This iterative approach allows the introduction of new business models and market opportunities over time. While on the journey, organisations add value but expose themselves to less risk. At its core, digital acceleration embraces the concept of measurement. Everything must be about impact.
The methodology replaces large change with easily digestible change, and KPIs tell us if we are heading in the right direction. Course corrections are easier on a speedboat than on an aircraft carrier.
So, while everyone else is transforming, you are accelerating. You have realised that the quick win may look enticing and allow you to solve the competition problem today, but patches on tyres can only get you so far. Quick wins may cause celebration in the short term but can lead to technical debt. Better to take a longer-term view and look for areas that can be improved. Like these four.
Customer engagement
You can be as innovative as you want within the bounds of your enterprise. However, once a solution is released into the wild, it is subject to customers’ judgment. Understanding needs and expectations requires observation of and engagement with those customers. How do they feel about GenAI?
Do they prefer self-service or expect a human agent to be on standby? Is using WhatsApp as a communication channel a deal breaker or a casual preference? What cultural issues are at play in delivering a product or service, and what is the best way to encourage adoption?
Customers today are increasingly millennials, or Gen Z. Those two cohorts between them account for just under half the world population, and by 2030, they will all be adults. These young, digital-savvy consumers will dictate how our digital speedboat should pitch. We must find ways to measure their preferences. And their disapproval.
This will prompt a refocusing of IT efforts, which is made possible through automation. Data-driven automation of labour-intensive tasks is a surefire way to empower IT to win hours back, which can then be directed towards customer engagement.
Operational efficiency
Recent Endava research shows that more than half (54 per cent) of Middle Eastern organisations have wasted investments in digital transformation. In analysing the missteps, we often find that enterprises have relied on domain expertise in isolation from all other considerations. How the business operates depends on a range of factors, many of which lie outside the confines of the organisation itself.
Its partner ecosystem, after-sales services, and supply chain must come under equal scrutiny if internal operational bottlenecks are to be identified and understood. On the flip side, existing assets that perform well or that could be optimised should be identified, as this is a more efficient way of accelerating digital advancement. Instead of ripping and replacing, re-engineering current tech — be that systems or processes — should be pursued when possible.
Impacts are measurable, and the region’s innovators should design KPIs that allow them to note the aspects inside and outside the business that need improvement. Productivity figures may identify the problem but not its source. However, monitoring suppliers’ delivery track records might lead to actionable information.
When introducing technology into operations, we can see which solutions can deliver the maximum impact. The important thing to remember is that technology is only the “how.” The impact is the “why.” That means impact-centric KPIs must support performance KPIs like productivity and revenue when digitally accelerating.
Employee empowerment
When people are placed at the core of digitalisation, outcomes become more positive, and success is more sustainable. Human agents are best positioned to notice whether a change has been impactful correctly. Today’s digital design teams collaborate with users to determine what is working and what is not. Indeed, they often include them in design-time brainstorming sessions to elicit ways of measuring the effectiveness of live systems.
Cost reductions
Cost measurement is not new, so there are not many new metrics to add here. However, no list of digitalisation goals would be complete without mentioning ROI. If Process X is the source of greater costs now than before digitisation was applied, then a course change is needed. If costs have gone down, that is a signal requiring more investigation. Can the digitisation technique be applied elsewhere in the business? Or can elements of it be reused or repurposed?
To the future and beyond
Digital tools have many uses. The trick for innovators is understanding their business so well that they can instinctively reach for the right tool when needed. A measured, continuous process of change, assessment, and course correction can keep the nimble boat accelerating in the right direction.
By taking the impact-oriented route, project planners are far less tied to policy and earmarked budgets. The business is more agile, more aware of its surroundings, and more capable of changing direction when outside forces—economic, environmental, market, and technological—pop up.
