TL;DR Summary
What is Digital Transformation at Scale?
I love my job. But when I tell my kids that I do digital transformation at scale, their eyes immediately gloss over. Each day is different, but it all adds up to helping corporate clients execute their scalable digital transformation strategy, always starting from where they are. Sometimes, I implement, upgrade, or integrate off-the-shelf applications; other times, I compose solutions using existing technologies. My job involves explaining, teaching, presenting, negotiating, planning, trying, failing, adjusting, monitoring, and celebrating. It also includes an almost embarrassing number of illustrations, charts, and graphs.
Implementing digital transformation technologies is cool, but the real satisfaction comes from seeing innovative ideas grow from a pilot to a full-fledged, end-to-end solution that moves the company toward its ultimate goals. Even deeper satisfaction comes from knowing that the solution is composable, scalable, upgradeable, resilient, and future-proof. To an onlooker, my job must seem chaotic, but there is a method and process for navigating this chaos to produce results at scale and drive successful digital transformation.
Your Business and Technology Architecture Layers
To design and build solutions that last, I try to catalog and understand the existing business and technology landscape, and for me, it's easiest to do in a layered way. This approach forms the foundation of a comprehensive digital transformation framework.
Motivation Layer:
This layer provides the context and motivation for the enterprise architecture. It includes the organization's goals, strategies, and objectives, as well as the stakeholders involved and their concerns. This layer also includes the principles and guidelines that will guide the development of the enterprise architecture and shape the digital transformation journey.
Business Capabilities Layer:
This layer models the business capabilities of the organization, which are the things that the organization does to achieve its goals. It includes the business processes, functions, and services that are required to support the organization's operations. This layer also includes the business rules and policies that govern the behavior of the organization and drive digital business transformation.
Application Layer:
This layer models the software applications used by the organization to support its business capabilities. It includes the applications themselves, as well as the components and services that they use. This layer also includes the application architecture, which defines the overall structure and organization of the applications and plays a crucial role in the digital transformation process.
Integration Layer:
This layer models the integration between the different applications and systems used by the organization. It includes the interfaces and protocols used for communication, as well as the middleware and other components that support integration. This layer also includes the integration architecture, which defines the overall approach to integration and is essential for successful digital transformation.
Data Layer:
This layer models the data used by the organization, including the data structures, data sources, and data flows. It includes the data architecture, which defines the overall structure and organization of the data, as well as the data management and governance practices used to ensure data quality and consistency. This layer is crucial for leveraging data analytics in digital transformation initiatives.
Technology Layer:
This layer models the technology infrastructure used by the organization to support its applications and data. It includes the hardware, software, networks, and security components used to support the organization's operations. This layer also includes the technology architecture, which defines the overall structure and organization of the technology infrastructure and incorporates emerging technologies like artificial intelligence, machine learning, and the Internet of Things.
Each of these layers is interconnected and builds on the others to create a comprehensive enterprise architecture. By modeling each layer in detail, Enterprise Architects can help organizations achieve their goals and operate more efficiently and effectively. This way, it's easier to "connect the dots" to know which business capabilities or technology components are most likely to produce the desired outcomes at the end of digital transformation.
Always-Visible, Scalable Digital Transformation Vision
A good digital transformation vision is generally aspirational and unconstrained, except to say by when the outcome should be achieved. But make no mistake, the vision cannot be overcommunicated. Just about the time leadership is blue in the face talking about the vision is when the vision has begun to sink into the organization. This vision forms the core of the digital transformation strategy.
Where does the company and technology need to go?
To answer this question, leadership needs to define the organization's goals and objectives. These goals should be aligned with the organization's mission and vision and should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and timebound. By defining where the organization needs to go, it provides a clear direction for the enterprise and helps to ensure that everyone is working towards the same destination in the digital transformation journey.
Why does the company and technology need to go there?
Once the organization has defined where it needs to go, it needs to answer the question of why it needs to go there. This involves identifying the business drivers and value proposition for achieving these goals. It could be to increase revenue, improve customer experience, reduce costs, gain a competitive advantage, or any number of other reasons. Understanding the why is critical to gaining the support and commitment of stakeholders and ensuring that the effort to achieve these goals is sustained over time throughout the digital transformation process.
How do we know if the company is moving in the right direction?
Once the goals and objectives have been established, it is important to define the metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs) that will be used to measure progress towards these goals. By monitoring these metrics over time, the organization can determine if it is making progress towards its desired destination. These metrics could include financial indicators like revenue, profitability, or return on investment, as well as operational indicators like cycle time, defect rates, or customer satisfaction. The specific metrics will depend on the goals and objectives of the organization and should be selected carefully to ensure that they are meaningful, measurable, and aligned with the organization's mission and vision. Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) are also really good for this, but that's another article on digital transformation strategies.
Always-Visible, Scalable Digital Transformation Roadmap
Decide technically, how to get there.
Once the goals and objectives have been established, it is important to identify the technology requirements and solutions that will be needed to achieve these goals. This is when the current and future state architecture diagrams come out, forming a crucial part of the digital transformation plan.
Decide which components to build, buy, upgrade, replace, or retire.
For each of the identified technology requirements, a decision must be made regarding what components to build, buy, upgrade, or retire. This could include choosing which cloud computing platform to use, determining the optimal application integration architecture, and selecting the appropriate tools and technologies for successful digital transformation.
Sequence epics, features and enabling technology projects.
The epics and features should be sequenced in order of priority, based on the business goals and objectives. This will help to ensure that the technology projects are aligned with the desired outcomes and enable a smooth transition from the current state to the desired future state. Additionally, this sequencing will help to identify any dependencies between different technology projects and provide clarity around timelines for completion of digital transformation initiatives.
Scalable Digital Transformation Competency Centers
To get there, you need smart people; really, really smart people; and they have to be aligned. Where the ship is going, and how it's going to get there determines the kind of competencies your digital transformation needs. Some of those competencies can be built or hired in-house, and others can be sourced externally. But one thing is clear, without competency, there is no transformation, and this competency must be owned and governed by the company being transformed. Why? Because no two enterprises are the same, and digital transformation depends on and moves at the speed of the competency of its leaders and teams. Further, because what is transformation today, becomes normal operations tomorrow. Therefore, prize, invest in and protect competencies your digital transformation requires, including expertise in change management and strategic planning.
Conclusion
Digital transformation at scale is a complex and challenging undertaking that requires a clear vision, a comprehensive understanding of the business and technology landscape, and the right competencies and methodology to achieve the desired outcomes. By breaking down the transformation into layered models and a clear roadmap, it is possible to identify the technology solutions that are required to move the organization towards its goals.
Choosing the right methodology, such as Agile or SAFe, is critical to ensuring that the transformation is scalable and can be sustained over time. Ultimately, the success of digital transformation at scale depends on the organization's ability to align its goals, understand the why behind those goals, and continually monitor progress through meaningful metrics and KPIs.
By embracing digital transformation technologies like artificial intelligence, machine learning, and data analytics, organizations can drive innovation and improve operational efficiency. The digital transformation journey requires a focus on customer experience, employee experience, and continuous learning to adapt to rapidly changing market conditions.
As we navigate the complexities of digital change, it's important to remember that successful digital transformation is an iterative process that requires ongoing commitment and adaptation. By following a well-defined digital transformation framework and leveraging strategic partnerships, organizations can overcome challenges, realize business value, and achieve their digital transformation goals.
In conclusion, by carefully planning and executing digital transformation strategies, organizations can navigate the chaos of digital transformation and produce the results needed to stay competitive and thrive in today's rapidly changing business landscape. The digital transformation process may be complex, but with the right approach, it can lead to significant improvements in business outcomes and position companies for long-term success in the digital age.