Digital TransformationIntroductions

We will remember how manufacturing was halted, and how bars and restaurants were forced to close. We will recall how panic-buying saw supermarket shelves emptied, and how lockdowns turned our communities into almost redundant streets and ghost towns, evoking visions of a post-apocalyptic world akin to those we’ve seen in movies such as I am Legend, 2012, and the aptly named Contagion. Demand for fossil fuels fell through the floor, and global economies followed suit. Then again, trampled natural habitats lay peacefully undisturbed and thus could regenerate. The air became cleaner, nature flourished, and we marvelled at reports from around the world that some rarely seen animals were bravely venturing into the now silent and empty towns and cities.

Unprecedented investment was ploughed into the NHS, with other national governments taking similar action. We witnessed pop-up medical centres created on the fly, seven emergency NHS Nightingale hospitals were created with amazing efficiency across the UK, and hospitals in China were built from scratch in a matter of days, as nations battled to preserve and improve the health of their people.

With economic demands falling and enforced national lockdowns occurring in almost every country and continent, unsurprisingly, organisations and businesses across all industry sectors would be impacted. As businesses took steps to ensure operational continuity, the demands on technology increased as organisations took steps to enable their workforce to work remotely. Technology teams working around the clock to either scale up existing remote access capabilities or implement them from scratch, giving access to systems and applications from networks and domains not normally permitted. These teams have also worked to mitigate the increased risk of information security breaches – an incidental reality of having a disparate workforce, operating from their homes that lack the security disciplines usually associated with effective modern corporate environments.

For decades, the operational bias has typically been tilted towards disaster recovery rather than business continuity. Where technology investments have been made to safeguard operational continuity, these are often focused on critical systems or services, or may have been set up to specifically protect one part of the business, or protect a major client that has stipulated a contractual obligation to do so. CIOs who have voiced concerns about the risks legacy systems posed will arguably be frustrated by a lack of investment or appetite to migrate to modern technologies, which are more cost-effective to support and more able to accommodate rapidly changing client requirements and consumer demands. Covid-19 has changed all this. Consequently, there is now a renewed focus on technology investment as organisations come to grips with the reality of the past eight months.

Following the challenges presented by Covid-19, organisations are now revisiting their business and IT strategies, and are reprioritising project portfolios. After considering their markets and products, the new economy, remote working and office redesign, a lot of organisations are now considering an Operating Model redesign.

Digital strategies are taking shape and organisations are using both Business and Enterprise Architects to assess, plan, design, and organise their new world operations. But this in itself presents its own challenges, not least because building digital economies will require agility, innovation, and enterprise design. There is a lot of industry opinion on this, where ideas are explored and advice is being given in abundance. Indeed, there are many articles and posts on the topic which can be found on LinkedIn and in other publications such as CIO Online, McKinsey, BCG, Forbes, and not least from the ‘Big 4’ consultancies.

New technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Robotic Process Automation (RPA), and Data Analytics, are now being discussed in terms of how they could be exploited to help organisations advance their commercial strategies and, consequently, gain more traction and adoption in 2021. There will be further use of Big Data and Data Analytics, 5G, further Cloud adoption, and there will be a revolution in ‘on demand’ and ‘As a Service’ platforms and utilities. But technology represents only a part of the organisation’s transformational journey. The disruption caused by Covid-19 highlighted weaknesses in business operations and raised efficacy concerns when leadership teams discovered how their businesses really functioned. This has prompted the need to rethink ways of working and challenging long-established routines that have been embedded, sometimes for decades. Ultimately, at the heart of the organisation lies people. People are the crucial element in transforming the tired operating norms of yesterday into the new norms, or new ways of working in the post Covid-19 world.

An organisation’s digital strategy can comprise these considerations and more, and provides an excellent opportunity for a wholesale modernisation of an organisation’s IT landscapes and ways of working, including thorough reviews of the way people, processes, and technologies operate, and their overall purpose in supporting organisational goals. The exposure that UK IT departments, businesses, and organisations had when Covid-19 restrictions were enforced in March, highlighted gaps in organisational capabilities and potential threats to business/operational continuity. Many didn’t realise how much they didn’t know about their business operation, their reliance on technology, and the challenges faced because of a history of poor investment technology. This has highlighted the risks of running critical organisational services, products, and solutions from complex and, often, legacy systems. These systems can no longer be guaranteed to serve the organisation effectively, should it be affected by another pandemic or future geo-political, economic or environmental issue that impacts its ability to continue to operate.

We recognise the challenge that Boards and business leaders now face. Some organisations know they need to change, but don’t know how to approach it. Others will know they need to change, but may no longer have the capability to do so, following the exodus of contractors from organisations which issued blanket bans as they wrestled with IR35 legislation earlier this year, or perhaps reduced their permanent headcount to achieve operating efficiencies in an attempt to soften the financial impacts of Covid-19. In those organisations where the capability to drive change does still exist, there may be a lack of capacity to prevent progress.

To help, we are launching a regular blog that considers these issues. Focussing on Digital Transformation as a core topic, we will explore and discuss the critical elements that are key to successful digital transformations. Using our skills, experience and expertise, we will provide thought leadership across people, process and technology, covering Target Operating Models, The Cloud, Agile, Risk Management, Talent, and more. We will be offering industry insights, and guidance, as well as consultancy services and support. We will engage with our clients and seek to understand the issues affecting their organisations today, so that we cover topics important to you and provide guidance to help navigate through the challenges associated with large transformational change.

Irrespective of where you or your organisation is with its business or digital transformation initiatives, we can support your transformation activities by conducting a discovery exercise, create proposals recommending actions, lead or help lead you through various stages of the initiative. Please contact us for more information or to arrange an initial conversation to discuss how we can help.

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