Digital transformation provides companies with the means to survive in a new and complex world. This is part of a larger effort to generate new revenue and growth opportunities through cloud services, as companies with a digital core are perceived to be more efficient, agile and responsive to market needs. We found that customer experience and digital transformation are inextricably linked, digital channels promote more engaging and transparent customer interactions. In an increasingly competitive landscape where a strong customer experience is the engine of success, digital transformation is no longer optional.
About the Author Lee James, CTO, EMEA at Rackspace. Transformation strategies across organizations may seem similar because, by their nature, the focus is on the big picture: technologies, capabilities, and business goals. However, specific plans must vary considerably depending on the expectations, priorities, needs, and types of interactions that take place among people that have a direct impact on the growth and changes of a business. This is where organizational culture comes into play. Cloud deployment mistakes are common when organizations fail to take culture into account. But when culture is taken into account, implementations can thrive, giving businesses access to the myriad benefits the cloud has to offer. However, adopting the cloud is a complex task for a company of any size. To address this complexity and maximize the chances of a successful transition to the cloud, organizations must include their employees and leverage their experiences, both personal and professional. This can be accomplished by starting with three key considerations.
1. Explain how the cloud will improve processes.
Few aspects of business motivate employees more than having an important mission and knowing how their contributions impact that mission. The cloud provides the strategy to achieve a company's mission and employees had to engage in this journey with the company, so that they feel empowered. Employees need to understand the identity of their organization to deliver results. Businesses can achieve this by taking an employee-centric approach to cloud adoption. Rather than mandate a transition to the cloud, staff should be brought through each stage of the journey from the start. This gives them perspective and context while letting them know that cloud implementation isn't happening to them, it's happening to them. At the heart of this proactive approach is a comprehensive communications plan, the goal of which is to gain buy-in. Messaging needs to connect and resonate with employees because when they stick to business plans, they are more likely to embrace the transformation. This, in turn, often helps to involve other employees. It's also important to remember that while we often hear people talk about digital transformation as if it's a big, organization-wide project, it's far from it. . Digital transformation, by its very nature, is characterized by fragmentation. Indeed, the goal of digital transformation is to support new technologies that promote more engaging, transparent, and targeted customer interactions. For example, we often see digital transformation projects start in a particular business unit to develop a new business application that serves a particular customer segment. If there will inevitably be fragmentation, we cannot confuse it with a lack of collaboration, which is necessary for the success of digital transformation. Different parts of the business will start projects at different times and then work in silos, but the key is to recognize this fragmentation. One way to break down silos and foster collaboration is to bring all business units together with everyone on the same page regarding the core product offering and the end goal. Cross-team collaboration can be regularly fostered by understanding the needs of each individual business unit for a successful transformation. Another way to get everyone on the same page is to clearly describe the impact of the cloud on work, including workflow improvements, customer benefits, and overall business growth.
2. Form a team to defend the cloud strategy.
The power of teamwork in today's organizations cannot be denied. This is why teams are the default unit of work in the most successful companies. By working together, people cooperate and collaborate to achieve clear goals that benefit their business, their customers, and themselves. Cloud strategies will succeed with the right team. Rather than building a team that is "best for the cloud," organizations should build a team that is best suited to their business culture, including the way people work, customer needs, and the way they market themselves. products and services. It means building a team with skills that may not be obvious. The video game is a source of inspiration for IT management looking to build an efficient team in the cloud. Take the game Fortnite, for example. The core tenets of Fortnite—Collaboration, Individuality, and Speed—are exactly what should be built into a cloud team structure. While traditional games focus on instant gratification with immediate payouts, Fortnite encourages longer-term strategies by asking teams to test how best to work together and prepare for victory. One way to identify team members who have the ideal traits and skills for a successful long-term cloud implementation is to meet with managers and consult employee reviews. Since small teams often fare better on transformation, business leaders can gain a cross-functional advantage by looking for employees who have more than one of these skills. They should meet with the team in the early stages to help them accelerate and adopt the ideal cloud strategy approach, making sure they champion the cultural component.
When it comes to cloud deployments, it's critical to assess your organization's current work processes before planning infrastructure services to support them. Among other things, a detailed analysis helps to identify processes that are no longer needed, as well as processes that need to be added. People are the greatest asset of a business. In a lean transformation, employees shouldn't have to fold fully into the cloud. To achieve cultural alignment, cloud infrastructure must be designed around the ways they do their job best. Considering the needs of employees will make the transformation attractive rather than something to fear and resist.
Inclusion is key
Transformation through a powerful cloud strategy is crucial to survival in today's and tomorrow's business climate. But companies cannot progress without the support of employees. To implement advanced capabilities and take advantage of the technological benefits of the cloud, organizations must integrate their unique cultural characteristics into the implementation strategy, including communication, teamwork, and workflow.