Manoj Balraj is the cofounder and president of Experion Technologies.
The digital landscape is evolving at breakneck speed, yet many organizations rely on legacy systems that limit agility, slow innovation and ultimately hinder their businesses’ growth.
The data is evident: Companies that turn to digital transformation outperform their peers in revenue and profitability. A 2020 Deloitte survey uncovered that companies with higher levels of digital maturity “reported industry-leading revenue growth and profit margins.”
Despite the clear benefits of digital transformation, I’ve observed that some leaders perceive it as an all-or-nothing gamble. However, my experience has taught me that taking a strategic, incremental approach can mitigate the risks that hinder leaders from making the right choice. Let’s explore how you can modernize with confidence while minimizing your risks and maximizing your impact.
Why Digital Transformation Seems Daunting
Research by the Boston Consulting Group found that “70% of digital transformations fall short of their objectives, often with profound consequences.” That high failure rate and the substantial amount of time and money some companies invest in digital transformation initiatives make some executives hesitant to pursue such initiatives.
I’ve observed those factors contributing to a negative perception of digital transformation. In my years working in the digital transformation space, I’ve found that many leaders hesitant to undergo digital transformation have usually heard about another organization that tried it and failed. Typically, in my experience, failed digital transformations are due to one or both of these factors: the executive team signed up for more change than they truly needed, and/or they tried to bring about too many changes at once. Implementing more change than an organization needs unnecessarily complicates processes, overwhelms employees and increases costs. Trying to bring about too many changes at once has the same consequences. Eventually, the team members involved can get frustrated, and the project ends unsuccessfully.
Why A Phased Approach Is The Key To Digital Transformation Success
Instead of going all-in on digital transformation at once, leaders should take an incremental approach. This will allow them to progress their digital transformation journeys in affordable, manageable ways.
As a leader, the first step you should take is to speak to the stakeholders and identify their key challenges and pain points. You should ask what’s working, what isn’t and what obstacles are slowing down revenue growth or overall progress. Understanding their aspirational product vision, strategy, goals and initiatives is also essential.
Once you’ve gathered information, the next step is to prioritize. Focus first on the problem that, if solved, will have the highest impact. At the same time, ensure you secure stakeholder support throughout the process
With alignment, you and the rest of the executive team can define clear goals and initiatives, research potential solutions and set a timeline for achieving measurable results. Once the first priority is addressed, you can move on to the next, ensuring a structured and effective transformation process.
The Partner-Driven Approach And Why It Matters
Throughout the digital transformation process, it’s imperative that you have a development partner who will thoroughly research your options, work to ensure that the transformation aligns with your business goals and actively address the challenges you hope to address.
Begin by creating a shortlist of development partners to contact—a good place to start is by asking your peers who have the same or similar digital transformation goals for advice and recommendations. I recommend that leaders not focus on the development partner’s name but on the results the transformation partner can create for them. Specifically, seek vendors that openly communicate their strategies. This will ensure transparency about timelines, budgets and the justifications for prioritization.
Once the team reaches a consensus, vendors can begin documenting the tactical details of the digital transformation initiative. This includes release plans, epics and user stories, all captured using tools that ensure transparency and visibility.
This process is crucial to establishing bi-directional traceability, i.e., connecting every user story to the broader product vision. While this requires effort, it’s invaluable. When a team sees a well-structured, prioritized product roadmap, it’s clear that the development partner truly understands the product long before the engineering phase even begins.
With a development partner in place and the first project underway, collaboration now becomes key. You and your fellow leaders should work closely with the development partner’s team to establish clear benchmarks and track progress regularly. This ensures that each phase delivers measurable results and aligns with business goals.
As priorities are addressed individually, the organization will build momentum, refining strategies and optimizing processes. By maintaining this structured, results-driven approach, leaders can navigate digital transformation with confidence and create a foundation for sustained innovation, ultimately future-proofing their companies.
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