What Does a Digital Transformation Consultant Do?

What Does a Digital Transformation Consultant Do

The digital revolution moves quickly and without mercy. Digital technology has altered the world in several ways during the last few decades. Wearable technology in our pockets and on our wrists demonstrates that we live in the digital era and are subjected to digital change on a daily basis. The rising use of digital technology in everyday life has compelled firms to adapt and become (partially or completely) digital businesses. Businesses have done so to improve the entire client experience, acquire a competitive edge, and stay up with technology changes. Wearable technology in our pockets and on our wrists demonstrate that we live in the digital era and are subjected to digital change on a daily basis. According to estimates, around 85 percent of US residents utilize items with digital or AI aspects on a daily basis.

Digital Transformation Consultancy is a service that assists businesses in developing and implementing a digital transformation plan to improve their performance via the use of digital technology. Digital Transformation Consultants (DTC) examine the company’s technology infrastructure, processes, people, and organization to improve both short-term performance and long-term sustainability. 

Creating and implementing an effective digital transformation plan is a difficult endeavor. Companies (particularly non-tech companies) are seeking the assistance of a digital transformation expert to make things much more manageable. There is a lot to think about when it comes to inviting a third party into your organization. You will want to work with someone reliable and knowledgeable that you can rely on. 

Types of Digital Transformation

There are four forms of digital transformation: business model transformation, business process transformation, cultural/organizational change, and domain transformation. Typically, organizations focus just on organizational or process change but neglect to address all of their results in a significant loss of value.

Another thing to keep in mind is that digital transformation is multidimensional, which means it must be carried out collaboratively. It must include the CEO, as well as commercial and strategic leadership, as well as the Chief Digital Officer or Chief Information Officer. Too many businesses mistakenly assume that the digital transformation path must begin with cultural/organizational change. It is crucial to teach the company to be more digital, and agile, and to emphasize innovation, but research has shown that firms that prioritize business transformation efforts enjoy more success.

Business Model Transformation

Many businesses seek to embrace digitization in order to move beyond their old business paradigms. Business model changes concentrate on the core pillars of how value is provided in a certain sector. Uber’s reinvention of the taxi sector, Apple’s redesign of music delivery, and Netflix’s reinvention of video distribution are all well-known instances of this sort of revolution.

Business Process Transformation

The majority of corporate activity is focused on business processes – APIs, analytics, machine learning, data, and other technologies provide firms with new opportunities to reinvent their business processes. The goal of business process transformation is to shorten cycle times, minimize costs, or improve quality. Companies, for example, use robotic process automation to simplify back-office processes like legal and accounting. Adopting technology in business process sectors has become a must since it has the potential to provide tremendous value.

Cultural/organizational Transformation

For full, long-term digital transformation, organizations must redefine their capabilities, mindsets, personnel, and procedures for the digital age. Top-tier firms understand that digital necessitates flexible processes, higher dependence on business ecosystems, decentralized decision-making, and a preference for learning and testing. They also take active initiatives to bring about change in their businesses.

Domain Transformation

There is an immense possibility in this sector, but surprisingly little concentration. New technology is blurring industrial lines, changing products and services, and introducing new non-traditional rivals. Executives should recognize the opportunities that new technologies present to expand the company outside the markets in which they now operate. Domain transformation has the potential to provide new value.

Digital Transformation and Digital Innovation

Recently, the terms “Digital Transformation” and “Digital Innovation” have been used interchangeably, even as synonyms. However, there are a set of difference between digital transformation and digital innovation. Digital transformation and digital innovation are two concepts that are inextricably linked. In today’s environment, digitization is critical for a company’s growth and sustainability. And digital transformation of each process is the means by which the organization will be converted to a digital state. A company’s movement is maintained via digital innovation. It assists a corporation in developing and cultivating innovation. It is much more beneficial when all employees have a say in the invention. It aids in the connection of employees with the organization and maintains the maximum amount of room for creativity. 

However, these innovations might occasionally become disjointed. The corporation may have deployed several breakthrough technologies, but they may not always collaborate. The company’s productivity will begin to suffer as a result. Transformation is the link between numerous technical developments. As a result, both are equally vital, and neither can be overlooked. 

Digital Transformation in Public Sector 

Digital transformation is prevalent not just in the corporate sector, but also in the public sector. One of the minor purposes of digital transformation is business development. Fully digitalized cities or nations are a prominent issue in today’s globe. Bangladesh’s tax-paying system is getting more digitalized. Recently, a public database was built and is being maintained, where all personal asset information would be nicely arranged. All of this is leading to digital transformation. Digital transformation is essential not just to boost company efficiency, but also to improve the general public’s quality of life.

What Does a Digital Transformation Consultant Do

Education and Skills

A digital transformation consultant, like other types of consultants, seeks to improve the efficiency of work processes. What makes digital transformation unique is that consultants seek to improve an organization’s technological components. They assess where technology should be implemented and/or where it is currently deployed in order to create better products/services and improve the customer experience.

Their primary abilities are technical aptitudes. Digital transformation consultants have worked with a variety of computer languages, including SQL, C++, and Java, as well as spreadsheet and word processing tools. Furthermore, they have experience with corporate integration and website administration, which means they are familiar with CSS and HTML. DT consultants must also be able to think critically in order to fix technological problems and enhance application performance. They are superb communicators who deliver an outstanding client experience. Consultants must also be adaptable since they must stay up with new and developing technology.

Roles and Responsibilities

A digital transformation consultant will examine an organization’s infrastructure and identify service gaps in order to improve its technical performance. They are concerned with improving an organization’s performance as well as attaining long-term strategic objectives. Consultants in digital transformation might work directly for a consulting firm or as independent contractors. They work with technical employees, digital marketing personnel, product managers, and service personnel across many departments. These consultants will also need to establish a connection with the firm’s management in order to obtain clearance for advice on the best work practices for the organization.

Creating a Digital Transformation Roadmap

Consultants in digital transformation are in charge of creating and implementing a high-level plan for their client’s digital transformation. This roadmap (based on the notion of business architecture) is divided into four stages:

  • Examine the internal and external circumstances
  • Create a plan and examine its commercial implications.
  • Create a business solution
  • Create efforts and implement the solution

Each of these four stages contains six exercises that may overlap, but they must all be completed in the correct order.

Assess the Internal and External Situation

Trend and external force analysis A digital transformation consultant or digital consulting business examines trends and external influences to identify particular and wider variables influencing the organization. Environmental, legal, technical, social, economic, and political concerns are also considered. The external environment that directly impacts the organization’s strategy and operations, such as competitive rivalry, the threat of replacement products and services, obstacles to entry for newcomers, customer power, supplier power, and so on, are typical features.

Identifying and prioritizing the needs and desires of consumers. The next phase is to identify the stakeholders, analyze their needs, and prioritize them. Customers’ satisfied and unmet demands are constantly prioritized.

Examining technology that can help improve the consumer experience. The next stage is to comprehend the complete range of digital technology and pick the most promising. Consultants select technology based on the demands of the clients and the skills of the business that need to be improved.

Examining the present business and operational model. This model should be evaluated with the purpose of meeting the demands of the clients. The business model demonstrates how value is generated, captured, and delivered. The operational model outlines how the company model was created (how resources are connected to create value).

Analyzing culture and transformation potential. Consultants for digital transformation must grasp the corporate culture, motivation, competencies, incentive system, and ability to adapt to the new reality of employing digital technology. They are in charge of change management, which is one of the foundations of successful digital transformation.

Core and extended architectural domain mapping and cross-mapping Consultants map each domain to determine their link.

Develop Business Strategy and Assess its Impacts

Creating business scenarios Uncertainty is always present in the planning process. Consultants in digital business transformation create scenarios with varying degrees of plausibility to assist management see the company’s perspective future in a new light.

  • Defining technologies to be employed and consumer categories to target.
  • Constructing the required business model.
  • Creating a hierarchical goal/objective system. For the firm to comprehend its strategy, the entire goal/objective hierarchy must be mapped.
  • Examining the influence of objectives and business architecture.
  • Examining the influence of business architecture and IT architecture.

Architect of the to-be Business Solution

The goal/objective hierarchy and to-be business model serves as the foundation for mapping and cross-referencing the whole to-be business architecture. The digital transformation consultant is present to assist in visualizing the future company architecture.

  • Creating a future organizational culture and people practices.
  • Creating the structure of the future organization.
  • Designing the future value chain and breaking it down into distinct procedures.
  • Creating a visual representation of future IT infrastructure.
  • Examining current and intended state transformations.

Establish transformation initiatives and deploy the solution

Defining each digital transformation endeavor in terms of its goals. Consultants in digital transformation assist in making precise decisions to meet each of the pre-defined objectives from the goal/objective hierarchy.

  • Setting priorities for efforts.
  • Creating imitative measurement criteria and defining KPIs.
  • Creating a project plan. Each initiative is translated into a project plan by the consultant, which describes the timetable, personnel engaged, scope, aim, risks, and so on.

Monitoring progress, implementing remedial measures, and assessing success. The digital transformation consultant examines the transformation journey’s performance and presents it to all stakeholders. This is done at the end of the procedure. Everyone, however, must recognize that this is not the end of the change path. It is another stepping stone on the path to long-term development.

Summary

A thorough digital strategy will give businesses vital insights that were previously unavailable due to old technologies. It will also result in more efficient operating operations and the potential for new income streams. Experienced digital transformation consultants and digital transformation consulting firms may help their customers build and implement complete digital strategies. Furthermore, they may articulate the value of the digital strategy to the company’s management and detail the specific benefits.

FAQ

Is digital Consulting a good career?

Ans: Digital marketing is one of the world’s fastest-growing sectors. As a result, it is a vocation that allows technologists, consultants, creatives, and business people to employ the skills they are most enthusiastic about.

How do you succeed in digital transformation?

Ans: To be successful in digital transformation, you must demonstrate strong leadership and embrace new ways of thinking. Brands that comprehend new models fast and become digitally mature will have a competitive advantage.

Is automation part of digital transformation?

Ans: Process automation is an important component of digital transformation. Day-to-day process automation is at the heart of effective digital transformation. Without workflow automation, you’re still dealing with manual procedures, which means you’re vulnerable to disruption and becoming obsolete.

Is RPA part of digital transformation?

Ans: RPA software simulates how a human might interact with an application or system and then automates that process. In many businesses’ digital transformation journeys, introducing RPA is one of the initial (and most easy) ways to automate.

How long does digital transformation take?

Ans: Each project or phase of digital transformation might last up to five years, depending on the size of the business and the change.

 

Sources:

  1. https://thei4group.com/what-does-a-digital-transformation-consultant-do/
  2. https://research.aimultiple.com/digital-transformation-consulting/

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