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Tapping Into Digital Transformation as a Service

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If you’ve chosen digital transformation, you’ve chosen change. The essence of a digital transformation is uprooting the status quo; it’s about bringing something new to the company. For meaningful change, who should company leaders rely on to execute their transformation?

Only utilizing existing staff to institute new processes might not result in the structural shift your company needs: when internal teams take on projects, they often take their culture and existing understanding of the business with them. That can be good—expertise and familiarity is essential to a transformation project—but it can also be a limitation if over-familiarity prevents you from effective innovation.

Complement your employees with an external team of tech experts that can perform complex digital functions and enable employees to thrive in a state of change. Outside digital transformation consultants can institute innovative and unbiased change management methodologies.

While some leaders might attempt to augment their team, strategic leaders recognize that transformation partners use their integrated group of experts to deliver high-quality results. Because staff augmentation cannot deliver a unified solution, finding an experienced transformation partner is the optimal solution for growth-focused companies.

 

What is a digital transformation partner?

A digital transformation partner is a third-party service provider with deep technical expertise and experience in organizational change management. Transformation partnerships allow for third-party companies to employ existing cross-functional teams rather than hiring siloed talent that won’t integrate seamlessly into your organization. Using a collaborative approach, partners can get to know your company and work with your internal team to reach initiative goals.

The skill gap is a very real challenge in digital transformations, which often require tech specialists who are well-versed in multiple disciplines unrelated to a business’s typical needs. You might have a tech-enabled team, but if you attempt a large-scale integration without cloud infrastructure expertise or an app redesign without UX architects, you run the risk of a low-quality execution. External teams, especially purpose-built ones, have complementary skills that are tough to find or develop from within.

 

Looking to start a new digital project?

 

The benefits of working with a digital transformation partner

Leveraging outside digital transformation resources rather than performing them completely in-house can put your company at a major advantage.

 

“Only a few organizations have the capabilities to master customer-focused digital transformation by themselves efficiently and at pace. Our findings show that nearly 90 percent use third-party providers for at least one component of their digital transformation. With their capabilities, providers help plug the gaps and manage the drive for transformation.”

– Anatoly Roytman, managing director Accenture Interactive

 

Here are the main benefits of tapping into digital transformation as a service.

 

Risk Mitigation

Establishing a budget for digital transformation is often difficult because you want to identify and invest in the best technology without spending excessively. You’re trying to produce long-term ROI. If you utilize off-base talent, you risk a low-quality execution that could spoil your revenue. The wrong team might also invest in unfit technology that they don’t know how to enable. The right digital transformation experts avoid wasting resources by proposing smart tech investments that their team can confidently implement.

 

Innovation Freedom

What stops a company from thinking big, making change, and putting itself far ahead of its competitors? Limitations. Structural limitations, skill limitations, even mental limitations. When you try to innovate within, the most worthwhile changes can seem unimaginable within the bounds of the current organizational structure. Digital transformation partners bring a fresh set of eyes to the table and propose new and valuable ideas the companies might not have realized on their own.

Furthermore, when transformation leaders know they have access to any type of tech expert, they allow themselves to think outside the box. Innovation sourcing paired with adequate tech knowledge can allow for the reset your organization is thirsty for.

 

Security and Scalability

Any company, large, small, broad, or shallow, should have access to digital transformation resources. That’s why each company needs a flexible, custom-fit transformation solution. IT outsourcing can provide scalable solutions so that you can control costs and meet ROI goals. Scale up or down the size of your transformation team to meet business demands and let transformation partners act as an extension of your in-house staff.

Moreover, when you outsource digital innovation, you don’t have to rely on aged equipment to support your new technology. You can trust that the outsourced team has the correct tools to carry out the transformation and avoid using vulnerable systems. Cybersecurity breaches can cost millions and put your entire digital adoption strategy at risk.

 

How to select a partner for digital adoption

The next challenge is finding the right transformation partner for your digital business initiative. You’re a unique organization with specific goals and challenges; you’ll need a perfect fit. Here are three essential considerations you should review with your internal team before outsourcing digital transformation.

 

Your Current Team

Where are you now? Consider what your team looks like right now. Identify which areas of expertise are covered and which ones will need some additional help. You’ll also have to determine which employees you can afford to allocate to the transformation initiative. Do they have the capacity to take on this project along with their existing duties?

 

Time and Budget Restraints

You should try to determine an ideal timeline for your transformation. Do you need to launch an app in three months or are you starting a long-term digital transformation that you envision to take place over 2 years? Additionally, what financial resources have you dedicated to the transformation?. Deadlines and budgets will help you determine what type of transformation partner will be able to make it work within your constraints.

 

Capabilities and Expertise

When scoping out digital transformation partners, consider which areas of business and tech that they specialize in. Ensure that their expertise aligns with your needs and hire professionals that will truly augment your team. Industry expertise is especially relevant here because adopting tech in one market might look drastically different than adopting tech in another. Don’t forget to take into account any regulatory needs your industry might require.

 

Organizational Culture

Be sure to ask prospects about their organizational culture and how they plan to augment your team. Their strategy should make sense to you and be able to run parallel to your organizational goals. Ask them about their past successes and their digital transformation process. Do they have a “one-size-fits-all” approach or can they create a custom solution that will shape the needs of your company? Do they have a plan set in place for quality assurance and will they provide continued support at the end of the engagement?

 

Leveraging Digital Transformation as a Service

Growth-focused leaders don’t wait for transformation opportunities, they build them. With careful planning and the right team by your side, you can bring about meaningful change and watch your organization evolve.

Avoid common transformation mistakes and mitigate risk by innovation sourcing and bringing in the authorities on digital adoption. Taking advantage of digital transformation services might be the difference between meeting your organizational goals and falling short.

If you aren’t sure where to start, consider getting a company assessment or scheduling a consultation to find out more about your options. If you’d like to speak with our digital business experts, contact our transformation team.

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About The Author(s)

Siara Singleton
Siara Singleton is a Marketing Associate at Arcweb Technologies who writes thought leadership blogs about digital transformation, healthcare technology, and diversity & inclusion in the tech industry.
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