Navigating Digital Transformation Services: A Guide for Industry Leaders in 2024

The Age of Digital Transformation 

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella wrote in his 2021 shareholder letter that “Digital transformation that was projected to happen over the next 10 years is happening today…  Every organization is looking to digitize their end-to-end operations—from sales and customer service to supply chain management—so they can rapidly adapt to changing market dynamics.”

Businesses are digitizing fast. Navigating digital transformation services is a little complicated, but easily understood. As an industry leader, it is important to see what trends other leaders are following and what strategies are standing out. 

This new era of digital transformations services and solutions greatly differ from the previous generation. While enterprises were moving from pencil and paper to excel sheets and 2000’s era software. 

Aligning Your Digital Transformation with Business Goals 

When business and tech teams lack understanding and alignment, the business often lets IT make decisions. Without collaboration between these teams, discussions may focus on topics secondary to business, neglecting governance for better customer insights.

It is vital to use technology as a tool for reaching business goals. Focus is needed in those technologies that deliver, not what the IT team wants to work with or implement. It is important to have business goals clearly defined to determine what tech direction to take. The adaptation of new technologies should be judged on effectiveness, long term payoff, and the bottom line.

“Digitally mature companies in our study were nearly twice as likely to say that digital transformation was the central pillar of their strategy than companies of lower digital maturity.” 

The 2019 Deloitte study found that 81% of higher-maturity companies cited innovation as a strength, versus only 10% of lower-maturity companies. 

The trend is clear. Mature enterprises are investing their resources into digital transformations because it is the winning strategy to stay competitive. To learn more about how to best use tech to get ahead, consider reading more about tech consulting here. 

What is Digital Transformation?

Digital transformation involves the integration of new software and processes to streamline workflows, enhance scalability, and bolster organizational agility. A growing number of industry leaders are embracing a digital mindset, reorienting their companies to prioritize the technological underpinnings of their products in alignment with their strategic objectives.

The principal manifestations of digital transformation can be classified into two overarching categories: Full Cycle Development, catering to entities requiring entirely new software or the digitization of specific business facets, and Legacy App Revival, tailored for those seeking to modernize their existing systems.

Defining Digital Transformation Goals

Tools are a means to our end, not our end goal. We want our businesses to thrive and embrace new technologies to improve our operations, not redirect our goals to meet with the latest technology. 

All of these mature enterprises are not utilizing digital transformation services and solutions to show off or because it is trendy. They actually help businesses become more efficient, scalable, and agile. Consider working with a digital transformation services company to begin planning your transition to a more digital landscape. 

Which Digital Transformation Services and Solutions Do You Need?

Consulting

Digital transformation consulting looks at how your company is doing now, where it wants to go, and suggests viable solutions. To give helpful IT advice, it's important to have a clear plan for your business goals. You can get business analysis consulting to determine stakeholder interests, market conditions, and what digital transformation services and solutions are needed to meet business needs. 

Legacy App Revival and Full Cycle Development 

It can be tough to decide on how to go through with a digital transformation. Do you go with full cycle development and start from scratch or go with a legacy app revival and update the outdated parts of your business?

It is important to discuss with your existing IT team and business specialists what company goals need to be met and what tech systems need to be integrated to achieve them. If a complete overhaul or a new platform needs to be created from scratch, a full cycle development is needed. If you have a smaller budget and need to update some old tech, then a legacy app revival may be enough to get your company back on its feet.  

Digital Transformation Project Recovery

Are you already in the middle working with a digital transformation services company and losing confidence in their ability to deliver? It happens more often than you think. It is better to switch to a more professional digital transformation development team and cut your losses than try to work with a team that can’t deliver. 

Many professional digital transformation service providers are capable of taking a project mid development and salvaging what they can to deliver a final product on time and on budget. The timeline and budget that may be proposed for a project recovery may be more than you expected, but it is better than not having anything usable. Deliver rate is important. Look for a company with a high delivery rate and what real reviews are left for their services. 

Choosing a Digital Transformation Services Company 

Who to Outsource Digital Transformation Services to?

There are a few options to choose from when deciding on a digital transformation service. One of the most common ways was to use your inhouse IT team, but chances are that the developers were hired to work on existing software with a full workload. They are probably not going to be specialized in the tech you need to move to and be able to do it while balancing their current workload. 

A popular choice for many enterprises is to hire an onshore company that is located in the same country as them. This makes communication much easier, and if it were not for the higher costs, would be much more common. 

Nearshore digital transformation services offer a chance to outsource development to a company located in another country but in the same time zone. This can offer the best of both worlds, both in ease of communication and taking advantage of competitive prices abroad. 

Working with a developer in another country and time zone is commonly known as offshore development. You get access to a concentrated talent pool when working with countries that specialize in outsourcing for very affordable rates. 

Read our in-depth article on deciding between Offshore, Nearshore, and Onshore software outsourcing models to learn more on the matter. 

What to Look for in a Digital Transformation Services Company?

Experience and Knowledge of Your Industry

How well does the digital transformation services company understand your industry? While being experienced in developing software is important, it is also vital to understand the intricacies of your particular business. 

During the discovery and business analysis phase, the team has to be able to understand business interests to offer a viable solution. There are lots of great developers out there, you need to find the one that understands your industry.

Team Size and Availability for Your Project

Take a look at what kind of projects the digital transformation company you are prospecting has developed. Were they one and done or took years to develop and maintain? Long lasting partnerships are a sign of a mature company ready to provide quality digital transformation professional services. 

A large team size usually means more talent, but what matters most is how focused they will be on your project. 

Project Deliverability Rate and Testimony

The bottom line is that the project has to be delivered to your standards on time and on budget. Make sure to read reviews and testimonies of the digital transformation services companies you are looking to partner with. While it is easy to artificially raise scores with fake reviews, you can always tell how authentic testimony is by getting references. 

Parting Thoughts

In any industry, it's really important to quickly utilize new applicable digital trends to help your business grow and stay competitive. Technology is always moving forward, and how people use it is changing. Just adding a few digital features to an old system isn't enough. You need a complete digital makeover to make your work flow more efficient, scalable, and stay attractive to new users who prefer an updated digital platform.

Digital transformation doesn’t just update how things are done; it also makes sure your business corresponds with what people expect in this digital age. When companies embrace a big digital change, they're not just keeping up with the market; they're going beyond what's expected. This kind of change helps businesses stay flexible, strong, and stay relevant in a world that's always changing.

To start this important journey, take a good look at your current setup, goals, and where you stand in the market. Carefully thinking about these things helps find the specific areas that can get better with digital improvements. This sets the path for a plan that fits your needs and makes a real impact on your business.

Start your digital transformation journey now by talking to an expert. 

More helpful resources:
   
   - How to Decide Between Offshore, Nearshore, and Onshore Software Outsourcing? Five Things to Consider
   - VOLO's Approach to Legacy Transformation 
   - Updating Your Legacy Software: Everything You Need to Know
   - 6 Industries, 6 Opportunities for Digital Resilience