Digital Transformation Why it's not enough
to pour Old Wine 🍷
into New Bottles

Much more than just another IT Project

Have you also been of the opinion that the digital transformation is just another temporary IT project? If so, then it’s high time to rethink digitalization as a long-term project. You can’t just implement a software and then sit back and reap the fruits of the work. There are five “basic rules” that you should follow to be successful here. Among other things, it depends on holistic change management, a thought-out roadmap and competent business partners.

Your Customers set the Tone

Keep this in mind in everything you do: your customers call the shots. Because of the transparency of the internet, they have the option of switching to an alternative IT vendor with just a few clicks. With a logical consequence: they have enormous expectations on aspects such as proactivity, transparency, agility, clarity and quality. The pressure to provide a good customer experience is even higher as any mistake or bad experience can quickly surface via social media and review websites.

It would be nice, but you can’t buy the Digital Transformation

Money alone won’t get you anywhere. Because digital transformation cannot be bought off the shelf like a product. You need a clear strategy that is individually tailored to your company. After all, every company has its own competitive advantages, such as comparatively low manufacturing costs for standard products. And this advantage must then be secured and further expanded in the best possible way in the course of digitalization. And what is the best way to do this?

Prepare Yourself and your Team well and get Support

Let yourself be inspired. Read books. Attend workshops. And make sure that both your top management and your employees are fully involved! They need to know exactly why digital transformation is so important and what concrete changes are coming. This calls for clear, transparent communication. Only then will your team members be motivated, stand behind your vision and strategy and be able to act as role models for other employees. An experienced partner will help you to select the right technologies and implement targeted change management.

The 5 Roles in Change Management: How to guide
your Employees
through a Change Process

Can your Vendor still keep up?

Especially in the wake of the coronavirus crisis, it is important to be able to rely on the right partner. Because the pace of innovation has picked up speed. This means that IT has come to the fore in many areas, which has led to increased demand. Whether it’s working from home, digital consultations at the doctor’s or e-learning for pupils and students. Many processes can now be handled decentrally. But what about your ERP/CRM vendor? Can they keep up quickly enough? Or are they perhaps even slowing you down? You should clarify this in good time with the help of targeted questions and if in doubt, consider changing vendors.

“Pouring Old Wine into New Bottles": you’re wasting Resources

The most common fail factor in digital transformation projects: you simply transfer your existing business processes, outdated reporting, inadequate data and old mindset one-to-one from the on-premises solution to the cloud. That is not effective. It’s like pouring old wine into new bottles - and you run the risk of wasting your time, budgets, energy and momentum.

The right Mindset secures you a Healthy Future

It’s best to gain all these insights before you start your project, and not afterwards, when the project has already failed. Put your existing and potential customers, employees, interested parties and/or stakeholders at the heart of the organization! Then modernizing your business processes and renewing the internal mindset is nothing less than a crucial step towards securing a healthy, competitive future.