Before the days of enterprise cloud and software as a service (SaaS), IT departments managed tech infrastructure within buildings, data centers, servers, and security. Even today, IT is usually considered essential to “keep the lights on” so to speak. For example, you wouldn’t be able to run any part of your business today without email. You can’t not have an IT strategy, but in an increasingly technological world, implementing a digital strategy is just as essential.
The traditional IT strategy outlines the ways in which a company leverages technology to implement its business strategy and keep operations running. As a concept, IT strategy was popularized early in the digital revolution, before modern digital infrastructure was widespread and we fully understood how radically digital transformation would impact the business landscape. For example, an IT operating model details how IT supports a business through infrastructure, productivity tools, access, networks, security, data privacy, and legal and regulatory requirements.
What is Digital Strategy?
Digital strategy is how a business defines and executes on its goals through technology and innovation. It ensures the priorities of IT and other areas of the company are delivering towards the goals of the business. While an IT strategy details the organization’s investment in and use of technology and how it will affect operations, a digital strategy sets up goals and objectives for how technology will be implemented and used as part of achieving those goals. Businesses must balance keeping the lights on and continuing to innovate.
Digital Strategy Keeps You One Step Ahead
Developing a successful digital strategy begins with an understanding of how the industry and enterprise technology are evolving. Knowing which improvements will be most impactful, how customer expectations are trending, and where innovation can lead, we work with businesses to take a strategic approach to digital transformation.
When we look at forming a digital strategy for a business, we start with a roadmap. By exploring the people, processes, governance, systems and solutions, we can map out both the current state and the vision for the future. How will technology get us there? Where can we innovate and improve? What should we prioritize? These are all essential questions to answer to create a digital strategy.
An IT strategy is an essential component of a robust enterprise digital strategy. While IT often starts with a technology solution, a digital strategy outlines how technology solutions map to align with a business’s goals.
Digital Strategy Reasoning & Examples
One of the main reasons companies invest in a digital strategy is to explore the effect their goals and solutions will have on different business areas:
- Operations: How will it influence IT, customer service, production, design and/or marketing processes?
- Budget: What are the upfront costs and returns?
- Customer Experience: How will it affect customer sentiment and add value?
What Does Your Business Need?
These inquiries assess feasibility and adoption, uncover obstacles, and require a comprehensive plan. A detailed plan is essential before embarking on a digital transformation journey—a digital strategy considers and accounts for all possible impacts and resources.
When undergoing a digital transformation, a business might work with a consultancy like Productive Edge to help them achieve big-picture goals or to innovate in a specific area. For example, a business that needs to move faster and deliver more efficiently would need to adopt DevOps as part of its digital strategy. Through DevOps, iterative processes can be completed within minutes, enabling organizations to swiftly innovate emerging concepts that may not be fully refined and promptly enhance those innovations through instant feedback until they achieve perfection. In today’s, competitive business landscape, DevOps serves as a solution that gives companies a competitive advantage and empowers them to keep up with the ever-evolving demands of the industry.
However, when developing a digital strategy for a company without a solid data strategy, implementing a full-scale, fluent data strategy should be a top priority. A data strategy converts data into insights and is a highly dynamic process employed to support the acquisition, organization, analysis and delivery of data to support business objectives. Implementing a data strategy is vital as it enables informed decision-making, fosters a competitive advantage, improves operational efficiency, enhances customer experience and ensures risk management and compliance. By leveraging data effectively, companies can make better decisions that ultimately drive business success by gaining a competitive edge, streamlining operations, personalizing customer experiences, and mitigating risks.
Conclusion
In today's rapidly evolving digital landscape, it is imperative for organizations to develop a comprehensive and powerful digital strategy that takes into account various essential components. A robust and effective digital strategy will include the future operating model, gaining deep insights into customer behavior, identifying key roles, aligning business and technology priorities, formulating an effective IT strategy, and creating a strategic roadmap to guide your company’s transformation journey.
By critically analyzing your business requirements, pinpointing areas of innovation, and selecting appropriate solutions to align with your objectives, you can lay a solid foundation for a successful digital strategy implementation.
Download our eBook, 3 Pillars You Need To Achieve Business Agility, to learn strategies for quickly adapting to changes in the market and responding efficiently to customer needs, and contact our experts today to get started on your digital strategy roadmap.
