Why partnership between business and IT is critical

There is a certain misconception is today’s business world with regards to digital transformation. Quite often, the terminology is misconstrued for digitisation or digitalisation. Digital transformation is not restricted to automating processes using a certain type of software or to a short-term initiative or project. 

It is a journey that an organisation embarks upon which involves mission critical factors that need to be taken into consideration such as; re-evaluating business strategy, business models, customer journeys and products in alignment with digital trends and capabilities. 

As the evolution of technology remains constant, it has become vital for organisations to adapt to customer-centric strategies which require cross-cutting organisational changes, and this signifies the continuous improvement aspect of digital transformation.

A key challenge for organisations nowadays is the ability to cope up with the rapidly changing industrial environment. Most businesses limit the perception of technology to the toolset that enables digital transformation. 

A more apt point of view towards technology would be the ideology that technology opens a world of opportunities. New business models, revenue streams, channels, markets and customers, are all factors that are heavily impacted via technology and this marks technology as a flagship for strategic growth for organisations today.

From a strategic perspective, business heads are the tactical experts that help companies to formulate a path towards victory in their transformation journey. The alignment between business and IT for a successful transformation is absolutely vital. The end goal for any organisation is to achieve their strategic objectives, and the understanding of how these can be achieved sits in the mindset of the business heads.

Technology heads help organisations build the required arsenal for a successful transformation. Digital transformations would not entirely be digital without the right technology heads behind the wheel. It is mission critical for organisations to optimise their technology investments to avoid failures in their transformation, the identification of the right technologies fitting the right business requirements lies in the hands of the technology heads.

More often than not, a fractured enterprise or in other words the misalignment of business and IT is what sinks the ship for organisations. When businesses decide to dive in too deep too soon and without the governance of IT is when they are already on their road to a failed transformation. 

A truly connected enterprise is what is required; connected business processes, connected employees, connected machines, connected factories, in order to create a truly connected customer experience through harnessing data. 

Moreover, it is essential for organisations to phase out implementations and projects based on the prioritisation of requirements and only bite as much as they can chew at once. These issues often rise due to substandard project management or scoping and miscommunication within organisations as well.

Key takeaways

• Digital transformation is not restricted to automating processes using a certain type of software.
• Digital transformation is a journey that an organisation embarks upon which involves mission critical factors.
• A key challenge for organisations nowadays is the ability to cope up with the rapidly changing industrial environment.
• A fractured enterprise or misalignment of business and IT is what sinks the ship for organisations.