Ever feel overwhelmed by the deluge of discussions and information around digital transformation? It pops-up everywhere and yet we can’t seem to get a handle on its impact on our lives? So, what does digital transformation really mean to the ordinary, everyday, non-c-suite man or woman?
An recent article I came across in the New York Times laid it out crystal clear for me.
Cremona, Italy, home-town of Antonio Stradivari, one of the finest violins and cello makers ever, is getting ready to digitally capture the sounds of their Stradivarius instruments for posterity. For this to be possible, the entire city of Cremona has gone silent. The objective – to preserve the unique sounds and personality of each Stradivarius violin, before time eternally changes, or even silences them eventually.
Can you imagine an entire city gone silent, so that digitization can do what would have been impossible to imagine until sometime back?
Capturing a bygone era, its sounds, memories and reverberations, can forever change the course of our future with its impact and influence. And this is the power of meaningful digital transformation, one that has its roots in serving a compelling need or aspiration.
Experts concur that digital transformation will be fueling our future and reshaping its outcomes. Worldwide investment in digital transformation initiatives is expected to reach $2.2 trillion in 2019. By 2020, spending on cloud services is predicted to be more than $500 billion as the physical, financial, and healthcare worlds expected to become highly digitized.
While all of this is good and great, what organizations need, more than technology, is to embrace a new mindset that looks at digital technologies as an enabler of change.
For digital transformation to be meaningful, it needs to be more than a paper goal with a fulfillment date. It must retain its focus on being an enabler of human transformation.
Being truly digital is about creating tomorrow’s businesses that are dynamic and agile; able to adapt to change in the market by harnessing technology, while remaining profitable and responsive to client demands.