Speed , agility and building early :

Business transformation in a digital world is shaking things up like never before . In a good way . And even though digital transformation is difficult to define , it continues to dominate the agenda of many companies . So , what is it really ? Deloitte Digital likes to keep it simple . For them , it ’ s transforming business in a world where there is a lot of digital technology to make it happen .

“ The real impact is getting an eco-system of organisations like Salesforce , Hybris and Adobe working with smaller niche players and putting these different partners and offerings together in a unique way .”

Paul Thompson , Deloitte Digital Lead EMEA

With this new age of hyper-change and with things moving faster than ever , digital technology is bringing unparalleled opportunities and breath . The rate at which useful things can reach maturity and be deployed is happening at unprecedented speeds . For example , in the past five to 10 years , the smart phone has become part of our everyday lives , analytics is now able to give us insight into large volumes of data like never before and cloud-based technologies allow organisations to build , scale and deploy solutions globally practically overnight .

Think differently The pace of technology has changed the way we think about everything , and consequently , how we behave and collaborate . The question we must ask ourselves is ‘ how can I move as fast as the world is moving ?’ Deloitte embraces rapid change by being agile and building , testing and prototyping quickly and often . Like any project in the past , they start with a strategy but recognise that progress happens in short bursts with lots of little steps and dotted with change and learning along the way . Long gone are the days where there is a lengthy roadmap or an established and linear process .

“ We get a different set of people – marketers , creatives , engineers , IT specialists and the like -- with a broad set of skills around the table so we can see what works and what doesn ’ t early in the process ,” explains Paul Thompson , Deloitte Digital Lead EMEA .

Given that it ’ s hard to keep up with this ever-evolving environment for new technology lovers , non-techies are often left in the dark . Organisations can overcome the fear of being left behind by demystifying disruptive innovation for ‘ digital-is-notfor-me ’ types . For starters , one should adopt a ‘ fall in love with the problem instead of the solution ’ approach to any strategy , and this inherently requires a broader set of skills than traditionally needed . Keeping this in mind when any business has a problem , Deloitte looks at possible technologies to drive the solution .

How does this play out in the real world ? For example , if a company has a supply chain problem , Deloitte will use a blend of sensors , analytics and IoT to get an overview of the conditions and reveal where wastage and oversupply is occurring . But the conversation always starts from the business issue perspective so input from the supply chain expert , who may fear being alienated , is invaluable .

Real value lies in efficiency and cost savings “ Even though it may not be as sexy , a large part of the value of digital transformation lies in enhancing operations as well as enhancing brand and experiences . In fact , for every euro spent on customer-interfacing , four euros is spent on improving the efficiency and effectiveness of processes ,” says Paul Thompson . That ’ s why the possibilities of technology to innovate and its revolutionary impact on business is