A sense of ownership among senior management regarding how digitalisation can reduce costs and increase revenue is crucial. This sense of ownership occurs through an in-depth understanding of collaboration across internal silos and probably of other companies that share the same platforms and technologies.
An IT director, who traditionally is responsible for digital processes, is often measured in terms of streamlining, automation and lower costs, while a marketing director is measured in terms of growth and increased revenue. The fact that IT is internally focused, while marketing is externally focused, can be suboptimal and also a source of conflict.
Every business will sooner or later have to make important strategic decisions. Then it is important to identify areas of improvement that are significant enough to generate speed and momentum, yet manageable enough to be viable.
Define the changes you are facing: who could represent a threat and how could you challenge other players? Thus, all companies could ask themselves whether they have put together an optimal board, management group or IT management to lead the company through a digitalisation process.
Knowit has defined three different kinds of strategic focus: improve, grow or change. The three different kinds of focus are crucial to how you organise yourselves, measure results and, not least, work efficiently. Based on the decisions you make, you will encounter various critical success factors.