How do I make digital transformation work for my business?

Creating your digital transformation roadmap

One could understandably assume that digital transformation involves implementing technology and optimizing business operations. However, being digital-first does not mean that it’s a tech solution, at least not in most cases. Digital transformation is a business solution to a business problem. It’s how to address the very challenges that are keeping C-level executives up at night, such as customer experience, brand differentiation, cybersecurity threats, employee relations and jumping ahead of the competition.

There are countless benefits that come from high-quality digital transformation work. Broadridge’s 2022 Digital Transformation Survey highlights a few of them: 71% of business leaders pointed to increased revenue, and 62% said it helped them improve planning and decision-making.

It therefore seems clear that tackling challenges with this business-focused mindset can drive top-line growth, save on the bottom line and vastly improve the experience for all stakeholders. Therefore, organizational leaders need to ask themselves, “How can we use technology to drive digital transformation and achieve our business outcomes?” And on a more basic level, “Where do I start?”

Defining your digital transformation needs

We’ve all seen the headlines about the futuristic technology that is creeping into our networks. New AI solutions like ChatGPT, the metaverse and robotic process automation seem to be all the rage now, but they can still be difficult to understand without the proper context. If your organization is struggling to make sense of new tech and how to benefit from it, that’s the first sign you need to work with an advisor who can quickly explain the benefits of these solutions to fulfill your specific needs.

As just one example, OpenAI and its GPT-4 system seem exciting at first. But it’s important to understand how its use will fit into your organizational priorities and guidelines. Data privacy is one component of GPT-4 that is still largely undefined; when you input data, it’s not yet clear what happens to it, so you can’t assume it’s safe or that it will not be used by others. Understanding this technology should be part of a broader framework with connection points to the relevant parts of your business. Although GPT-4 is data-reliant, your challenge may not be a data question. It’s fitting it into the larger parts of the digital transformation approach that will make the difference in the long run.

The premise here is that you can’t just throw technology at a problem – whether that’s providing a better website experience for your customers, preventing the next ransomware attack or optimizing your enterprise resource planning (ERP) platform. Once you define your need, you can address it by aligning your digital strategy with your company’s overarching goals and objectives. As part of this, you should also ensure your key stakeholders – including employees – are a part of that process and that their needs and concerns are addressed (this is one of the most overlooked components). Once this is established, you can then implement a right-sized digital transformation, leveraging data to tell your story and integrating systems to maximize efficiencies.

Mazars offers bespoke solutions for holistic digital transformation

When designing and executing digital transformation for your organization, you should consider the entire spectrum of your business and where you can maximize return on investment. You also need a team of specialists to address your digital transformation in a holistic manner, starting first with business transformation as the overarching foundation, then deploying digital solutions to enable those transformation efforts with respect to people, processes and technology. This is precisely what Mazars offers.

Mazars has developed a comprehensive business and digital transformation framework consisting of six core layers to help clients achieve their transformation goals:

1. Strategizing and developing a digital transformation roadmap
2. Transforming core business functions (finance, sales & marketing, operations, supply chain, IT, HR)
3. Enabling the business through technology solutions
4. Enhancing decision-making by leveraging data as a competitive advantage
5. Leading people through change
6. Protecting the business through risk and cybersecurity solutions

This framework requires a team with a diverse skillset to look across the full landscape of transformation. This means bringing in specialists on all of these specialties, including business functions, technology and risk. As an example, our risk team focuses on cybersecurity, data privacy and compliance issues, but works collaboratively with the broader digital transformation team to build more effective, secure solutions to drive long-term impact across the entire organization. This approach offers the complete set of expertise – including business management, technology assessment and risk consulting – all under one virtual roof.

Whether you want to drive revenue, improve efficiency or reduce cost, Mazars’ team works with your organization’s leadership to identify the core business functions you want to improve. We establish clear objectives to fit your business strategy and help put them into practice. As a result, Mazars is your strategy and implementation advisor all the way through.

For more information on our digital transformation services, connect with us.

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The information provided here is for general guidance only, and does not constitute the provision of tax advice, accounting services, investment advice, legal advice, or professional consulting of any kind. The information provided herein should not be used as a substitute for consultation with professional tax, accounting, legal or other competent advisers.