Companies no longer have the luxury of being complacent if they want to remain competitive. It’s either disrupt or be disrupted in today’s changing business landscape. That’s why so many companies have started to invest in digital transformation.
As part of a digital transformation, businesses now leverage technology, such as CRM platforms, marketing automation tools, and artificial intelligence to grow and prosper within their respective markets. These technologies are accessible to both small and large businesses and, when implemented correctly, help them to deliver better value to their customers, increased revenue, improved customer satisfaction results, and improved employee productivity. By envisioning usability from the end-user side, companies can create customizable solutions that promote design, agility, and a culture that embraces digital transformation.
As you may have already realized, digital transformation is more about people than machines, which means it can’t be done in a department silo, but rather as an entire organizational effort. As technology continues to shape the way businesses run, placing trust in people first is one of the best strategies for your company’s success. In order to appoint the right people to lead the transitions, your leadership team will need to assess your employee’s capabilities and opportunities for improvement.
Your Digital Transformation Success Team
True digital transformation touches nearly every aspect of an organization. Without support and contribution from all levels of the company, a digital transformation can't be executed successfully. From C-level management, to lower level employees, digital transformation initiatives are a unified effort. Although the roles may differ depending on your specific company or project size, here are the primary roles you might consider when assembling your core digital transformation team.
Executive Sponsors
As the MOST IMPORTANT part of the team, executive sponsors are a strategic alliance that can help ensure your initiatives are funded, utilized, and run smoothly. These senior-level finance, IT, risk, and security executives have a vested interest in helping the organization reach its full potential. With a deep understanding of the organization’s culture and its customers, the executive sponsor should be fully aware of how each transformative project is meant to help meet the organization's goals. Without an established leader to provide strategic direction, authority, credibility, and support, digital transformation projects often fail.
Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
It is the duty of the CEO to make valuable decisions that steer the company towards its business goals. One of the most critical mandates of a CEO is to communicate the company’s business strategy and how that relates to the company’s digital transformation. After developing the overall strategy, it is the duty of the executive sponsors to ensure the team understands and implements that strategy throughout the organization.
Chief Information Officer (CIO)
The CIO’s objective is to consult, guide, and work in tandem with the CEO on how to leverage technology to benefit the company as a whole. They are faced with the continuous challenge to bring agility to their business processes, while driving technology improvements. This technology leader inspires the other executives on the leadership team to join in the movement. The CIO must also ensure that each transformation projects are in line with the company’s goals. Having a CIO on board is a vital component to digital transformation success.
IT Director
During a digital transformation, the IT director collaborates with multiple business owners to ensure IT systems are not only available to users, but are also in line with business requirements. During a digital transformation, the IT director make sure the applications, networks, development, systems, and disaster recovery processes are running smoothly. This person is also the advocate for establishing a solid data protection strategy. It is the IT Director’s responsibility to both make the leadership team aware of the best strategies for data protection. The IT director manages the project manager, solution architect, programmer, and Salesforce Admin.
Marketing Operations Lead
The marketing operations lead is an expert in implementing the appropriate tactics for each stage of the customer journey. This role is also responsible for continuously improving the efficiency and effectiveness of digital processes during a transformation. This individual will be the central point of contact for global marketing, sales, IT, and design teams during the rollout and ongoing management of various automations and integrations, via Pardot, Hubspot, or Marketo, in conjunction with the company’s Salesforce platform. This role works directly with project team end users to plan and implement lead generation campaigns and to improve conversion and sales rates. The marketing operations lead is responsible for creatively incorporating the right technology and data to help the company reach its digital transformation goals. Agility is key when it comes to staying ahead of the competition in 21st-century marketing.
Sales Operations Lead
The sales operations lead is tasked with optimizing all moving parts of the sales process to increase win rates and drive revenue. This role leverages new technologies, like cloud and mobile applications, to increase effectiveness and eliminate sales team inefficiencies. The sales operations lead plays a pivotal role in the integrations, implementations, and automations of various systems available to the sales team. They decide which platforms or applications will be most effective during various sales-related digital transformation projects.
In an article on Enterprisers Project, John Marcante, CIO at Vanguard, points out that “companies are being replaced on the S&P 500 approximately every two weeks. Technology has driven this shift, and companies that want to succeed must understand how to merge technology with strategy.”
Creating a concrete team of people to immerse themselves in a world of digital change is one sure way to become top-line industry disruptors. Whether your organization is in the beginning stages of its digital transformation journey or is well on its way to digital transformation success, keep in mind that digital transformation is never a singular effort. As you map out your digital transformation strategy, remember that building a successful team is a key component to reaching your business goals.
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