3 Key Insights on Activating The Digital Transformation Power of Your Business

As organizations continue to try and navigate rapid change, they are seeking out the right methods and tools to drive that success. And the organizations who are becoming more agile and able to navigate that challenge are the ones who are activating the support of their entire business. IDG’s recent MarketPulse Survey, “Empowering Business Users for the Next Era of Digital Transformation,” investigated just how line of business employees and IT professionals see the future of digital transformation, and how to activate the entire business towards these efforts.

Here are three key concepts from the report that illuminate the potential of business innovators throughout the business.

The line of business has squandered potential

While organizations understand that they need to embrace automation and customization, teams are still yet to activate the full potential across the business. The MarketPulse survey found that almost one in five respondents capable of leveraging business automation tools are not doing so. Coupled with the fact that less than a quarter of line of business employees are automating their routines and workflows, there is clearly more work that can be done towards involving the entire business in digital transformation.

One main reason for this is that the entire organization sees this as an IT-led charge and is not always bought into these initiatives. “If the business isn’t involved, IT can only drive so much change,” said Deb Gildersleeve, CIO at Quickbase. “You need to make sure everyone knows [business-led] development is a company initiative, that everyone plays their part, and that it doesn’t happen in disconnected silos.”

Bringing on the right tools is critical

Mindset and empowerment are critical to the end of activating business potential, but the right tools also play a major part. Everyday business innovators need to have a toolset that allows them to continually innovate and trust that they have what they need to do so. Only 19% of IT professionals felt that business that business innovators are equipped with the tools they need to get the job done.

Users are looking for tools that can support their innovation efforts. Key qualities, as the MarketPulse survey found, include ease of learning, compatibility with existing systems, and ability to integrate data.

These tools also add confidence across the business. Users of low code tools were twice as likely to feel confident in the business’s ability to integrate data effectively without IT support. This is why it is so important to not only bring in these key no-code tools but to take away barriers of trust. These barriers are both organizational and technological – while IT is more concerned with legacy systems, business innovators are looking to navigate internal processes and leadership buy-in.

Setting up a culture of success

Internal buy-in can make a major difference in the successful deployment of these tools. That is why it is important for leaders to set up a culture of success. Creating this culture starts at the top – when leadership signals support, the efforts have a significantly better chance of success. Further, a Center of Excellence governance model will put the right guidelines and guardrails in place to drive success.

“If you don’t know how people are using your tools, you don’t know how to measure success,” Gildersleeve added. “That’s why it’s important to stand up governance in advance.”