Category: Digital Transformation

A One-Size Digital Transformation Team? Not if You want it to Work…

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So, you’ve decided to unify your business via digital transformation. Now what? 

Perhaps you’re migrating to the cloud, diversifying revenue streams, removing risk, revolutionising contact centres, data centres, your supply chain, or all of the above. One thing is for sure; you want to remove waste and drive profitability throughout your organisation. But do you need an ERP expert, a change management expert, an APP and WMS developer, an eCommerce expert? 

The answer? It depends a great deal on you.

Anyone who’s had a good crack at digital transformation knows that without the right structure and expertise, things can get really messy really quickly. The pressure is on. Expectations are high. The transformation must release value across your organisation both quickly and incrementally. Waste has to go. Entire processes, departments and attitudes must be revamped – not for the sake of it – but to achieve real transformation with real results. The kind that makes your FD elicit a rare smile. 

The truth is, one company cannot deliver all of your digital transformation needs, albeit they may promise otherwise. Much like the very finest of symphonies, you need a strong conductor and a litany of digital experts to bring your transformation together in perfect harmony.  

The approach must be agnostic. The only agenda – your successful transformation. Everyone must work together. A diverse array of disciplines is required to deliver your unique vision with absolutely zero prejudice to any one department, discipline, or person. 

Ensuring you have carefully selected, impartial and exhaustive expertise saves a lot of time – and we would know. Having delivered digital transformation for many successful businesses – we are big enough to admit we have already made the mistakes and learned the lessons. 

So, what made their digital transformations so successful? 

Humblebrag alert – we did. Or should we say our fresh approach to digital transformation did. 

We don’t pretend to possess every skill-set necessary to deliver a digital transformation as unique as each client. Your people, your vision, your budget – you’re a one-off. Providing the same transformation and expertise just doesn’t work. Real transformation demands that the big picture is broken down into precise manageable chunks with the relevant expert at each helm. What we do is insert the correct expert into the correct role and manage and deliver your digital strategy and business goals. Sounds simple, right? But this is not the traditional or standard approach. Sadly, many businesses have found this out to their detriment tens of thousands of pounds later.

At Digital Fabrique Development, we work with you to identify your goals. We then collaborate with a small but precise consortium of expert and niche companies to ensure we meet them. We don’t work with flashy types who watch the clock and drain your pockets. It’s not ethical and it’s not our style. We work with people who love what they do and know the value of real digital transformation. There is no pretence, no hidden charges – just an honest, expert approach with complete transparency about what we are doing and the niche experts we knit together to ensure the outcome of your transformation programmes.

For a digital transformation as refreshing and successful as it is transparent, why not give us a shout?

The Land of Lost Departments…

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Digital transformation is super slick, super sexy and super high-tech, right? That’s certainly part of it. But a lot of digital transformation makes the same common wasteful mistake…

Sales and marketing – they’re directly connected to the tills and client satisfaction. But actually, those dusty departments behind the scenes aren’t so dusty after all. 

Think of digital transformation and you think of increased profitability and revenue, enticing customers and sales. APP development, web improvements, or the in-store experience jump to the front of the queue. But real transformation runs through the veins of your entire business – from your front to back office and everywhere in between. Sure, your new APP might be increasing sales upfront. But it’s all for nothing if the back office is eating the profits.

2020 has seen many businesses take a serious sales hit. Yet the costs of doing business remain static or invariably increase – eroding your bottom line. It’s been a turbulent ride, that’s for sure. But even when you’re up against pandemics, it doesn’t have to be. 

Internal inefficiencies are the blockade to your business. Staff waste time and pull in different directions; processes are not collaborative and harmonised, systems are antiquated and held together by a shoestring. Inefficiencies (in a nutshell) consume the profits you are keen to achieve. Businesses might think, ‘what has HR got to do with CX?’ Fact: Great CX demands a great team, great processes – you get the idea. Every department needs to shape up, get on board and transform the way it works for whole-business improvement.

Without addressing internal inefficiencies, true transformation can’t take place and it’s a common and expensive mistake we see time and time again. 

Finance, logistics, HR – your back office is the backbone of your business. Antiquated systems, processes and procedures are the enemy. It is no coincidence that those thriving this year have undergone a strong digital transformation, diversified revenues, improved profitability and removed waste. Either that or they’re in the hand sanitizer game. To stay agile and sail through choppy waters with finesse – you need to ‘pivot’ faster than your industry and competitors. That simply isn’t possible with redundant layers of legacy processes and admin weighing down every management decision. Many businesses struggle to ‘pivot’ at all or too late and their P&L shows it.

As a business, how can you find a way to be more efficient – more cost-effective? Trim the fat and adopt agile processes and a framework that empowers staff. Create clear accountability, clear communication and a common goal – all underpinned by data-driven insights to continually adapt and evolve. While a pandemic is extreme, trends, tech and needs chop and change like the weather. Can your business chop and change with them?

Shiny tech is not the answer in isolation. Integrating digital capabilities such as automation, real-time analysis and reporting allow you to identify waste and reduce the costs of doing business…

It all sounds great, but where to start?

1) Be honest, if one of your strategic goals is to reduce the operational cost of doing business, then (honestly) review the cost centres within your business 

2) Review functional areas and heatmap the capabilities; identify the gaps, inefficiencies and duplication where change is required  

3) Create a transformation roadmap/plan for these prioritised areas

4) Create a diverse cross-functional team to execute the roadmap in bite-sized chucks – keeping it well managed and tight

5) Explore and trial niche digital solutions that can address these areas – digital is changing rapidly; small niche tech could solve a very specific problem (don’t be afraid to embrace innovation)

6) Measure – learn – adapt – move on to the next priority

We understand that transformation requires many moving pieces, niche solutions, experts and your own people to come together to deliver a shared goal. At DFD, we deliver a clear, proven framework and orchestrate your unique programme of projects and workstreams. 

Providing the right resources (only where you need them), clear communication and governance; we skip the complex and entirely swerve the bureaucracy.  

Welcome to digital transformation that leaves you with an entirely new business capability – the ability to continuously improve and stay lean. Pivot, don’t pivot – you’re now an entirely agile business holding the reigns and primed for the future. 

It might be October, but we don’t do scary costs either. 

For a successful digital transformation that improves your entire business, why not give us a shout?

Banish Excess and Get the Job Done – This is the Fresh approach to Digital Transformation Engagements

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Brands shy away from digital transformation for two reasons: 1) cost and 2) delivery.

These are both good reasons. Yes, we just said that.  

Your permanent teams have their existing roles and responsibilities to worry about. Designing and executing a successful digital transformation is not part of their repertoire and (even if it were) is a full-time job in itself. Traditional DT consultancies caught some bad press. Long-winded, confusing and expensive often springs to mind. Unless you are a huge business with vast resources, the costs can be off-putting. Even if you do have the resources, you don’t need to spend tens of thousands on a successful DT and why should you anyway?

Utilising an intermediary to deliver your digital transformation can be hit and miss, time-consuming and a little dicey with IR35 employment legislation. 

But get past all of this and the rewards are big. Really big. Plus, as a pandemic sweeps the planet – can you even afford not to be digital? 

So, what (exactly) does a successful DT do? In a nutshell, it delivers the agility to weather Covid, Brexit, the competition, customers trends and anything else hurled at your business. Amazon, Netflix, Google – they all know the exponential value of successful DT. They have built an empire on it. And (fortunately) you don’t need their budget to enjoy strong results. 

If you could remove the uncertainty from your business, what would that do?

The difference between successful and unsuccessful digital transformation is in expertise and execution. You need a tight network of experts who have delivered for Missguided, River Island, Arcadia, Jack Wills, Mothercare, Ideal World and more (aka know their stuff). You need a flexible resource model tailored to your unique business aims. We even upskill your internal teams before we hand back the reigns. You need a managed, transparent service that accounts for the resources, expenditure and outcomes. You need pricing that reflects a job well done and not glossy offices and flash cars. In short, you need a transformation that is strategic, effective and optimises your business across every digital platform. 

The specifics:

1) Enjoy a closed network with all its benefits, confidence and first-hand experience of how to successfully get the job done

2) Utilise a lean model – handpicked and tight knit – rather than 100’s of consultants and their fees

3) A strong focus on the right cultural fit – it gets the right results

4) There is no minimum engagement period so you only pay for what you need

5) No expensive offices, flashy cars, or overheads – we pass on these savings directly to you

6) IR35 is also deftly taken care of as we define our engagement and outcomes upfront. 

That is how we deliver a successful digital transformation that removes the uncertainty, relieves the risk and allows you to scale, pivot and predict with the agility that 2020 demands. 

To read how we delivered the digital goods for Missguided and more, please click here.

DFD is an independent team of experts in digital transformation. We deliver a successful DT that aligns smart technology, your business, your people and your processes to drive greater value for customers and your team. 

New business, maximised profits, diversified revenue streams, brand equity – everything is possible with the right approach. Whatever your goals, we deliver real change that achieves your core business capabilities. 

For a successful digital transformation that cements your future, why not give us a shout?