A report by VML Enterprise Solutions, covered by Process Excellence Network, found that digital transformation projects cost US$10.9 million on average, and 37 percent still fail. The survey covered 4,000 business leaders across eight countries. It also found that 64 percent of projects begin without a clear roadmap, and 56 percent of respondents said senior leadership doesn’t support the work effectively.
Those aren’t technology problems. They’re clarity problems. Without a shared answer to “what does success look like a year from now?”, every team builds toward its own goal.
Good digital transformation services should leave you with more than new software. Look for these things.
A plan you can read. It should connect each project to a business result, such as faster onboarding, lower cost to serve, or fewer manual steps.
A sensible order of work. Not everything needs to change at once. Start with the processes where delay or error costs you the most.
Technology planned together. Application development, automation, DevOps, data and analytics all play a part, and they work better when planned as one program instead of bought separately.
Leadership involvement. Since more than half the leaders in that survey felt support from the top was weak, a good partner will ask for sponsors early and keep them updated.
Skills that stay with you. Your own teams should be able to run what gets built, not depend on the vendor forever.
Ask how they would handle the first 90 days. A clear answer, with who does what and what you’ll see, is a good sign. Vague talk about “alignment” isn’t.
Ask for an example where something went wrong and how they fixed it. Anyone who has done real transformation work has a few of those stories.
Check how they measure progress. The measures should be tied to your goals, not just delivery dates.
Skillmine’s digital transformation services bring together agile engineering, app development, DevOps, RPA and data analytics, built around outcomes you can track. Talk to us about your first 90 days.
