The observation is implacable: too many companies still fail in their digital projects. What are the blocking factors? How to succeed in digital transformation? The work The New Horizon of digital transformation, written by three specialists on the subject, provides the roadmap and tools to effectively deploy a data-driven strategy and finally take action.
Many books ride the digital transformation trend. A hot topic for twenty years, it continues to concern companies seeking to modernize their digital tools and practices.
However, one book stands out: The New Horizon of digital transformation. This work is not content, like so many others, to describe digital transformation; he dissects it. Like three doctors, its authors, all eminent practitioners of the subject, put their field experience at the service of their analysis, ranging from the diagnosis of blocking points to the issuance of a prescription-road map.
Pejman Gohari is chief data & analytics at Bpifrance, Naoumane Cherkaoui is director of transformation at BPCE IT Solutions, a BPCE group company, while Jean Barrère, specialist in AI and data-driven transformations, is a partner at Accurracy, a French financial consulting firm.
Their diagnosis is clear: companies sometimes fail in their technological projects because they graft new systems onto an old culture. With their noses to the wheel and the short term as their horizon, they struggle to adapt. Because, according to the authors, before any metamorphosis, the company must switch to a data-driven culture.
Very structured, the work is organized into three parts: the diagnosis, the nine principles of a successful transformation and their implementation.
1. Diagnosis
The authors identify three main pitfalls in digital transformation projects:
- structural and technical barriers
The oldest companies are faced with technical debt, a complexity of information systems which handicaps them. This ranges from the multiplicity of platforms and solutions to the lack of data control, not to mention the lack of skills.
- organizational barriers
Compartmentalization between services, organizational silos, discord between business lines and IT, inertia, risk aversion, lack of decision-making and difficulty scaling up undermine the organization and undermine decision-making processes.
- behavioral barriers
“A strong aversion to change, the imperative of the short term constitute formidable reasons to do nothing” warns Jean Barrère. The authors also warn us about all-communication or all-technology: it is not by recruiting a chief data officer or purchasing a technological brick that digital transformation will magically take place.
2. Solutions: the nine pillars for developing a data-driven strategy
This part constitutes the subtitle of the book and its heart. The authors highlighted nine pillars that support successful transformation companies.
- Pillar #1: corporate culture
A powerful sense of belonging anchored in a strong entrepreneurial culture, with non-negotiable values and principles.
- Pillar #2: makers in charge
Inspiring leaders at the helm, with extensive field experience.
- Pillar #3: talents with a data mindset
Excellence through the diversity of talents and the autonomy of the actors.
- Pillar #4 : a strategy focused on innovation
A strategy massively focused on innovation, particularly digital innovation
- Pillar #5 : data, the new social capital
Governed and secure, data becomes an asset established as the main lever of growth.
- Pillar #6: customer obsession
Customer satisfaction as a compass of the economic model
- Pillar #7 : decision-making informed by data and AI
Decision-making processes are changing radically with the introduction of AI and the systematic use of data.
- Pillar #8 : technology as a catalyst for transformation
The information system (IS) must be completely open (in particular thanks to APIs) and organized to evolve continuously and at a high rate. The IS is based on an event-oriented architecture (EDA) to ensure its “ scalability » in the processing of flows mainly by means of a Kafka type platform for centralizing flows.
- Pillar #9: Velocity in any strategic choice
Speed of execution is essential, because the longer a process takes, the more inefficient and costly it is. It is therefore necessary to simplify, to eliminate unnecessary actions, ineffective procedures and waste of all kinds thanks to lean approach and Agile.
Of course, this model must be adapted to each organization.
3. Transformation into action
In this last part, the authors finally move on to practice. The implementation of the transformation is divided into three phases which each refer to three pillars of the target model.
- Phase #1: embody and unite (Culture, Makers and Talents pillars)
Three changes need to be made: encourage the adoption of behaviors and practices essential to transformation, bring out makers, and align your employer promise and your practices to attract new talent.
- Phase #2: decide and act (Strategy, Data and Customers pillars)
You need to deploy a strategy oriented towards digital innovation, secure, manage and enhance your data capital, but also refocus your efforts on creating value for your customers and partners.
- Phase #3: transform iteratively (Decision, Technologies, Velocity pillars)
This last phase consists of deploying an urbanized, open, scalable and resilient IT architecture. You will need to put the potential of AI and analytical solutions at the heart of your decision-making processes. And above all, make your business faster by combining agility and simplification.
This part on taking action is full of practical examples that guide the reader to understand and implement the transformation.
A book that will go down in history
Sculpted like a high-level athlete, this book, without boldness or embellishment, multiplies practical cases drawn from real experiences. Like a cooking recipe, the sentences are short, punchy and clear, punctuated with infographics and summary tables.
Overall, the book gives pride of place to stories of business experiences. Fortunately, the hundred companies cited are not only made up of American multinationals, due to too much literature on digital transformation. However, we will not avoid commonplaces about Apple, Google and Uber… and anglicisms.
Our only regret concerns the lack of examples of French SMEs having successfully completed their digital transformation. This organizational and strategic upheaval does not only concern mid-sized companies and large companies.
Ultimately, the authors' operational experience provided a brilliant and practical synthesis of the failures and successes of digital transformation. A bet held in 197 dense and rich pages. This landmark book is an essential that every business leader, but also IT manager and manager, should have on their desk.
After reading it, all you want to do is implement the solutions proposed and train yourself to effectively deploy the transformation in your company.
About the work
The New Horizon of digital transformation – 9 pillars for developing a data-driven strategy, by Pejman Gohari, Naoumane Cherkaoui and Jean Barrère, Éditions Dunod, 197 p., €24.
