June 02, 2021

Martin Biggs, Vice President and General Manager EMEA

Digital Transformation Today

COVID-19 has accelerated the imperative for digital transformation. But what does this really mean in today’s world? VP and GM for EMEA shares his view on how digital transformation impacts businesses today and what a holistic approach looks like.

Pressure, Promises, and Purpose

In our post-COVID-19 world, businesses are being bombarded with digital transformation messaging that pushes a real sense of urgency. Expert articles exhort the need for change. Scientific papers push new technologies. Software vendors promise the world.

This can be stressful and confusing. At Spinnaker Support, we regularly talk to business leaders who are feeling under huge pressure to make wholesale digital change without fully understanding the business objectives. The result? They embark on digital transformation programmes that involve a mass of activity but deliver little real value.

A Journey, Not a Destination  

Before beginning any digital transformation, you need to be absolutely clear about its purpose. How will it help you make the most of technology, people, and processes? As a result, how will it improve your business’s efficiency, collaboration, and interconnectivity?  

The first thing to acknowledge is that, in our world of constant change, digital transformation is a journey, not a destination. Stand back and take a clear-sighted look at what you are already doing. Do all your existing digital programmes still serve the need for which they were commissioned? Letting go of pet projects can be painful, but it’s important to recognise when they’re past their sell-by date and stop needlessly tying up budgets.

Research Software Solutions

Many companies I speak with approach digital transformation as if they have a blank sheet of paper. Take time to look at alternative software publishers and service providers. There’s growing investment in the open source software market and there are some extraordinarily high-quality products out there.

Don’t allow yourself to be railroaded by the big software players, and don’t be scared to break away to the new solution in the benefits are clearly in your favor. Opting for third-party software support is a great example of this; customers often aren’t aware that moving away from the vendor’s support service is an option, let alone that it can result in an average 60% cost savings. Savings like these can be reinvested in targeted digital transformation, creating business benefits and more profit for reinvestment in other projects.

To discuss your digital transformation, let’s connect.