Digital Business

Transformation
Quick-Start Guide
Get clearer on how to innovate strategically, plan,
prepare for, and execute digital business transformation.
Introduction

What
company will
you help steer towards
transformation success?

This guide describes a five-step The fact that thousands of

Digital Transformation process to transformations are struggling, not
help you successfully innovate getting started or failing,
strategically, plan, prepare for and demonstrates the massive shortage
execute digital transformation. of transformation capability today.
03 Digital Business Transformation

1. Innovate
Strategically
While the purpose of innovation is to create business value, the
value itself can take many different forms, including
incremental improvements to existing products, breakthroughs
such as new products and services, cost reductions, efficiency
improvements, new business models and new ventures. The
process used innovate is to discover, create and develop ideas,
to refine them into useful forms and to use them to earn profits,
increase efficiency and/or reduce costs.

The innovation process is similar to a funnel, with many ideas at

the input stage that get whittled down to a few completed,
useful innovations at the output stage. The trick to making it
work is knowing what’s supposed happen inside the funnel.
Does this mean you should start by creating a lot of ideas? No.

Remember - ideas are the seeds of innovation, and often not the
end-result.  

Many innovations never see the light of day because the

innovation process itself isn't aligned with the firms' strategic
intent. If the CEO has assured the board that the firm is going to
reach destination A, you'll find it very difficult to get the CEO
and their executive team to get behind an innovation that would
get the firm to destination B. Which is why you need to innovate
strategically and be seen to be supporting the realisation of
strategic intent.

That's not to say that we won't get bold in this exercise. If the
CEO don't know what they don't know, you should at least
guide towards new possibilities.

You need to think about how innovation is going to add value to

your firm's strategic intent, and how it might create strategic
advantage.
 04
For this exercise, don't
impose any constraints on
your creativity at this stage.
Be brave, bold and possibly
outrageous. The success
stories we all read about
involve people and
companies who didn't care
about how things have been
done in the past. They
created a new future, which
is what transformation is all
about.
Limiting thoughts such as,
“we can’t do that”, “that’s
against policy”, “it's stupid”,
or “they'll never approve it”
should be excluded from this
exercise.
Digital Business Transformation
Innovation
Challenge
1. Define your firm's strategic intent (12 to 24 months)
2. What are the top three threats that your firm is, or could
be facing within the next three years and from where?
3. What problems can innovation solve for the following,
which also support your firm's strategic intent and
protect against the threats you identified?
a. Workforce
b. Customers
c. Operations
4. What competitive advantages do you want innovation
to create, which also support your firm's strategic intent
and protect against the threats you identified?
a. Workforce
b. Customers
c. Operations
5. Now forget strategic intent and establish what
innovative business models might disrupt your
competitors. Be brave enough to consider what seems
impossible to do in your business today, but if it could be
done, would fundamentally transform what your
business does. 
05 Digital Business Transformation

6. Capture
Have each person spend perhaps 15 minutes on their
own writing all their ideas on to post-it notes.

Working in their teams, each person should place their

post-it notes onto an affinity diagram on the wall or flip
chart.

7. Short-List
Before going into this exercise, depending on the nature
of your firm and the number of people involved in the
exercise, agree on a shortlist that each team should
reduce their list of best ideas to. Ten per team might be
reasonable.

8. Justify
Describe how each idea supports your firm's strategy
and objectives.

Notes
If possible, you should involve an innovation expert in
this exercise. Someone who can help guide you along an
innovation process. Because just like HR, Finance, etc.,
innovation is a specialism and you shouldn't assume
that people can become overnight innovation experts.

If you don't have someone in your organisation, bring in

a consultant for a few days. It could pay huge dividends
later down the line.
 06 Digital Business Transformation

2. Generate
Digital Use Cases
Digital Use Cases are used to articulate how to reach a specific goal, which will further your
organisation's digitisation journey. They also help show how organisations in specific industries can
gain competitive advantages through digital business transformation, and examples from one
industry can help inspire digital use cases in other industries.

Digital Use Cases help leaders acquire a better understanding of how digital technology can be used
in their business and provide a good foundation upon which they can innovate further. The process
of developing Digital Use Cases lends itself well to a natural collaboration between IT leaders and
Business leaders. This results in IT leaders such as the CIO being seen to take a more business
orientated approach and involving business stakeholders from the very outset, thereby enhancing
the IT-Business relationship.

In digital business transformation, digital use cases are where innovation and digital technology join
 07 Digital Business Transformation

forces to create the future. To be highly effective in the digital economy, neither can do without the
other. This adds to the argument why business and technology teams need to innovate together,
both bringing their own strengths to the table and exemplifying what Aristotle meant when he said;
“The whole is greater than the sum of its parts”.

A Digital Use Case contains at a minimum, a description, information about the current situation, a
value proposition, and the risks. You can decide whether to include other information such as
approximate cost, complexity, etc.

It can be seen as a mini business case, because it will provide the information that will be used to
decide its priority in the transformation portfolio. And it can be expanded upon to create a full
business case, which meets your company’s business case standards.

There are generic digital use uses that can be relevant to multiple industries, particularly for core
functions such as HR and Finance and these digital uses cases often contribute to an organisations
operational excellence. But there are many other digital uses cases that are very industry specific.

Every company needs to identify digital uses cases that are relevant to their industry, to consider
how they can leverage digital technology. But they should also consider digital use cases from other
industries, particularly with business model innovation. Often, these can provide inspiration for 
 08 Digital Business Transformation

uses cases that are relevant

to a completely different
industry, as business-model
The Digital Use
innovations, can sometimes
travel well from one industry
Case Challenge
to another.

After assessing existing 1. Solution Description 

digital use cases, you should Provide a high-level description of your solution and the
set about creating your own possible technologies that might be used to develop the
and I will talk more about solution.
this in the Roadmap module
towards the end of the
course. 2. Current Situation
Describe the current situation, which your solution
The digital use cases that you
could change, along with any of the problems it could
develop will eventually find
remove.
themselves competing for a
place in the transformation
portfolio. All companies will
face their own constraints 3. Value Proposition
for transformation so digital Describe the value that either your business, people or
use cases need to be customers would enjoy as a result of this digital use case
evaluated based on their solution being implemented.
risks, rewards,
implementation complexity,
time, and cost, and business
priority. 
4. Business Benefits
Describe the various business benefits you expect to
realise as a result of this digital use case solution being
implemented.

5. Prioritise
Consider what your firm’s priorities are and plot all of
your digital use cases onto a priority matrix made up of
the following four sections:

Must Haves, Quick Win, Exclude, Easy Pickings

 09 Digital Business Transformation

3. Establish
Business Value
By now, you should have agreed on which digital use cases get through to this stage. Keep in mind
that your list of shortlisted candidates now need to compete for a place in the transformation
portfolio, and a business case is the means by which executives will consider the merits of each
digital use case to make informed decisions.

Measuring value will help you and your team be seen as business value creators in the eyes of the
CFO and CEO etc. As opposed to those that focus on technical solutions making nebulous
unqualified statements about business value. Business value is what matters to executives, who
hold the purse to the funding required to bring digital use cases to life.

The next step is to create a business case for each short-listed digital use case. You might already
have a standard template that your organisation uses. Providing this meets the needs of your
stakeholders and the company’s standards, I would suggest using this.

If it happens to be a little thin, add an appendix to ensure it contains all the information I'm about
to describe.

Remember that how well your business cases are prepared and presented will determine the fate
of digital use cases. Each section in a business case should not only present information, but they
should each have a specific objective - a role to play in helping executives make informed decisions
and a role to play by securing the funding you need for the initiative.

Your aim at this stage is to gain approval of business cases. Those that are no approved at this
stage can be managed within the portfolio, as candidates for consideration at a later date.

By building solid business cases, you’ll improve your ability to calculate the return on investment,
Analyse risks and opportunities, Gain support from others, increase the odds of getting approval
to proceed.
 10 Digital Business Transformation

Business Value
Challenge

Executive Summary
The purpose of an Executive Summary is to get the attention of
your audience by telling the story of your business case. You can
do this by briefly stating the challenge or opportunity, describing
how you plan to address it, which might include options. Then
communicate what the return on investment might be if this
business case is approved.

Business Need
The purpose of a Business Need section is two-fold …

Opportunity Statement
In an Opportunity Statement sub-section your goal is to establish
a sense of urgency for the opportunity or solution, describe why
you’re proposing the initiative and what the business need is.
Share the information from the digital use case which articulates
why the company needs to do this now, and what the
consequences might be if it doesn’t.

Describe your understanding of the underlying issue using data

and analysis. If those reviewing the business case don’t
understand or agree with your description of the opportunity or
problem, your business case will begin to lose credibility at this
early stage in the document.
 11 Digital Business Transformation

Strategy Statement
The second purpose of the Business Need section is addressed in a strategy statement subjection.
Which is to Explain how the initiative supports the company’s strategic objectives. You should be
well prepared to articulate this well, because of the approach you have taken since Phase 3 of the
roadmap.

Project or Programme Overview

Next the Project or Programme Overview section should Help your stakeholders understand the
value proposition and scope of the initiate you are proposing. You do this by providing a high-level
description of the current situation, the value proposition ad the solution that will realise that new
value. All of this can be pulled from the digital use case.

Schedule
The purpose of the Schedule section is to present a high-level plan for implementing the project or
programme. At a minimum, this should include the key milestones along a timeline. If the benefits of
the initiative are released over time, show this on the timeline too. It helps emphasise the benefits
and not just the time and effort required to realise them.

Team
The Team section should illustrate the team required to make the project or programme a success.
List the core team members required, along with the total number of full-time employees required
along with their functions. Name the key subject matter experts required. You might well find that
different business cases will be competing for the same experts, and this would be addressed in the
next phase.

Resources
A section on Other Resources should show the additional resources the initiative would need, such
as office space, technology, and facilities, etc.
 12 Digital Business Transformation

Impact
The purpose on the Impact section is to Highlight the benefits of the project or programme. You
will have already addressed benefits in the digital use case, so you can use this information.
Remember to include strategic, management, operational and functional or support benefits. Each
of these will resonate different with various stakeholders. Include both tangible and intangible
benefits and confirm the data upon which your numbers have been based. Your stakeholders need
to be made to feel they can trust what you are telling them.

Risks
The purpose of the Risks section is self-explanatory. No project or programme comes without risk
and it’s important that you show your stakeholders that you have carefully considered what they
might be, and how you might mitigate them.  This doesn’t need to go into project level detail. Simply
keep the list of risks and mitigation plans at a level which is appropriate for your stakeholders who
will be reviewing the business case.

You should include risks relating to costs and schedule, but also to capabilities, culture, technology,
scope, quality and anything else included in the six THRIVE principles.

Financials
You need to present the Financials, and the purpose of this should be articulate the cost of the
planned return on investment. You should include the total costs and benefits of your project and
break down the costs into specific areas. This is simply to help your stakeholder get a feel for how
you arrived at the total cost, which will help make them feel more comfortable, because they
understand more.

Use whatever ROI approach your stakeholders are familiar with in the company, but you can also
include your own if you feel it adds value to your business case.

Approval
Finally, the approval section of the business case should be used as a record of who approved the
business case. This might not seem important right now, but months down the line when issues
arise, the sight of a key stakeholder’s signature could come in very handy!
 13 Digital Business Transformation

Assess
4. Transformation
Readiness
We’ve known for years that large-scale change initiatives suffer severely from lack of readiness, so
how should a company be prepared for digital business transformation? – at least if it’s to avoid the
pitfalls that so many repeatedly fall into by paying scant regard to lessons learned.

A large number of transformations are started prematurely, because the individual leading it
doesn't know what's needed to make it a success. They know of some of the critical success factors,
but unless they have a good number of years under their belt managing transformation, there's a
good chance that they'll be setting themselves, team and stakeholders up for an uncomfortable
journey.

Transformation readiness can be compared to an Arctic expedition, which would be seen as foolish
if its leaders set off without an immense amount of preparation. Many other comparisons exist,
which show us how preparation and readiness for major undertakings are so vital. And that if you
start without being properly prepared, there's a good chance of running into some serious issues.

We know from Stephen Covey that values govern people's behaviour, but principles determine
consequences. So, in the way that Covey encouraged us to utilise key leadership principles, so the
THRIVE Digital Business Transformation is intended to encourage leaders to utilise six digital
business transformation principles to equip themselves for the digital economy challenge.

While it's beyond the scope of this exercise, let me just say THRIVE is an acronym made from six
words which are: Transformation, Holistic, Response, Innovation, Value, and Enterprise. They are
the six guiding principles that all transformation leaders need to embrace on their transformation
journey.

THRIVE highlights the principles that leaders need to be mindful of when embarking on digital
 14 Digital Business Transformation

Neglect any of the principles

and the consequences are
predictable. Transformation
Transformation
readiness is about being
prepared for what lies ahead
Readiness
and not simply moving Challenge
forward without a proper
assessment of the health of
the organisation from a THRIVE Digital Business
transformation perspective. 1. Transformation Principles
  The six guiding principles of digital business
You can learn more about transformation.
this in the online THRIVE
digital business
transformation course. 2. Transformation Governance
How the transformation is set up, managed,
Proactive leaders adopting
communicated and controlled.
THRIVE principles are likely
to enjoy a successful
transformation journey. I’m
not saying it will be an easy
3. Transformation Portfolio
journey because all Register containing basic information of all projects and
transformations come with programmes
their challenges, but the odds
of success will be far better
Transformation Management
than what I’ll describe in the
next lesson.
4. Capability
The person who can implement transformation
Before talking through this management best practices.
exercise, notice the Red
amber green traffic lights at
Transformation Management
the bottom of the page. You
should assess how ready
5. Office
A function to gather and manage data from project and
your organisation is for each
programme teams, report it, and ensure teams and
of the 12 readiness factors
executives and held accountable.
list on the page. 
15 Digital Business Transformation

Project and Programme

6. Management Capability
Resources to implement project and programme
management best practices.

7. Technical Capability
Skilled resources to design, develop and implement all
technical solutions and ensure architecture, integration,

Notes security and privacy are well managed.

Rest assured that if 8. Change Management Capability

you start your
The person who can lead the effort of engaging the
transformation with workforce and preparing people and the business for
any of these the planned transformation and change. 
readiness factors on
Red, you will run
into trouble that you 9. Business Subject Matter Experts
could have avoided, Sufficient availability and engagement of business
if you had moved subject matter experts.
the item to at least
Amber. 10. Business and IT Stakeholders
Sufficient availability, engagement and support of senior
It goes without stakeholders.
saying that if you
can start your
Signed-off Business Case and
transformation with
more greens than
11. Access to Funds
Evidence of the stakeholders that agreed to approve
ambers, then the
funding, and uncompromised access to the funding
journey ahead is
approved in the business case.
likely to be a lot
more pleasant and
successful. 12. Other Resources, Partners, etc.
Everything else required to make the initiative a success.
 16 Digital Business Transformation

5. Execute
Successfully
No matter how great a strategy or innovative digital use cases might be, when they're accompanied
by lousy execution, a lot of time, money and resources is wasted, not to mention the hearts and
minds of the workforce and hopes and aspiration of stakeholders.

Plenty of surveys have identified the gap between strategy and execution and they all reveal that
the gap is significant. One particular survey by PwC revealed that leaders in nearly half of all
organisations are not ready to execute new business strategies in response to transformation, and
that the gap between strategic intent and strategy execution creates a drag on performance and
morale, while increasing risk exposure.

This is why the previous Exercise "Transformation Readiness" is so key. Get transformation
readiness right and the execution will be made so much easier. It won't be void of any risks and
issues, but the journey will be more rewarding for everyone involved - along with the return on
investment.

To talk extensively about executing a successful transformation is beyond the scope of this
exercise. So, the best way I thought I could help equip you is to provide you with a high-level view of
the Business Transformation Management Methodology, which you will find in the accompanying
workbook.
17 Digital Business Transformation

Execution
Challenge
Meta Management provides the overarching frame for a business
transformation and provides the linkages amongst the disciplines and
also the management structure, which will allow the transformation
process to be effective. It addresses individual disciplines which
include guidelines, leadership, culture, values, and communication.

Next is Strategy Management which involves the selection of

appropriate team members, collection of data, analysis of
transformation needs and readiness, design of a business vision, and a
business model and the definition of an integrated transformation
plan.

Value Management involves defining the business benefits and

changes needed to realise them, evaluating the feasibility of making
the changes successfully, and producing an evidence-based, rigorous
business case and supporting benefits realisation plan. Value
Management relies heavily upon the engagement of stakeholders in
the preparation of the business case and benefits plan to create the
knowledge and commitment required to realise the benefits described
in the business case.

Risk management provides fundamental guidance of the planning,

development and effective execution of a business transformation. It’s
vital that transformation managers manage the risks that relate to the
process of transforming their organisation and those risks that relate
to the possibility that the desired future state becomes either obsolete
or not fit for purpose.

Business Process Management defines the scope of process changes

needed for the expected improvements in performance. To make the
transformation effort a continuous success, business processes have to
be considered from a strategic perspective. The identification of end-
to-end business processes and the assignment of responsible process
owners is a major task.
18 Digital Business Transformation

IT Transformation Management evaluates the impact of current IT

processes, competencies and systems on business transformation,
and vice versa. It assesses and enables solution readiness of the
business, defines and assesses the gap between the as-is and to-be of
IT, deploys IT operations and services, and implements IT
governance. It also improves IT operations and services and manages
the IT lifecycle.

Organisational Change Management addresses the human element

of business transformation. It deals with the people who have to
change their ways of working and involves setting up a foundation for
effective Organisational Change Management with respect to
governance and assessing organisational change readiness.
Establishing and implementing stakeholder communication and
performance management strategies, and continuously receiving
feedback to make improvements is key.

Competence and Training Management provides qualification and

enablement with respect to the competences required for business
transformation, and the strategic core competences vital for the
company’s future success. Competence and Training Management
identifies and analyses training needs and objectives, develops
training measures for the identified gaps, foster the learning transfer
and analyses the success of the measures.

Project and Programme Management

Programme management aims to support the implementation of the
transformation strategy in order to achieve the business benefits
described in the business case. Programme management focuses on
high-level specification and the “why and what” of transformation.

It includes stakeholder management, benefit realisation, dependency

management, transition management/change acceptance and
integration with corporate strategies. Project management focuses
on detailed specification and the “how” of implementation, along
with control of activities to produce products.
 19 Digital Business Transformation

Conclusion
Digital business transformation is a topic which is both broad and deep. The challenge most people have is
when trying to distill an overload of information into a structure that they can work with. But if that was so
easy, all companies would now be getting transformation done right, but unfortunately, they're not. So,
while transformation knowledge is available in abundance, structured knowledge you can be put to use in
the real world isn't.

Many companies are optimistic about being a transformational organisation before they attempt it, then
eventually find themselves up to their neck in chaos and confusion. Because despite having world-class
operational business leaders and teams, they have virtually no one who can guide and advise them on their
transformation in a proper manner. So often with the best of intentions, they make it up as they go along,
and the results are usually poor.

With thousands of transformations struggling, not getting off the ground, or even not being ‘legitimate’
transformations, while the appetite for transformation is growing, there's an increasing shortage of capable
transformation leaders. Leaders who understand how to take a holistic approach to transformation, and
not simply focus on technology, project and change management. Leaders who have gone out of their way
to educate themselves on the latest digital business transformation approaches.

What you’ve read in this short guide provides some high-level advice and guidance that most good
managers and leaders should be able to put to use. But if you want to take your transformation
management capability to the next level, you should consider more in-depth study.

We've launched an online Digital Business Transformation Course and Certification Programme which is
designed for those who aspire to become a high performing digital transformation leader. The programme
provides managers and leaders at some of the best known organisations with not only a solid foundation
about THRIVE – the six guiding principles of digital business transformation. It also provides certification -
securely issued on the Blockchain - which validates their expertise.

Learn more at cxotransform.com