Is this a digital upgrade or a digital transformation?
Most companies target digital transformation and end up with digital upgrades, using digital technology to increase efficiency or effectiveness at something your firm is already doing. For example, increasing your marketing spend for digital channels or upgrading internal communication systems. On the other hand, a digital transformation occurs when you use digital technology to change the way you operate, particularly around customer interactions and the way that value is created—for example, Apple using its developer network to create software for its devices.
If you discover that you are actually embarking on an upgrade instead of a transformation, ask yourself if that will be sufficient to maintain competitiveness when business models based on digital networks create market valuations four times higher than the rest.
