Will 2019 be the year digital transformation comes good?

More companies than ever are looking to transform their business with digital - and maybe 2019 will be the year that more of them than ever succeed.

Why do I believe this?
Because CEOs are now realising that digital transformation requires a holistic approach and that culture and minsdet change is a key factor for success.
A 2018 Gartner survey reinforces this with an even greater recognition of this from CEOs whose companies have a digital initiative underway.
The survey revealed that CEOs now understand that making their culture more proactive, collaborative, innovative, empowered and customer-centric is what will drive success in digital.

Digital projects do not create a digital business - a much more holistic approach is needed."

The reality up to now has been that businesses get stuck running digital projects in an effort to digitally transform.
Digital projects do not create a digital business - a much more holistic approach is needed.
Ask anyone who has delivered good digital outcomes - either for an existing business or creating a new one - what was the key ingredient for success?
The answer is unlikely to be technology or even funding - overwhelmingly it will be a strong team operating in an empowering culture. That's certainly been my experience.
Another factor that indicates a C-suite mindset change around digital transformation is occurring, is more digitally mature organizations now definitively having the CEO leading it (41 percent, up from 22 percent) versus the CIO (now just 16 percent, down from 23 percent), according to the latest data from the MIT Sloan Management Review.
This is a dramatic turnaround from years past and shows that digital transformation now being one of the top priorities of the business as a whole.
It is hugely encouraging that CEOs are now stepping up and leading digital transformation.
They can provide the vision and purpose, the environment to experiment and the mandate for their organisations to think differently and get collaboration across boundaries.

Too many Kiwi SMEs are struggling to keep up with the pace of technological change – even as their businesses are disrupted by it."

For CEOs of SME businesses this leadership role is even more critical as with a smaller organisation getting digital wrong can be terminal.
And too many Kiwi SMEs are struggling to keep up with the pace of technological change – even as their businesses are disrupted by it.
According to the latest MYOB Future of Business report 22 per cent of SMEs said technology would not have an impact on their industry over the next few years.
Small businesses employ 30 percent of New Zealand’s working population and produce around 27 percent of New Zealand’s Gross Domestic Product.
It's critical that these businesses are leveraging digital well to drive the digital economy for Aotearoa NZ.
So evidence of a shift in mindset to a more holistic approach to digital transformation is good news for business and good news for the digital economy as we move into a new year.