The very idea of “digital transformation” is an intricate one. While many organizations may desire to be the next great digital enterprise, the truth is that there is so much more to the concept of transformation than the journey itself. Last week, I had the pleasure of joining business process outsourcing (BPO) solution provider Genpact for a “lunch and learn” in Boston’s Seaport District that not only highlighted how the provider is traversing beyond the once-traditional realm of BPO for its customers, but also how it is helping to shape digitization through its commitment to the digital transformation journey.
Jay Scanlan, Head of Global Growth Ecosystems at Genpact, added an interesting wrinkle to the oft-discussed concept of digital transformation: that merely “going digital” via automation and process efficiencies is not enough to truly spark an idyllic future state of enterprise optimization…the modern organization needs to view their digital transformation journey’s ultimate success through an experience-tinted lens. By applying efforts related to the customer and user experience, digital transformation efforts will achieve the goals that they originally were designed to hit.
“What we have been doing for our clients hasn’t been good enough,” said Scanlan, stating that 73% of all digital transformation efforts are failing. “Our clients aren’t succeeding in this journey, and we want to help them achieve these goals.” Scanlan pointed to the four tenants of Genpact’s digital strategy:
- Build (or refurbish) digital houses for their clients. Scanlan broke down the multifaceted layers of digital transformation in a way that proved one major thing about companies that are on this journey (including Genpact’s customers): at the end of the day, the true success lies in the ability to not only change the fundamentals of a company’s processes, but also create outcomes that are rooted in an effective customer experience. The digital transformation journey revolves around the concept of facilitating digital experiences across the way people execute processes and how technology factors into positive business experiences.
- Simply put: better manage effort. “Effort” here should not be mistaken for determination. “There are a whole new set of capabilities and skills that are transforming jobs in the 21st century,” Scanlan said, adding that better managing effort is the key to a seamless user experience in a digital environment. As tools like Robotic Process Automation (RPA) grow in prominence and utilization, effort is required to ensure that similar tools and digital structures are acting in the best interests of the organization…and, in a vacuum, the next wave of enterprise talent will be focused on managing these innovations.
- Understand, examine, and enhance the user journey. Scanlan likened the contemporary business to the everyday consumer, pointing to the fact that a supply chain executive managing the logistics of materials to the consumer awaiting an Amazon package. “Monitoring our supply chains in real time should be a simple aspect of the business,” he said. “We need to take the less-than-ideal customer experience within businesses today and actively bring it into tomorrow.” Everything from workflow management to command-and-control centers are ripe for digitization; Genpact believes that by truly understanding the user journey and analyzing it to pinpoint shortfalls, their clients can develop digital means for the operational processes that will ultimately drive a holistic experience.
- Build real and virtual realities. Scanlan pointed to an example of a life sciences firm leveraging true data science as a way to identify adverse outcomes for its clinical trials and “seeing what both bad and good outcomes” look like. This, in turn, paved the way for an intelligence-led “feedback loop.” The “virtual” reality, in this instance, was an ideal way to analyze the “other” reality, allowing executives at the life sciences organization to better predict the future based on “micro populations” of near-limitless data and intelligence.
“Digital has three drivers, in my opinion: a continuum of digital processes, limitless connectivity, and huge amounts of data,” said Scanlan. “We are all consumers; businesses are consumers. And, the reality is that the customer experience and the user experience are essentially universal…and a human one, at that. We now have the ability to truly transform the human experience. The pathway tread by digital transformation will allow our clients to create opportunities to serve their customers even better than they can right now.”
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