Sustainable Digital Transformation
A memorable differentiated customer experience (CX) is key to any high performing organization. It is directly tied to customer satisfaction, brand loyalty, revenue generation and the overall customer lifetime value. Digital transformation can help deliver this in a sustainable manner, while also taking into consideration environmental sustainability.
Digital Transformation not only has to be intrinsically sustainable in nature, sustainable in the sense that it can be seen through to the ‘end’ and not be truncated midway, but it should also align with environmental sustainability, or at least, to start with, the sustainability goals of the organization. Sustainable digital transformation has to take into consideration the needs of humans (the customers, employees, business partners & suppliers, other brand interactors etc.), the earth & the business as a whole. The needs of all these have to be considered without losing focus of the core, the customer experience.
Sustainable digital transformation, if done the right way, will significantly enhance the customer experience, strongly impact the company's revenues & minimally impact the environment negatively. In fact, it should positively impact the environment, delivering a net zero or better environmental footprint/impact. This transformation journey will include quality design, responsible & sustainable sourcing, proper & extended product use, green technology, & the incorporation of the 'Reduce, reuse, recycle' principles as & where appropriate.
The ongoing global pandemic has not only impacted, but also basically transformed our lives, businesses, and the society at large. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has fast-tracked the use of technology to support businesses & further underscored the need for & role of digital transformation.
GOD created the heavens and the earth. He created the sun as the principal source of light to the earth. Now imagine he used fossil fuel to create that great ball of fire/light. It actually would burn bright but would not burn as bright [as it currently does], would not produce as much light energy for the entire planet, would require a humongous amount of fossil fuel to sustain it… & the worst part would be that it would soon die out… thankfully He didn’t do that 😊. GOD chose to utilize renewable energy & a nice thing about his choice is that the light energy can be transformed e.g., into kinetic energy. His choice is such a perfect solution that the energy emitted by the sun in one day is sufficient to power the entire planet for one year. The only issue is that we, mankind, haven’t yet found out how to appropriately harness this brilliant energy. We however can utilize the same ‘sun’ principles to digital transformation & a whole lot of other areas in life.
On a global scale, major drawbacks of digital transformation relate to increased energy consumption (thanks to compute power principally from data centers), non-biodegradable & hazardous computer components, recyclability related issues among other things. A truly sustainable digital transformation will deliver solutions that will not only have a minimal environmental & societal impact, but will also help save the organization money as well as significantly enhance the customer experience. It will significantly enhance both the employee & customer experiences while also increasing revenue margins. One company that is getting its sustainable digital transformation right is Microsoft.
Key Considerations
The following are critical factors to be considered for a successful sustainable digital transformation:
1. A strategic vision & foundation
In order to define a clear & practical strategic vision & foundation for the sustainable digital transformation, organizations need to begin with ‘gathering stakeholder insights to develop a comprehensive strategy and clear governance structures’.1 WEF Top leadership within the organization need to
- Conduct an impact assessment & scope definition in order to determine which environmental risks and opportunities are of strategic corporate significance;
- Engage in data-driven risks & opportunity monitoring;
- Measure the environmental impacts across the life cycle of products and services so efforts can be focused on where the most significant impact can be made on the environmental performance of the entire value chain;
2. Set measurable goals
Set and clearly communicate measurable business & environmental goals & the long-term value creation and environmental sustainability strategy, supported by targets, resources and technology foundations. Clear KPIs should be associated with each of these goals. The goals should also have related profit & loss results.
3. Establish proper governance.
Clearly define your governance structure such that it will help ensure that environmental sustainability is an integral part of the transformation strategy.
4. Get appropriate buy-in
To succeed, it is imperative to get the buy-in of both internal & external stakeholders, and also have the right transformation team & funding. Major reasons why several transformation projects fail include the lack of adoption, the absence of management & personnel buy-in, poor strategy, inadequate funding.
Despite the foregoing, challenges will understandably be present along the way. Aside from challenges to be faced along the transformation journey, technology in itself has its own inherent as well as associated challenges. For instance, environmental pollution from physical waste (particularly from electrical & electronic components), significant electricity & water consumption (for datacenter cooling), heat generation. However, if the right strategy, governance & fact based/data-driven insights are properly in place, they will help minimize & overcome or appropriately mitigate against the obstacles & challenges.
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The idea in simple terms is this: If your organization appropriately focuses on its customers & its digital transformation initiatives focus on the customer experience, satisfied customers will be maintained, a strong brand loyalty (and possibly community) will be developed and this will lead to increased revenues and sustainable incremental business.
INEXEA can help you deliver superior customer experiences as well as with end-to-end digital transformation consulting.
By partnering with INEXEA, you enjoy our in-depth expertise and extensive experience. Consequently, you significantly increase your business value, and lower process and infrastructural TCO. So why not get in touch with us today and see how we can bring added value to your business…
