Is innovation part of your company’s DNA? In Six Stages of Digital Transformation, a report put together by Altimeter, a Prophet Company, the sixth stage, “Innovate and Adaptive” is when a culture of innovation becomes top priority.
In Stage 6, “Digital is no longer a state; instead, it is part of how a business competes, with work in transformation continuing as technology and markets evolve. Innovation becomes part of the company DNA with the establishment of formal teams and efforts to track customer and technology trends. These activities feed into a variety of programs that range from test-and-learn pilots to the introduction of new roles / expertise to partnerships with and investments in startups.”
By the time the sixth stage of digital transformation is reached, a company has formal teams and efforts underway to track customer and technological trends. These synergistic activities feed into a variety of 
programs to advance integral processes — and include hiring new talent that will help the company carry out goals as they relate to their digital evolution, new processes, and new technology.
Business transformation is driven by a focus on digital customer experience and how companies work, and it also drives innovation in product and service development.
Let’s unpack these phrases and see what a company actually looks like in this last stage, where innovation is indeed part of the company’s DNA. Companies demonstrate their transformation in three areas. In each area, innovation is the main priority:
- Data & Analytics — A closer eye on data and analytics by all aspects of the organization is the catalyst for entering new markets and developing new models, based on customer need. Business innovation becomes the highest priority as analytics allow for a single view of the customer across the entire organization.
- Customer Experience (CX) — CX unification and optimization integrates every level of an organization, from executives to front-line employees, throughout every department. Companies connect better with their customers through newly adopted engagement channels, such as mobile commerce, that go well beyond current social media platforms. This detailed, personalized and productive engagement with customers promotes ongoing planned and effective innovation.
- Governance & Leadership — Digital transformation is now a part of a company’s DNA. Its “new models, roles and investments shift toward innovation.” Workgroups dedicated to transformation take on new roles and the company evidences a flatter management and decision-making model with a laser focus on CX.
- People & Operations — Transformation is company wide and global in this stage, “….companies proactively study disruptive technologies that may catalyze change.” The overarching goals, now that the the CX has been identified and closely studied, is a.) innovation to serve all customers, regardless of digital behaviors, and b.) to identify missing digital expertise in house by performing an ongoing talent analysis regularly where HR is looped in to train and recruit accordingly.
- Technology Integration — New tools and implementation techniques are continuously integrated. A designated CX technology team member serves as liaison between departments in need of data for strategy and program deployment. And an innovation group receives support from advanced IT team partners to test new technologies as they gain market traction.
- Digital Literacy — At this stage, digital literacy is at its height. All team members — organization wide — have the skills needed to iterate and innovate. And ongoing education and training fosters continuous innovation. The creative process of generating, developing and communicating new ideas is both required and rewarded at the individual, team, departmental and corporate levels.
In this sixth stage of digital transformation, although it is the last in the series, does not mean that a company stops evolving. It means that a company has reached a point where it’s developed solid ground to continue to evolve into the next stages of a closer integration with its unique customer journey. It means that it’s poised to get team members involved on a deeper level with meaningful processes and systems that have a direct impact on the people that they’re meant to serve, and more meaningful connections with its current customer base.
Stay tuned for the final post in this series, which will teach companies how to step on the path of digital transformation.
