ABSTRACT

Most organisations have begun to digitise at least some operations. But there is often huge potential for further digitisation right across organisations, in finance, HR, sales, marketing and operations as well as IT. Often this will be driven by a desire for efficiency and to reduce waste. But it can also be driven by a desire to improve quality and respond to ever more demanding consumers.

And while the benefits can be obvious, the risk may be more hidden. Changes to IT architecture such as a move to cloud computing take careful planning. Tracking and managing the increasing number of digital assets (privately owned as well as owned by the corporation) is extremely hard. And there is a need to understand that digitisation that creates an advantage here may well create a problem elsewhere. All this is hard to come to terms with. Leadership needs to be strong, setting viable objectives, looking to the mid-term and the long-term, ensuring integration across departments as well as adequate resources, and always addressing people-centred issues. The benefits are huge but not easily grasped.58