A whopping 87.5% of companies fail to meet their digital transformation targets even though the average spend on DX is $14.3 million. 

Why is digital transformation constantly backfiring?

The answer may be complex depending on the business’ original goals. Yet, more often than not, there’s a simple reason: data. Companies tend to overlook the importance of data in digital transformation, resulting in overall poor decision-making. 

Here we’ll explore the vital role of data in digital transformation, including benefits, common pitfalls, data planning, top data tools and more. We’ll also detail how we uplift digital journeys at Nearsure using our preferred platform provider, Adobe Experience Cloud. 

Why digital transformation is important 

87% of business leaders are prioritizing digital transformation today. For many, it’s at the top of their agendas due to advantages such as higher revenue. And when data is incorporated into the process, these benefits are only amplified.  

The role of data in digital transformation

Market conditions have heightened the need for data-driven digital transformation. For example, companies today are facing:

  • Greater customer demands for digital products and personalized experiences.
  • An ever-expanding volume of data to collect and analyze.
  • A tendency for data to fragment as organizations grow rapidly. 
  • Constantly evolving digital trends, tools and needs. 

In this scenario, data becomes even more crucial to business success. This is especially true given that digital transformation is never “completed,” but an ongoing process of improvement. Access to data pipelines means that businesses can continue to analyze and pivot decision-making as needed.

The benefits of data-driven digital transformation

Data analytics and digital transformation go hand-in-hand, driving diverse business benefits. The most significant include:

  • Boosting revenue. 56% of executives saw increased revenue after undergoing digital improvements. By implementing data-driven changes, businesses can cut costs and elevate sales.
  • Strategic decision-making based on data for user behaviors, market trends, business processes/operations, etc. 
  • Customer understanding and satisfaction resulting from analyzing data for preferences, purchases, pain points and more.
  • Operational efficiencies by using data for effective processes and resource allocation. Top trends here include automation, predictive analytics, real-time monitoring, employee engagement and more.
  • Risk management as businesses can monitor data patterns and identify outliers. This type of data analysis is often used to detect fraud or security threats. 
  • Brand reputation based on improvements in customer experiences, generating greater brand loyalty and sales.
  • Opportunity identification to refine or add business operations or offerings, resulting from detailed data analysis. For example, data-driven AI solutions can help your business overcome: 
  • Manual data entry;
  • Customer support overload;
  • Low-quality content creation; 
  • Fragmented organizational data;
  • Slow IT ticket resolution;
  • …and more! 

How to lead a data-driven digital transformation  

To reap the benefits of data and digital transformation, you’ll need a plan. Our experts at Nearsure have gathered key points to support your business as you create a digital roadmap. 

Creating a digital transformation plan

Keep in mind that organizations with a change management strategy are 7x more likely to reach their digital transformation goals. 

In other words, make a plan to implement your digital transformation project that encompasses your teams, processes, technologies and customers:

  • Set long-term business goals.
  • Get stakeholder buy-in early.
  • Identify data needs and relevant streams.
  • Gather a skilled data team.
  • Create a data governance framework (including privacy, security and compliance).
  • Choose future-proof technology.
  • Update processes and train staff as needed.
  • Foster an ongoing digital culture.
  • Track progress and scale new phases.

Of course, every company has its own unique priorities, so be sure to create a specific plan according to your needs. 

Key values behind data-driven digital transformation

64% of leaders cited a need to build new digital businesses to stay viable. Yet, it’s worth noting that these digital products must achieve high quality to be successful on the market. 

Overall, they should incorporate key values such as:

1. Alignment with business and user objectives

There’s no point in building a product only to discover it’s not useful or desirable. Studies suggest that 42% of startups fail because of just that: they create a product without a market need. Your data-driven digital transformation efforts are no different. Validate the business and user goals first before moving ahead with development.

2. Scalability

It’s critical to consider your digital transformation roadmap in stages. The ability to scale and add new stages as needed will keep your business competitive into the future. 

3. Innovation

Adding value through your digital product starts with innovation. Ideally, you can leverage a discovery phase and an innovation-first partner to integrate exciting new ideas into your transformation initiatives. 

4. Continuous learning 

Digital transformation is never “over.” You must have a plan in place to continually measure and improve your solution over time. In turn, this will also enable your business to revise your roadmap in the right direction.

Areas to consider for data-driven digital transformation

As you look ahead, carefully incorporate data in your digital transformation efforts. Major challenges during this process are usually related to: 

  • Quality and robustness of data. It’s difficult to benefit from data if you don’t have enough of it, or it’s not high-caliber. Setting up quality data collection and streams is an all-important initial task.
  • Ongoing data management. It’s not sufficient to collect the data. You must also unify and manage it over time. 
  • Long-term tech choices. Your tech stack can make or break success down the road. Work with experts to choose future-proof technologies that will give you the most value long-term. 
  • Cultural and process changes. Don’t forget to take care of your team during your digital transformation initiatives. You’ll need to get everybody dedicated to the project to undergo these big changes to your workflows without resistance. 
  • Available digital talent. Data-driven digital transformation requires having the best data engineers by your side. Finding the right experts to fill your knowledge gaps is a must.

Be sure to think about how to tackle these main areas in your digital transformation plan, so that you’re well-equipped to maximize your business data.

The role of Adobe digital transformation 

It’s clear that data in digital transformation involves a wealth of considerations. Fortunately, you can easily streamline all these areas by choosing top-tier tools and platforms. 

At Nearsure, we leverage the Adobe Experience Cloud ecosystem and one of its star platforms –Adobe Real-Time CDP, where we can unify digitalization data and manage many of the challenges of digital transformation. 

Adobe’s Customer Experience Platform harnesses insights to support industry-best content management. It’s easy to integrate with third-party tools/technologies and gives you access to AI options as well. Plus, you can get peace of mind that Adobe is compliant with data privacy regulations and your customers’ preferences. 

The Adobe platforms can easily aid your teams in handling:

  • Real-time data collection and analytics;
  • Customer journey analysis and optimization;
  • Cross-channel data analytics;
  • Digital content planning and creation;
  • Digital assets management;
  • Cross-functional team management;
  • Lead generation and nurturing;
  • Digital content A/B testing.

Our Nearsure teams are specialists in Adobe Experience Cloud and the tools listed here. We can carry out painless Adobe digital transformation initiatives that meet your ambitious business objectives.

Top Adobe tools for digital transformation

In addition, our Nearsure data teams expertly implement other key Adobe products that support business-driven digital transformation analytics, such as:

  • Adobe Experience Manager for managing websites and digital assets.
  • Adobe Analytics for measuring DX outcomes.
  • Adobe Campaign for personalizing customer experiences.
  • Adobe Experience Platform for building customer profiles and conducting cross-platform analysis.

Why digital transformation fails and how to avoid pitfalls

The failure rate for digital transformation is significant, ranging between 70-95%. Why is digital transformation so tricky to get right? 

As we’ve already mentioned, incorporating digital transformation analytics is one major area of concern. Businesses that don’t integrate data into their technology solution may make ill-informed decisions. 

However, the road to data-driven digital transformation has other obstacles as well. Some common pitfalls include: 

  • Not integrating fragmented data. As organizations grow, they tend to create data silos. It’s essential for this information to come together in a single source to extract insights.
  • Mismanaging sensitive data. Your business has a duty to comply with regulations and protect customer data. Having data engineers on board will ensure you properly handle private data.
  • Lacking high-quality data. You’ll need access to accurate data to get valuable insights and stay on track with digital transformation. 
  • Making the wrong tech choices. 45% of business leaders believe they don’t have the right technology for digital transformation. Your tech stack should be planned and verified by experts so that it fits your long-term goals. 
  • Getting bogged down by legacy technology. Legacy apps can put a huge damper on your transformation efforts. It’s vital to plan how to replace and migrate functions from the legacy app to your new chosen technology. 
  • Facing overwhelming change resistance. Team resistance is the #1 reason behind 70% of digital transformation failures. Get your teams on board by including them in DX efforts and staying transparent about how it will affect their work. 
  • Failing to capture data talent. You’ll need top experts in data, AI and digital products to carry out high-impact DX. Without leading specialists to help you navigate vital decisions, it’s likely you’ll hit roadblocks. 
  • Not planning adequately for upfront costs. Digital transformation often requires a hefty investment to overhaul legacy systems and integrate latest technologies. Failing to plan your budget accordingly can cause you to stop a transformation project midway.  
  • Not undertaking ongoing efforts. 81% of business leaders note that continuously improving their efforts is key to success. Digital transformation is an ongoing task that should be considered at every stage. 

One of the most decisive factors for successful digital transformation is selecting the right technology partner. During your search process, be sure to ask about these challenges and how your potential partner aims to overcome them.  

How we build digital journeys at Nearsure

Building digital journeys that resonate with your customers and power your business goals is our specialty at Nearsure. 

When you choose expert Nearsure data teams, you’ll have two advanced engagement options: 

6-week Gen AI implementation

We undertake an initial assessment for the potential of Gen AI in your business. Over the course of six weeks, we define goals and customize a first-stage solution to meet them.

AI biz transformation dedicated team

Whether Adobe’s Real-Time CDP or a different platform, our AI and data experts take on a series of AI integrations. From discovery to ongoing scaling, we handle your full digital transformation needs. 

No matter your exact requirements, our Nearsure teams leverage best practices in AI and data science to craft ROI-positive Martech ecosystems. 

Achieve frictionless digital transformation with us

Ultimately, setting up data-driven insights can unlock the full benefits of DX. Combining data analytics and digital transformation can lead to stronger strategic decisions and drive top outcomes for your business. 

Don’t miss the mark on your next digital transformation project. At Nearsure, we have the top-ranked DX expertise to create, implement and refine a frictionless data-driven digital transformation plan. Reach out to our leading data engineers today.