If digitalisation does not reach your organisation…

In SMEs, the question is no longer whether to tackle digital transformation. It is now only about the speed and the portfolio. The truth is that we see a multitude of isolated initiatives that create little or no added value. Or on the other hand, a high level of inertia because it seems unclear where and how to start. Overall, change is not arriving in your organisation.

Keep calm…

Digital transformation, especially if you were not there for the first wave and the gap between the actual and the target is widening, becomes more challenging and risky the longer you wait. There is also a growing risk of missing necessary steps that are indispensable for success by adapting to trends (e.g. generative artificial intelligence) or of investing in technologies that generate only limited benefits for the respective company. In the worst case, this can even lead to the insolvency of a company if a system is introduced ‘at the last minute’ that neither meets the actual requirements nor has been sufficiently tested. Conversely, this means that the later one enters this race, the more important it is to remain calm and to analyse exactly whether and where resources are best deployed in an end-to-end process.

Ask critical questions and correctly prioritise…

The methodology of the Digital Maturity Index as a validated model starts precisely here: It is not about just acting quickly, but quickly and correctly. It’s about the projects that reduce costs early or that enable increases in turnover with certainty. But you can only gain this certainty if you know where you stand. One tool for this is indexing. The information gained from this is decisive for the next step: prioritising the topic areas on the basis of a model aligned with the strategic goals of the company. Through this, you learn where the concentration of resources will bring the greatest return. You will also see that investments may not be necessary or purposeful at this point in time, even if the respective topic is currently dominating the headlines. Now is also the right time to scrutinise the company’s own project portfolio and prioritise the projects assigned to the identified topic areas.

Once these immediate measures have been worked through, the creation of a roadmap is the next logical step and recurring prioritisation ensures a high return on the respective projects over a longer period of time.

Finding the path to success!

In summary, it can be said that the benefits of the approach described above are promising in two respects, especially in SMEs: on the one hand, the currently right topic areas are prioritised and quick successes are achieved, as they are precisely tailored to the company. On the other hand, time, money and scarce resources are saved, especially in SMEs, which would otherwise have been spent on so-called ‘white elephant’ projects. And if the company is already stuck in non-performing projects, this methodology can also be used because it concretely shows where and what is going wrong and, above all, enables corrective mass measures to get back on track for success.

Your team for Your success

If you are convinced that the future is the right thing for your company, we have the experts for you:

Bernd Staudinger , Stephan Meyer und Frank Reppel .