Digitizing businesses and government organizations with older manual processes can bring tremendous advantage…
if it is done right.
Simply spending a lot of money and adding modern computers and software does not guarantee improved effectiveness or efficiency. I have seen million dollar multi-year software modernization projects that made core organizational processes slower and less reliable! This result, while very discouraging, is all too likely to occur unless the digitization and modernization effort is done right. A highly efficient and effective business or organization will probably use modern software and other technology and incur significant cost to establish. However, simply spending a lot and using modern software and technology is not likely to produce efficiency or effectiveness by itself.
A business or organization with older business processes which are slow, inefficient, prone to problems, and expensive to maintain could gain much by digitizing. The first step is for the Digital Architect to develop at least a basic Value CompoNet model of the business and review it with the leaders and key stakeholders. It is imperative that those leading the change first understand and agree on the core value components of the organization and any major expected changes. The current processes are useful sources to better understand the core value and core processes of the organization. Opportunities for digitizing and modernizing key processes should then be evaluated based on how they align with the core value components and core processes without too much focus on the way the current processes are implemented. Otherwise you could end up adding great cost and risk automating a process that doesn’t add value or that will be going away soon.
Digital Architecture done right can help older businesses and organizations be as effective and efficient as modern businesses which were ‘born digital’.