Digital strategy vs. digitalization strategy: A guide with practical examples
Jonas Reuter
This article highlights three key starting points for the digitalization strategy and guides you through the steps to successfully implement your digital strategy. Discover how you can use digital technologies to transform your business model, become more efficient and gain a sustainable competitive advantage. Let's start with a clear delineation of the two concepts to create a solid foundation for your digitalization journey.
Digital strategy & digitalization strategy - do you know the difference?
In the digital era, the right strategy is crucial to a company's success. But the uncertainty starts with the terminology. Digital strategy and digitalization strategy are often mistakenly used as synonyms, especially in small and medium-sized companies...
What exactly does this mean and how do you implement it effectively?
Digital strategy
The digital strategy focuses on the integration of digital technologies into the overall business model. It looks at how technologies can transform the company and create new value chains. The aim is not only to optimize internal processes, but also to improve the customer experience and develop innovative business models. An effective digital strategy looks at the big picture and strives to make the company fit for the future.
Digitization strategy
The digitalization strategy, on the other hand, focuses on the implementation of digital technologies to optimize existing business processes. It aims to increase efficiency, reduce costs and improve working methods by implementing digital solutions for specific operational challenges. The focus here is on increasing efficiency without fundamentally changing the business model.
Example - Digital strategy in a medium-sized manufacturing company
Initial situation: A medium-sized manufacturing company recognized that digitalization would play a decisive role in its development and competitiveness. The management developed a comprehensive digital strategy based on an in-depth market analysis and the specific needs of its customers. At the heart of this strategy was the improvement of the customer experience through the digitalization of the sales channel.
The practical implementation of this strategy began with the development of a user-friendly online platform. This platform enabled customers to configure products individually, place orders with just a few clicks and track the production status of their orders in real time. This digital initiative not only improved customer loyalty through a personalized and transparent shopping experience, but also optimized the company's internal processes.
This online platform is a new digital business model that not only increases sales but also differentiates the company as a unique selling point in the market. It is also considering offering this innovative platform to competitors for a fee in order to tap into new sources of income and further strengthen its market position.
Our mission is to create a seamless and exceptional customer experience through digital innovation. We strive to not only meet but exceed the needs of our customers by digitizing our sales channels and enabling individual product configuration, ordering and real-time tracking.
Example - digitization strategy
Initial situation: In a similar context, another medium-sized manufacturing company decided to focus its digitalization strategy on optimizing production planning and control. The strategy was designed to optimize resource utilization and increase customer satisfaction through higher product quality and shorter delivery times.
The key to implementing this strategy was the integration of advanced production control systems and the introduction of Industry 4.0 technologies. This enabled the company to shorten lead times, make warehousing more efficient and ultimately save costs.
We are committed to maximizing the efficiency and flexibility of our manufacturing processes through the use of advanced technologies and the integration of Industry 4.0 solutions.
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Developing a digital strategy: important aspects
Clear target definitions and mechanisms for measuring success are essential when developing a digital strategy. The aim is to set measurable goals that make the success of digital initiatives quantifiable. At the same time, the role of employees and their skills development is fundamental. A successful digital strategy is based on the ability and willingness of the team to adopt new technologies and use them effectively.
What should a digital strategy include?
an effective digital strategy should include a clear vision and specific goals that are aligned with the overarching corporate objectives. Key elements are:
- Analysis of the current state: Understanding the company's current digital maturity and technological landscape.
- Target definition: setting measurable goals to be achieved with the digital transformation.
- Strategic initiatives: Development of projects and programs to achieve the digital goals.
- Technology and platform strategy: Selection of the technologies and platforms required to support the digital initiatives.
- Data strategy: Defining how data is collected, analyzed and used to gain business insights and make decisions.
- Security and compliance policies: Ensuring the protection of company and customer data and compliance with relevant regulations.
How should you proceed?
The development of a digital strategy requires a structured approach:
- Stakeholder engagement: Ensure that all relevant stakeholders are involved from the outset.
- Needs analysis: Conduct a thorough analysis of business processes to identify areas with the highest potential for digitalization as well as the greatest value for customers.
- Prioritization of initiatives: Determining which digital projects will have the greatest impact on business goals and in what order they should be implemented.
- Resource planning: Allocating budgets, technologies and personnel for implementation.
- Implementation planning: developing a timeline for the implementation of digital initiatives.
- Measuring success: Defining KPIs to measure the success of the digital transformation.
Who is responsible for this?
A successful digital strategy requires close collaboration between all levels and departments of a company to ensure end-to-end digital transformation. Responsibility for the development and implementation of a digital strategy typically lies with
- Senior management: sets the strategic direction and ensures that the digital strategy is aligned with the company's goals.
- Chief Digital Officer (CDO) or equivalent role: Takes the lead in developing and implementing the digital strategy
- IT department: Supports the implementation of the technology components of the digital strategy.
- Specialist departments: Contribute to the formulation and implementation of the digital strategy through their specific requirements and expertise.
- Project teams: Consist of interdisciplinary members who work on the implementation of specific initiatives.
Who can help us with this?
To support the development of an effective digital strategy, consulting offers MORGEN Consulting offers comprehensive services specifically designed to help companies define their digital goals, build the skills of their employees and measure their success. With a deep understanding of the challenges and opportunities of digital transformation, we help MORGEN Helps companies to develop a customized strategy that not only takes current digital trends into account, but also provides a long-term vision for future growth and innovation.
In a free one-day workshop, we take a deep dive into the specific challenges and opportunities facing your business.
We focus on the following core areas:
- Introduction to the market environment and your business to gain a holistic understanding.
- Analysis and discussion of your current digital initiatives to identify strengths and areas for improvement.
- Insights from other companies and their digitalization trends and strategies .
- Development of ideas for digital business models specifically tailored to your market value and business goals.
Digitalization: What type are you?
Individual measures
The approach begins with the identification of individual, isolated systems to address department-specific requirements without considering an overarching strategy or integration. Fast and cost-efficient to implement, this method is primarily aimed at limited cost savings through automation or support for specific departments, but often results in disparate isolated solutions without making a significant contribution to process optimization or digital transformation.
Digital strategy
The aim is to create a networked system landscape, which starts with a thorough analysis. Budget planning is often aborted due to high costs. Despite striving for integration, projects often end in isolated solutions that are digitized without optimizing existing processes or considering the customer perspective. The lengthy implementation and focus on internal details prevent transformation by improving the business model and customer experience.
Customer-centric
The customer-centric digital strategy focuses on digitalization along the customer journey. The focus is on the customer experience, whereby digital solutions directly create added value and enable faster amortization. This not only leads to a more efficient overhaul of processes, but also to genuine digital transformation. The business model and customer interaction are improved sustainably and digitally by consistently focusing on the needs of customers.
Implementation of the digitalization strategy
Starting point for digitization
The implementation of a digitalization strategy begins with determining the starting point. Identify key areas where digital technologies can create immediate value. This could include automating time-consuming processes, introducing a digital document management system or digitizing customer service. Prioritize projects that can be implemented quickly and deliver measurable results to achieve early success and maintain momentum.
Practical tips and tricks
- Define goals clearly: Set specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound (SMART) goals for each digitization project.
- Involve stakeholders: Secure the support of key people in the company, including senior management, to ensure broad acceptance.
- Use agile methods: Implement agile project management methods to ensure flexibility and the ability to respond quickly to change.
- Choose technology carefully: Invest in technologies that are scalable and integrate seamlessly with existing systems.
- Train employees: Provide comprehensive training to ensure that all employees are familiar with the new digital tools and can use them effectively.
- Protect data: Implement robust security measures to protect company and customer data.
- Consider customers: Do the same MORGEN - when selecting digitization measures, first check whether there is added value for your customers.
Impulse questions: Is your digitalization customer-centric?
Start the check of your digitalization strategy with these eight essential key questions. They will help you evaluate whether your digital initiatives are truly aligned with your customers' needs. Take the time to answer these questions honestly to ensure that your digitalization efforts are not only efficient, but also effective and customer-centric.
Our mission is to shape our clients' digital landscape so that they can not only become more efficient and profitable, but also build a deeper and more valuable connection with their customers. We believe that the true success of digital initiatives lies in the ability to combine human needs with technological excellence.
Jonas Reuter
Conclusion and outlook
We encourage all companies to take the initiative and actively shape their digital future. Digitalization will not wait - and the opportunities it offers are too great to be missed. However, without a clear strategy that is tailored to the specific needs and goals of the company, this potential cannot be exploited. Let's set the course for a successful digital future for your company together.
Learnings
- Strategic planning is crucial: developing a clear digital strategy is essential for the success of the digital transformation.
- Defining goals and measuring success are fundamental: Clear goals and measurable success criteria are the basis for an effective digital strategy.
- Strengthen employee skills: Building digital skills among employees is crucial for implementing the digital strategy.
- Maintain customer focus: Improving the customer experience through digital solutions should be at the heart of the digital strategy.
- Develop digital business models: Digitalization offers the opportunity to expand existing business models or create entirely new ones.
- Process optimization as a continuous process: The digitalization of internal processes is an ongoing process that increases efficiency and productivity.
- Distinguishing between digitalization and transformation: It is important to differentiate between the digitalization of processes and the transformation of the business model.
- Actively shaping the digital future: Companies should not just react, but actively shape their digital future in order to secure competitive advantages.
- Partnerships are valuable: Collaboration with experienced partners such as the MORGEN Consulting can accelerate the success of the digital transformation.
- Digitalization will not wait: Companies must take the initiative and proactively exploit the opportunities of digitalization to avoid falling behind.
About us
MORGEN stands by companies as a strategic partner to tackle these challenges. With our customer-centric approach and expertise in digital transformation, we help you not only to develop your digital strategy, but also to implement it successfully. Together, we can reshape your company's digital landscape and create a sustainable competitive advantage in the digital world.
Further articles on digitization
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26.02.2024
Digital strategy vs. digitalization strategy: A guide with practical examples
15.02.2024
Digitalization in SMEs: the customer at the heart of the transformation
18.12.2023
Shaping the future: The role of digitization for companies in 2024 - Active strategies and opportunities
We ask the right questions
Our workshop card set includes a selection of around 50 cards with impulse questions on the topics of sustainability, digitalization, values and customer centricity, which you can use to work on new business models. You can find more impulse questions in our digitalization tool MORGEN People.
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Jonas Reuter
About us:
MORGEN is a specialized management consultancy that focuses on the development of new business models for medium-sized companies. In particular, it supports owner-managed companies in their future-proof transformation. Knowledge transfer is at the heart of its consulting activities, which is why the MORGEN Blog regularly publishes articles on key topics such as digitalization, transformation, customer centricity and sustainability.