5 Myths and Realities of the Data-Driven Enterprise

Article written by Martin Bourgeois
Director, Tech Strategy

In today’s world, being “data-driven” implies that an organization’s strategic decisions, business objectives, and tactical plans are based on the information generated by its own data. Gartner recently hosted a webinar exploring the potential of this approach within corporate strategies. Two major findings emerged: the transformation of data into an exponential strategic asset and a positive correlation with business outcomes. Despite these advantages, few companies actually declare themselves truly data-driven in 2023. This article debunks five persistent misconceptions among business leaders regarding the data-driven approach.

Myth #1: Technological debt must be considered

Myth: The technological barrier, an insurmountable wall? In client interviews, the concept of technological deficit is often cited as the main obstacle to transitioning to a data-driven business. After over two decades of evolution in data valuation, the observation is clear: the main barrier lies at a different level.

Reality: A recent study of 1,000 companies and organizations reveals that only 24% declared themselves data-driven despite their efforts, and 79% identified cultural obstacles as the main hindrance to transformation. Among the cited cultural elements are stakeholder management, colleague receptiveness, organizational change management, roles, and responsibilities. Therefore, consideration for human capital must be at the core of any such transformation. The evolution of organizational culture requires a more substantial investment in time and effort than technological investment.

Myth #2: It’s a complex and lengthy process

Myth: A long and arduous journey? Some leaders perceive the data valuation approach as a laborious path. They claim not to have the time to dedicate to such a long-term initiative. However, the reality is that it is more of an evolution in thinking and operating than a complex process.

Reality: Our experience reveals that the most significant successes in valuation have started with small pilot projects. Such initiatives generate positive momentum, facilitating adoption and interest, gradually developing a larger and cross-functional approach. We recommend embracing agility and piloting to create enthusiasm and progressive interest within the organization.

Myth #3: It’s a project for IT

Myth: For some business leaders, data valuation is an approach that must be led by IT. This is a widespread but incorrect idea.

Reality: Developing a data-driven organization is an approach that must involve all stakeholders and resources of the company, necessitating many changes. It is primarily a shift in the mindset of leaders and the culture of the company, placing data and the information it provides at the center of strategy, processes, and tactics.

Myth #4: A large amount of data is required

Myth: The more data, the better the approach? Some believe that to develop a data valuation practice, massive amounts of data are required. This perception worries many leaders, especially in medium-sized enterprises. The reality needs to be nuanced.

Reality: Our experience shows that it is more important to gather a small set of high-quality data ready for exploitation than to create a larger set of often unstructured data. Smaller data sets are often easier to handle and manage, allowing users to interpret them more quickly and take action.

Myth #5: An army of specialists is required

Myth: To advance the practice of data valuation in business, one needs programmers and data architects. While these roles are indeed valuable for any mature company, a data-driven company must first emphasize operational roles. Emerging technologies now address many technical deficiencies, allowing small and medium-sized enterprises to grow rapidly.

Reality: Data valuation must primarily pass through business processes and data organization. To succeed, it is essential to ensure the quality of the produced data. Internal experts who understand processes and interpret what the data means are required to determine data quality. Increasingly, technological solutions exist that enable data orchestration and transformation without requiring advanced data processing expertise. This does not necessarily mean that the organization does not need scientists and architects eventually for greater complexity and sophistication in data valuation but emphasizes the need for business experts to create, analyze, and interpret fundamental data before delving into more complex analyses requiring advanced data valuation skills.

An organizational stance Recent technological advancements make the business development landscape both exciting and daunting. On one hand, technological costs to implement a data strategy have never been more attractive for companies of all sizes, from startups to multinationals. Additionally, innovations in data transformation and support, especially with generative AI, now accelerate the analysis and interpretation of results. On the other hand, the level of confusion regarding the implementation of a data valuation approach remains relatively high.

Analyzing the five myths discussed earlier allows us to conclude that becoming a data-driven company is primarily a cultural transformation project, and its success requires the involvement of all stakeholders, centered around people. Being data-driven is, in fact, the development of a posture in decision-making processes leading to delivering its strategy. Therefore, be prepared to build this approach with a collaborative and continuously innovative mindset.

Talsom is your ideal partner to implement a data-driven organizational orientation. Our multidisciplinary and customized approach will help you establish a relevant and innovative strategy aligned with your vision while ensuring that human capital remains at the core of your transformation.

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The key benefits of digital transformation. Why you should accelerate your digitization.

Two years into the pandemic, with the benefits of digital transformation now well-established, you’d think companies would have prioritized their digital initiatives in order to catch up with the times. Not so. Our most recent Léger survey found that 66% of managers consider their company to be behind or “neither ahead nor behind” when it comes to digital adoption. The gap between the general perception of accelerating digital transformation and the reality on the ground could simply be due to the increased use of technology for telework.

In many industries, digital transformation has already shown itself to be a growth accelerator. In manufacturing, for example, integrating IoT (French-only page) facilitates production line automation and inventory control. In agriculture, new high-tech tools enable food producers to monitor and optimize their crops, thereby increasing yields. The service sector also benefits from high-tech innovations, as these can automate many tasks, such as processing cheques and claims, by providing customers with real-time visibility.

To stay relevant, companies in every industry must keep moving ahead with their digital transformation. Read on for a look at the key benefits.

Ensure better employee commitment and retention

New hybrid work models have accelerated the adoption of digital tools to support telework. Shared documents and project management platforms enhance team collaboration and provide project visibility. And now, synchronous and asynchronous communication has its own special tools to promote employee commitment.

Talsom’s 2022 study on digital transformation shows how new technology positively impacts a company’s ability to attract and retain top talent, as supported by the following figures:

  • 97% of managers say companies that integrate new technology into work processes are more attractive;
  • 75% of managers say companies that lag behind in their digital transformation drive employees to move to other companies.

In the current labour shortage – only compounded by the recent so-called “Great Resignation” which is being led by millennials – companies have a lot to gain by accelerating their digital transformation.

Anticipate market trends with real-time data

Companies must be increasingly resilient and flexible in the face of changing market and consumer demands. The crisis caused by COVID-19 has put additional pressure on supply chains and intensified rapid changes in consumer behaviour. By centralizing and capitalizing on existing data, companies can adapt more rapidly to these changes.

Improved visualization of cross-referenced data also enables them to find new segments, thereby opening up new market opportunities. Leveraging data gives you a significant competitive advantage.

Generate long-term savings

Digital transformation can involve significant financial investments. However, it must always be viewed in terms of its ability to optimize structural and operational costs, thereby leading to corporate growth. One of the most tangible benefits is improving processes by automating time-consuming, repetitive, low value-added tasks.

By moving from a legacy infrastructure to cloud storage, buying and maintaining servers is a thing of the past. Cloud storage provides solutions practically tailored to your use and require no maintenance, generating significant infrastructure cost savings.

Improve the customer experience

Every manager knows that acquiring new customers requires a greater investment of time and money than keeping them. Customer satisfaction is the key to customer loyalty. Digital tools mean you can offer omnichannel support to your customers, making it easier to track and anticipate their needs, gather key information and provide an ultra-personalized experience. Implementing ERP provides detailed visibility into product delivery status and facilitates inter-departmental communication. CRMs enhance customer relationships through better communication and keep them engaged with automated marketing messages.

How Talsom uses digital transformation to power your business

Digital transformation involves a lot more than simply making a technology purchase decision. In order to generate long-term benefits, the process must be planned and supported. Since it involves making high-tech decisions and prioritizing business objectives, and will most likely require support, you may want to consider working with an experienced partner who can guide you through the entire process.

Our teams have the expertise to be your single resource, from planning to execution, and have extensive experience working with many local, national and international clients. We employ every kind of innovation to help you understand, specify, plan and execute your transformation to a digital world.

Want to know more about Canadian corporate digital transformation and the challenges it presents?

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5 key actions to successfully accomplishing a rapid digital transformation

For most companies, digital transformation consists of adapting their processes and adopting digital tools to meet their strategic business objectives. This complex process involves a fundamental shift in corporate culture and changes at every level. In the last few years, as companies have experienced significant upheaval, the need to speed up their digital transformation has become clear.

Transformation happens throughout the company: in sales, operations, finance and human resources. All these departments can gain added value and efficiency by automating time-consuming, repetitive, low value-added tasks to focus on more strategic activities, thereby increasing the company’s market share and speeding up its growth.

The pandemic has forced many companies to adopt digital tools. Two years in, one might assume that they are on top of this process and have made their digital transformation a priority, especially given its many benefits. However, our latest study, conducted in partnership with Léger, shows that only 31% of managers report high technology adoption.

Even today, IT and/or department managers are too often seen as being responsible for digital transformation, which is too seldom part of real, far-reaching change. In fact, implementing new technology leads to comprehensive, company-wide change, which in turn leads to a change in corporate culture.

This article discusses 5 key actions to successfully accomplish a rapid digital transformation.

1. Foster an innovation-friendly culture

Technology should help your organization evolve and become even better at what it does. In the long run, technology should enable you to improve your customers’ experience, launch new or improved products, free up profit margins to expand your market share or come up with a new business model that could revolutionize your industry. But the most important thing is to have an innovation-friendly culture, because the technology can change. As Talsom’s President, Olivier Laquinte, said in Les Affaires, “the important thing is not the destination, but the journey.”

To ensure employees are committed to the change, leaders need to share their vision and regularly reinforce it. Creating all-level committees or working groups and celebrating milestones are useful ways of achieving this goal.

2. Prioritize and develop an investment plan

A digital transformation project can take anywhere from a few months to several years. Caught between the time it takes to achieve full adoption and the increasingly rapid changes in technology and consumer needs, it’s vital that companies have a long-term investment plan to support their transformation. However, our most recent study shows that less than half of the respondent organizations have a digital investment plan.

3. Identify key resources and skills and create a development plan

In its broadest sense, digital transformation raises many questions about the possibility of human beings being replaced by “machines”. If the transformation changes the kind of work, rather than replacing human skills, in most cases it will lead to new ones. More than half (64%) of the managers in our Léger study believe that a lack of skills is hindering their growth. It’s essential that you know what skills are required in order to target the gaps and needs, to carry out your transformation and ensure its long-term sustainability. This enables you to find the most talented people and implement a skills development plan, so they will grow with your company. Given the current labour shortage, especially in Québec, retaining your best employees and identifying transferable skills gives you a competitive advantage.

If the gap between your needs and the skills available is too great, it may be worthwhile to bring in an external partner, whether to fill a one-time specific need – for IT skills, for example – or a more long-term gap, such as finding a partner to guide and support you throughout your transformation.

4. Sharing achievements sustains commitment

If you don’t make lasting changes to team processes and habits, it’s easy to fall back into old patterns. To be sustainable, employees must remain committed to a culture of innovation and continuous improvement, and the company must recognize milestones and reward change-makers.

Talsom’s most recent study shows that most managers say they have sufficient resources to help them use technology. On the other hand, a quarter of employees state that these resources are insufficient. The difference can be explained by the lack of clear and measurable objectives. Communicating concrete improvements and engaging teams in providing suggestions for improvement and feedback creates a concrete, data-driven cycle of continuous improvement.

5. Successfully managing the change

According to our most recent study, only 12% of employees are comfortable with using new technology. Lack of training and insufficient concern for people’s individual needs is a major barrier. It’s rare for IT and HR departments to have any expertise in internal change management, as evidenced by a recent Forbes article, which states that 70% of organizational change initiatives fail. Working with a change management partner ensures better employee uptake, so you’ll get the most out of your investment.

Want to know more about Canadian corporate digital transformation and the challenges it presents?

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Takeaways and lessons learned from the Design Thinking Jam

Weren’t able to attend the 2018 Design Thinking jam? We’ve got you covered – in this article, we’ll go over everything you need to know about the first of these events, as well as cover the state of affairs alongside the “L’Itinéraire” project.

Since last summer, Talsom’s innovation experts have been accompanying the community group throughout a comprehensive Design Thinking process in order to help the organization and its vendors come to terms with the reality of digital content consumption in the context of street ‘zine sales.

A human-scale ideation session
September 13th, 2018: The Faubourg Québec space was buzzing. The reality is that it’s uncommon to have a gathering of about 180 people underneath an overpass to host an outdoor Design Thinking workshop. An unusual venue, a sunny afternoon, and a strong desire to make a lasting, positive impact – all ingredients that help stimulate creative thinking. As the participants arrived and spread out across about thirty picnic tables, we got to work.

 design thinking jam takeaways

A space for unorthodox ideas

Following a detailed explanation by the event hosts coupled with a clear understanding of the worker and working environment, each team was assigned a design challenge for which they had to come up with solutions via a brainstorming session.

Identified beforehand by the project teams, these four design challenges are the results of initial research and observation conducted over the first months of the project:

  • How do we increase visibility, awareness and contributions for the L’Itinéraire organization?
  • How do we enable potential buyers to purchase L’Itinéraire products using a payment method other than cash?
  • How do we ensure that the interaction between the vendor and the public is memorable, pleasant and mutually beneficial for both parties involved?
  • How do we highlight the vendor’s best qualities through a more relevant and interesting product or service?

Quantity, broad thinking and an open mind were the keywords of the day – there aren’t any bad ideas. All told, over a thousand ideas were put to paper.

“Ideation is the funnest part of Design Thinking
– that’s when we let our craziest ideas out!” – Adil Mansouri, Tech Strategy & Innovation Consultant.

Once all the ideas are categorized, participants vote for their favourites. Out of this ideation step, every team has to narrow their choice down to one single idea in order to move forward.

Design Thinking Jam 2018 L'Itineraire Montreal

When an idea comes to life
What’s the next step after we’ve identified the right idea? We need to make it real. To accomplish this, the event participants were provided with boxes containing various tools and materials allowing them to craft a version of their idea. Each team then recorded their very own presentation of their prototype.

CLICK HERE TO SEE ALL THE VIDEO PRESENTATIONS

Following this step, known as the “imagination phase”, over 30 prototypes were developed by our participants.

“One of the interesting quirks of Design Thinking is how much deeper we dive than in what folks think of as traditional brainstorming when we’re facing a challenge. What each participant was able to accomplish within the span of 3 hours involved placing themselves in the skin of the organization’s workers, learning about their on-the-ground reality, helping find ideas and developing them.”
– Dany Jutras, Tech Strategy & Innovation Consultant.

design thinking Tech Strategy & Innovation

Three weeks later – where are we now?
Thanks to all the content coming out of the Design Thinking Jam, the team was able to collect considerable data to move the project forward. The team members learned a great deal about the organization’s workers and their environment. Furthermore, the team participated once again in a new ideation exercise based upon hundreds of ideas stemming from the last event. By adopting an iterative approach, the final proposed answer stands a greater chance of achieving success with the workers and the public.

“Upon review of all the ideas and prototypes, we chose the ones with the greatest feasbility and potential impact to push them even further. We then presented those to the team at L’itinéraire.”
– Valérie Dionne, Innovation & Tech Strategy Consultant.

Ideas are only brought to life when there’s work behind them. That’s why our teams evaluate the selected project for feasibility, impact and viability. Design Thinking considers potential solutions along a financial, social and technological axis.

Testing prototypes in the field
This past week, the team turned their focus on the next phase in Design Thinking: co-creation.

Coinciding with the release of the latest edition of L’Itinéraire magazine, our experts accompanied the vendors at the points of sale to test two carefully chosen payment options with the aid of prototypes and thorough testing, in order to determine various hypotheses for each potential solution.

Over the next two weeks, the team will continue to work with the public and with the vendors to not only validate the initial ideas which sprung out from the Design Thinking Jam, but also to foster additional innovation and potential solutions. Furthermore, L’Itinéraire can already begin envisioning what the ultimate idea will look like, a solution that has already been validated, tested and accepted by both the public and the vendors.


Live – or relive – the 2018 Design Thinking Jam experience?

A new service offer based on Design Thinking

Last week, Talsom unveiled its new “Technology Strategy and Innovation” service offer at Salon Connexion. This new offer based on the Design Thinking approach, is part of the support that Talsom offers companies in all of their digital transformation from strategy to implementation, through business architecture, project leadership and change management. 

A digital transformation powered by Design Thinking (DT / DT)

In an era where digital transformation has become a concrete reality for every business, Talsom wants to support each of its customers in defining their identity and their digital target. Indeed, organizations that fail to identify these two variables will find it difficult to survive in the environment, that is becoming more and more competitive. Supported by our team of experts in Design Thinking, each company will be able to make these key digital decisions that will serve as a guide for all of its initiatives and activities.

We can not measure what we do not define

We embed an innovation-driven culture at the heart of organizations and co-create organizational designs, processes, channels, services, and digital products. Through the approved approach of Design Thinking, we want to make digital transformation a lever of differentiation, competitiveness and growth for each company. The cornerstone of innovation, Design Thinking is more than just an approach, it is a state of mind based on empathy. With a deep understanding of users, their needs, and the ecosystem in which they operate, the iterative approach of Design Thinking creates a collaborative climate from which viable and desired solutions to the marketplace emerge.

We can not improve what we do not measure

Today 56% of CEOs confirm that improvements made through the introduction of digital have already increased their profits [1]. Design Thinking supports companies in aligning their strategic vision with the successful execution of their technology projects.

To download the details of the new offer, visit our PAGE.

Put the employee at the center of the organization

Mandate and Challenges

Today more than ever before, businesses are searching for ways to innovate and to ensure that they are industry leaders. To do so, they can now turn to new technologies trending on the market, review their business processes and ultimately take part in the wave of innovation. Several businesses have very wisely taken such highly useful aproaches, thus demonstrating their will to be proactive to avoid being left behind.

In the present case, our client took its reflection a step further by addressing the very needs of its employees before it began the process of implementing changes. It asked itself the following question : “ How can I place my employees at the heart of the organization ? ” The idea behind this inquiry was to ensure that the  members of the company were fully mobilized and had the will to participate in the future growth of the company. The client thus wished to define the employee experience by ensuring it understood the key needs of its employees.
This would indeed make for the very challenge of the project: placing employees at the heart of the approach.

Needs and Objectives

  • Develop an environment in which each employee can develop on a professional and personal level.
  • Define an employee experience that aligns with the company’s values.
  •  Translate the information and comments received into concrete, achievable actions.
  • 22 days of projects.
  • 6 members of the transdisciplinary horizon project team.
  • 60 individual interviews.
  • Generation of 500 new ideas.
  • Creation and validation of 74 ideas.
  • Delivery of a solution that equally concerns both the company’s culture and technology

Potential Solutions

The client successfully achieved two key deliverables. First, it was able to target the answers to important issues that employees had communicated and to respond to them with both technological and support tools. This solution, which resulted in a Team Member Journey, was ultimately validated by employees. Second, the solution consisted of defining the pillars of the company in an effort to mobilize employees. As part of this process, a cultural change was instilled within management in order to fully mobilize employees and thus support the company’s growth. This led
to the development of procedures whereby employees can understand the meaning behind their work, become empowered to realize their potential and be recognized for their efforts.

Design Thinking helping digital transformation

72% of executives think that the next three years will be more crucial for their industry than the last five. Nowadays, every company is looking for something that will differentiate them from the competition and will propel them on the innovation track. Does a magical solution really exist? It’s hard to say. However, placing the human at the center of the business processes and eliminating the work done in silos is a major technique for innovation. It’s the logic behind Design Thinking.

Process of Design Thinking - Talsom

What is digital transformation?

We live in an era punctuated by transformations and changes due to the current technologies such as cloud, the internet of things, Big Data, artificial intelligence and augmented or virtual reality. All these innovations are improving external work with clients and internal processes inside organizations. If the idea of digital transformation was ambiguous for most executives a couple of years ago, as of 2017[1] it was a center part of their strategies. A deeper digital transformation of the firm is only possible if a thorough reflection is done prior to the change. It needs to be well organized and comprised in a continuous process.

For Talsom, digital transformation is about the evolution of the entire business model and value chain while relying on an innovation process and recent technologies. Gain your hedge, by targeting higher than obvious solutions and increase the forward-looking potential of your products and business model.

As you all know, doing e-commerce is not sufficient to enter the era of digital transformation. You must rethink your products, internal functions and the integration of your organization in its ecosystem. To achieve this major transformation, silo work isn’t an option anymore because the impacts of technology are throughout the entire organization. Technology modifies the relations that you foster with your employees, suppliers, distributors and clients.

A few months ago, while I was meeting a business leader, he was wondering how technology could support his strategy and growth. Nowadays, the question you should ask is «which impact will technology have on my ecosystem and how can I prepare myself for it? ». There’s no already made answer for this question but rather a variety of possible scenarios. To identify them, you must see your organization with a new perspective.  This is the role of Design Thinking.

The collective creativity

Design Thinking is mainly the art of understanding people. Clients, suppliers and partners must be acknowledged so the proposed solution is aligned with their expectations. If we want to implement a good digital transformation, every stakeholder must be considered, listen and understood. When we do a complete immersion in the user’s world, we identify its problems with ease. We can then define a solution that suits perfectly their needs. By interrogating its business ecosystem or observing the user in a real situation, we can obtain objective data.

Once your needs are defined, gather people with various expertise and distinct roles around a table, either inside your company with – marketing, finance, human resources, customer service, technology-  or in your business ecosystem with – clients, partners, suppliers, board of directors –.  Merge their vision in collective creative workshops and you’ll explore unexpected technological scenarios.

Prevent stakeholders from working in an isolated way will allow the collection of all their perspectives and promote the construction and deconstruction of ideas.

Furthermore, the solutions are achievable only if they can come to life. That’s why the ideas should be filtered according to viability and feasibility logics so the result is durable and adds an economic value for the user. All of this is facilitated with the help of technologies.

The concepts can be materialized in a variety of ways, with a post-it wall, a game play, a brainstorming, an object, an interface or even a storyboard. Every stakeholder can test a prototype and interact with it, which reinforce the construction of efficient solutions. Once again, the staple approach of human-centered innovation revolves around co-constructing solutions, as each phase broadens comprehension.

 The interconnexion of human and technology

Currently, Design Thinking is used in a lot of sectors and activities such as human resources, marketing and technology. By adopting this approach, you maximize the chances to increase your result rate regarding digital transformation. Not only will you be able to see your business model with a new viewpoint but you will do it in a way that mobilize your teams.

A connection exists between human and technology, but the starting point for your digital transformation is undoubtedly a discussion between coworkers and business partners. Ask the right question, at the right time and you will create value. Thereafter, what will emerge of these exchanges will allow you to identify your target, the rest of your actions and will help your think outside the box.

 

Article co-written by Charlotte Cagnet

[1] Communiqué de Presse: Gartner Survey Shows 42 Percent of CEOs Have Begun Digital Business Transformation. Avril 2017.
Récupéré de: https://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/3689017