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In pursuit of progress: defining true transformation


Johannesburg, 25 Feb 2021

“Noun. Movement to an improved or more developed state, or to a forward position.”Cambridge English Dictionary.

Digital transformation has undergone massive acceleration over the past year. In the Microsoft quarterly earnings report, CEO Satya Nadella famously said that the company had seen two years’ worth of digital transformation in two months. It’s a view shared by McKinsey who, in their quarterly report, referred to the impact of the pandemic on digital transformation as ‘the quickening’ and suggesting, with no humour whatsoever, that perhaps the whiplash felt by the business was the ‘10 years forward we just jumped in 90 days’. As Nicholas Bell, Group CEO at Decision Inc. explains, there has been a shift in how technology is shaping and transforming business and now is the time to determine how to shape and create progress.

Nicholas Bell, Group CEO at Decision Inc.
Nicholas Bell, Group CEO at Decision Inc.

“We’re emerging from an environment that has been defined by complexity and uncertainty,” he adds. “Today, progress is more than just attempting to get back to how things used to be. The changes that have taken place around the world have been quite fundamental. With so much change, the challenge is working out how to create momentum. We need to ensure that our businesses are fit and healthy for the future and to use the idea of progress, not for its own sake, but to ensure the business is capable of handling what lies ahead in a new and different world.”

A significant catalyst of this change has been the acceleration of digital across all industries. To fully realise the potential of digital, the business needs to look beyond a stop gap technology intervention in a crisis and understand how digital can drive business transformation. This is where trusted partners and collaboration are key. Organisations should work with partners who understand the potential opportunity of digital for their organisation and industry and know-how to support them in driving this change across their business.

“Companies are eager to embrace a new digital operating model; however, they’ve found the transformation challenging as so much of the space in front of them is unknown. Redesigning the business's architecture and decision-making model is complex, and the speed with which these decisions need to be made is often different to how the company is used to operating,” says Bell.

The most important step is to create momentum and start the journey, one step at a time. Organisations that have remained the fittest over this period and created opportunity, have focused their model of transformation on progress. They have moved to a continuous improvement, continuous innovation and agile mindset.

“Decision Inc. has worked with clients as their Digital Strategy and Execution Partner. Our industry focused delivery and Global Knowledge Platform have become key tools in our progress model. We have helped them create progress, not only by delivering the technology platforms, but by helping them design and conceive the strategic roadmap and transformation agenda,” says Bell.

Digital partners need to be more than just technology delivery service providers. They need to bring deep industry and functional insights, embedded in the technology platforms of the industry, to help clients make an impact.

“Our business model enables us to deliver these capabilities across multiple markets, while ensuring local excellence in all engagements – we have helped our clients drive the outcomes of the investments they’ve made and still need to make,” says Bell. “One of our differentiating assets is our Global Knowledge Platform. This tool provides customers with knowledge assets, solutions and insights that help them to better navigate this shift to technology platforms and capabilities. We’re also working even closer with clients to ensure that, together, we uncover the next best action for their business.”

In a world that continues to show great uncertainty, fit companies are accelerating their investment in technology, data and people, ensuring that they are ready for the future. Decision Inc. creates greater scale for these businesses by helping them to transition to modern platforms and capabilities while supporting their overall organisational transformation. The organisation of the future will be different, and these are the stepping stones needed to achieve true digital progress.

For more information, go to: https://decisioninc.com/the-pursuit-of-progress

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Decision Inc.

Decision Inc. is a global leader in information-driven transformation with a core focus on data, digital and performance intelligence. Our expertise in technology and industry specialisations have enabled us to help companies around the world make better decisions faster. Our emphasis on local excellence and global scale enables us to bring clients best of breed technology solutions that enable significant improvement whilst leveraging our Global Research and Innovation teams to accelerate the time to insight. Our local consulting teams are experts in the implementation, support and execution of these solutions and work with our clients to deliver real results and improvement.

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