Digital Transformation Newsletter #2

Welcome!

Strategic Cloud Adoption, CIO Traits, a Digital HR Strategy, and more

There's a lot happening in the world of digital transformation!

In this second edition of the Digital Directions Newsletter, we highlight a variety of resources and explore the following:

How to be more strategic about cloud adoption
How the challenges of COVID-19 can help schools prepare for future disruptions with digital transformation
The unique traits a CIO should have for spearheading a successful transformation
How your company's Board of Directors can manage risks during digital transformation
What MIT research scientists learned from business leaders who successfully transformed their companies, and
How a global tech company is reshaping their HR processes with a digital model
From our blog, what are some of the main disadvantages of digital transformation, and how can we turn these into opportunities for our business?

Thanks for subscribing and stay tuned for much more in next week's issue!

Featured

A Strategic Approach to Cloud Adoption

The author outlines a strategic four-stage approach for companies looking to adopt a cloud platform as part of their digital transformation: Project, Foundation, Migration, and Reinvention.

Let’s use the pandemic as a dress-rehearsal for much-needed digital transformation

This article discusses how to prepare for an uncertain future with an examination of how schools can more deeply and deliberately harness technology to make high-quality learning accessible to every learner, even in the wake of a crisis.

Case Studies

Lenovo Ramps up HR Digital Transformation with UiPath Technologies

We recently highlighted several of the trends in HR digital transformation, but here is a real case study from a global tech giant.

As you'll see, as part of the enterprise-wide digital transformation, Lenovo Global IT has established an IT intelligent operation ecosystem across departments such as finance, human resources (HR), and Internal Audit.

Articles

7 Main Disadvantages of Digital Transformation

Many companies are still hesitant to develop a transformation strategy due to concerns about costs, training, complexity, and more.

In this post from our blog, we'll look at 7 of the main (perceived) disadvantages of digital transformation and offer several tips for turning them into opportunities for your business.

The Board of Directors and Platform Business Models: a risk management perspective

In this Medium post, Alexandre Oliveira discusses the role of the Board of Directors in formulating strategic guidelines and plans and managing risks that a corporation may encounter during digital transformation.

5 CIO Traits for Digital Transformation Success

A Gartner analyst highlights 5 characteristics a CIO must maintain in order to deliver on digital transformation, including a love of new things, the ability to both invent and copy, looking beyond industry boundaries, focusing on value creation, and "geeking out" on technology.

Books

Future Ready: The Four Pathways to Capturing Digital Value | MIT CISR

A powerful, field-tested "four pathways" framework that offers insights into the important dimensions at which a firm must excel in order to be competitive, as well as the organizational disruptions that every firm must manage as part of the transformation journey.