Digital adds value right across the business

The Internet is a utility like phones and electricity and has become indispensable in almost every business. Converting traditional processes to digital or in some cases replacing them altogether can add value across the organisation. In order for this to happen, “Going Digital” needs to become the default business culture. Until now, digital has mainly been associated with marketing and communications but in fact it can have an impact on all departments.

Not every organisation has as many departments as I have in my imaginary company below and not every department will have the same digital capability. But in my company every department has at least one digital KPI and a digital capability rating (DCR) of at least 2 out of 5. So let's take the tour...

1. The Sales Department needs help deciding what products and services should be delivered online and what delivery channels to use. Desirable DCR of at least 3.

2. The Marketing Department needs help bringing the content to the user, not the user to the content - websites and search engine optimisation are no longer enough. Desirable DCR of at least 4.

3. The Communications Department needs help deciding which communications channels are best to exploit –web, B2B and B2C social media, mobile etc. Desirable DCR of at least 4.

4. The Customer Service Department needs help managing customer generated content such as social media and online user forums and integrating these with CRM systems. Desirable DCR of at least 4.

5. The HR Department needs help moving recruitment onto the web and onto social media sites liked LinkedIn. It also needs help creating guidelines for appropriate use of social media by employees. Desirable DCR of at least 3.

6. The Production Department needs help to decide how to integrate online ordering straight to the factory floor with inventory control and manufacturing processes. Desirable DCR of at least 3.

7. The IT Department needs help deciding how to effectively deploy new technology options like cloud computing and BYOD. Desirable DCR of at least 4 (same as Marketing & Communications - let's how IT people react to this)

8. The Procurement Department needs a better understanding of the digital landscape in order to issue more informed specifications to suppliers and make tendering easier. Desirable DCR of at least 3.

9. The Research Department needs help leveraging web analytics software as the web and social media make customer profiling increasingly more powerful and accurate. Desirable DCR of at least 3.

10. The Finance Department needs help understanding the potential for cost savings as traditional business processes such as sales, customers support and recruitment move online. Desirable DCR of at least 2.

11. The Executive Team needs help understanding how digitally transforming the business can make it more cost effective and more competitive. Desirable DCR of at least 3 in order to deliver those digital KPI's.

12. The Board of Directors needs help understanding that investing in digital solutions can yield a greater and faster ROI and that digital is about business, not just about creativity and technology. Desirable DCR of 2 or higher depending what type of companies they are on the board of.

The message for organisations to take away from this is that it’s no longer enough to let your digital strategy reside solely within the domain of marketing - digital has implications right across your business. Knowing what these implications are will help you shape the long term value proposition when weighing up investments in digital technology.