Step 1:
Understand Digital Transformation

Digital Transformation involves integrating digital technology into all areas of your business, fundamentally changing how you operate and deliver value to customers. It’s also a cultural change that requires organizations to continually challenge the status quo, experiment, and get comfortable with failure.

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Step 2:
Define Your Digital Transformation Goals

Assess Current State:

- Evaluate your existing processes, technologies, and business models.

- Identify areas where digital technologies can have the most impact.

Set Clear Objectives:

- Define what you aim to achieve through digital transformation (e.g., increased efficiency, improved customer experience, enhanced data-driven decision-making).

- Objectives should paint the picture for an ideal end state.

Build a Team:

- Create a cross functional team and ensure the have the authority and autonomy within the organization to accomplish the goals.

- Engage appropriate consulting and technical resources from the industry.

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Step 3:
Design The Architecture

Define the Data Paths and Model

- Step 3 and Step 4 go hand in hand. Defining the data path/dataflow might be one of the most critical steps.

- When defining the dataflow and in general throughout the entire architecture design process, keep the future in mind to ensure the system being designed is scalable.

- With a documented data path, define a naming convention for the entire system. This will serve as one of the core guides for a successful implementation of a Unified Namespace within the organization.

Create the Architecture Diagrams

- Create both logical and data focused architecture diagrams. This will need to account for both an initial pilot phase of digitalization all the way to a future state.

- Decide, based on the user requirements, architecture and latency, the deployment locations of the systems.  This can include cloud, hybrid or fully on-prem environments.

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‍Step 4:
Investigate and Decide on Required Software

Discover tools:

- Research the tools available in the marketplace

- Do a basic feature analysis to create short list of potentially appropriate tools

Assess Tools:

- Contact vendors and receive presentation of their tools versus your use case

- Create a set of criteria for the software and a scoring system for the evaluation of tools ( Common factors for evaluation are: Market Presence, Core Features, Extensibility, Support, Security, Cost Structure).

- Perform assessments of the tools and create a formal scorecard to guide decision making

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Step 5:
Deploy and Support The Architecture

Pilot Project

- Start with a pilot project to test out the solution on a smaller scale. This should minimize the risks that can be associated with a full implementation and better prepare an organization to scale out with a full deployment.

- With the pilot system implemented, ensure the solution is meeting the objectives that were identified back in 'Step 2'. This will serve as a reference for whether or not the system created is proving valuable.

Scale Out The Architecture

- Plan for roll out of additional instances and features according to your architectural vision.

- Engage with the end users on a continuous basis and prove the value each step along the way.

- Deploy according to best practices, even if they change and mature during the course of the implementation.

Support The Architecture - Day 2 Support

- Build a support and maintenance organization, this can be internal or external entities that provide the care and feeding for your systems

- Create a cohesive support plan. This is especially important when multiple groups or vendors are needed to support.

- Implement and include continuous improvement as a part of the rollouts and support.