Where is Your Company on Its Digital Journey?

SAN FRANCISCO , Oct. 02, 2017 -- For many executives, the rapid proliferation of digital is daunting.  According to Bain & Company research, just one in four executives actually feel prepared to lead their companies through a successful digital transformation.  In response, Bain has set out to demystify digital while coming up with a custom prescription that creates the most value for each client.  This process is rooted in Bain’s new digital diagnostic tool, the Digital Readiness Survey, which sets executives on the path to developing and implementing a results-driven digital strategy.

“Many of our clients are wrestling with how to continue moving forward digitally – or even how to get started,” said Elizabeth Spaulding, co-head of Bain’s global Digital Practice. “This new interactive tool gives them a jumping-off point.  It highlights their company’s strengths and weaknesses, and provides links to curated Bain Digital content and other Bain assets that can help them generate real digital results.”

The Digital Readiness Survey benchmarks a company’s digital progress against its industry peers using seven quick questions that assess the strength of its outer game (a company’s digital ambition) and its inner game (innovation culture, IT, data, people, etc.).  Based on an executive’s responses, the diagnostic places his/her company in one of five categories:

1. Isolated.  Isolated companies have just started or are struggling to start their digital transformations.  They have not invested in the ambition or orchestration needed to support a strong outer game, and their digital initiatives remain sporadic and uncoordinated.  Only 15 percent of companies in this category are financial leaders.
    
2. Clustered. Clustered companies have started their digital journeys and are defining their ambition.  Their digital initiatives focus on customers, such as mobile apps and omni-channel experiences, and have been only partially implemented.  In this category, just 17 percent of companies are financial leaders.
    
3. Networked.  Networked companies have partially implemented digital initiatives.  They have taken steps toward improving their inner and outer games – but weak fundamentals, such as talent or IT, will prevent them from advancing. Digital initiatives often plateau as a result.   Only 29 percent of companies at this level are financial leaders.
    
4. Connected.  Connected companies have partially implemented digital initiatives.  They have also invested in their inner games so they can scale their initiatives across the entire business.  Successful companies will advance by ensuring that their inner game investments reflect the company's broader business objectives.  Here, 43 percent of companies are financial leaders.
    
5. Interconnected.  Interconnected companies have fully embedded digital technology and methods across their businesses, guided by a strong outer game that evolves and adapts.  They have also invested broadly in their inner games to ensure that they have the right fundamentals in place.  These leaders know how to capitalize on emerging trends.  In this category, 63 percent of companies are financial leaders.

From there, Bain works alongside companies to co-create a sustainable ‘digital inside’ operating model that supports innovation, rather than encourage ongoing dependence on third-party companies to orchestrate their digital transformations.

Because digital threats and opportunities permeate all aspects of business today, Bain does not have a separate digital operating unit offered selectively as an add-on service.  Instead, the firm helps clients with their digital transformation as an integral part of its work.  Bain does this by surrounding clients in a ‘digital ecosystem’ that pairs its in-house Advanced Digital and Product Teams (ADAPT) with the specialized and sometimes select experience of key partners, depending on the business need. This allows Bain clients to more quickly and effectively innovate to disrupt and/or enhance their existing business models and implement their own unique digital approaches.

“Bain believes that being a digital leader doesn’t just mean building a digital business; it means getting business results in a digital world,” said Ouriel Lancry, who co-leads Bain’s global Digital Practice.  “The Digital Readiness Survey is an integral part of helping companies understand where and how they can weave digital tightly into their strategy.  This approach unlocks both core transformation and new business innovation, which generate dual engines for a company’s growth – even amid future digital disruptions.”

Editor's Note: To arrange an interview, contact Dan Pinkney at [email protected] or +1 646 562 8102

About Bain & Company
Bain & Company is the management consulting firm that the world's business leaders come to when they want results. Bain advises clients on strategy, operations, information technology, organization, private equity, digital transformation and strategy, and mergers and acquisition, developing practical insights that clients act on and transferring skills that make change stick.  The firm aligns its incentives with clients by linking its fees to their results.  Bain clients have outperformed the stock market 4 to 1. Founded in 1973, Bain has 55 offices in 36 countries, and its deep expertise and client roster cross every industry and economic sector. For more information visit: www.bain.com.  Follow us on Twitter @BainAlerts.

Media Contact:
Dan Pinkney
Bain & Company
Tel: +1 646 562 8102
[email protected]