About digital transformation and transformers

In earlier blogs my colleagues and I wrote about the digital transformation process of companies and the ‘Activate’ method we could use to support the transformation. We highlighted the importance of the ‘Discover’ phase preceding the implementation. And we stressed the importance of the user adoption during all phases of the transformation process.

Digital transformation – Transformers

The people who participate the digital transformation process are key to the success of the transformation. You need ‘transformers’ as enablers to make your digital transformation happen and to make your company more successful. In this blog I will describe the role of Business Analyst as a transformer in a digital transformation project; other essential roles will follow in future blogs.

For 2 years I am working as a Business Analyst on a B2B e-commerce project for an international beer brewery. Several sales organisations of this brewer are already connected to a global B2B e-commerce platform. Their end customer can order products via computer or mobile phone at any time of the day. They can also ask questions online or search for information online.

In other sales organisations the contact with the end customer happens via the call centre or via the sale rep. These countries would like to add the online sales channel to the existing channels to better serve their customers around the clock. These countries would like to be on-boarded on the global B2B e-commerce platform.

Digital transformation – Extend

My first task as s business analyst on this project is to extend the B2B e-commerce platform further for the existing sales organisations. This can be realised by enhancing the satisfaction of end customers (for example bars, super markets) by adding additional functionalities to the platform or to improve the user friendliness.

But it can also be realised by generating more revenue via the platform. An option would be to increase the order value by adding customer specific promotions to the ordering process.

Another possibility would be to reduce the costs of the platform by simplifying the architecture or to make more use of standard software. And also the simplification of the business processes should be considered.

As a business analyst I help the local sales organisations and the IT departments to identify the required changes and to formulate an prioritise them. The IT changes are translated into user stories with acceptance criteria. I support the software developers of the project team to develop the required functionality based on the user stories. I assist during the testing and go-live of the new functionalities. I also work closely together with the change manager to embed the required changes into the organisation.

Digital transformation – Roll-out

My second task as business analyst in this project is to roll-out the B2B e-commerce platform to new sales organisations of the company. Together with the sales departments of these organisations we interview and study local end customers to understand their requirements. I inform the sales organisations about existing functionality of the platform that could be rolled out to them to accelerate the project. I help to prioritise the requirements based on customer value. Of course I also take added value to the internal organisation, cost reduction and complexity into account.

As a next step I translate the local business requirements for the e-commerce platform into user story’s with acceptance criteria. We standardise where possible and take local deviations into account. I align the user stories with the developers of the project teams and advise during the development process. In the next phase I assist during testing and go-live of the platform.

Digital transformation – Measure

During all these steps the project team and I measure the effects of the transformation against the objectives we have formulated upfront. We also make sure we transform according to the company strategy.

During the execution of my task I use my product and process experience from other companies in several branches. I benefit of my technical knowledge about multiple e-commerce solutions. And experience in other roles like functional consultant, architect and scrum master help me to make the project a success, and to transform the organisation to make it more successful.

Would you like to know more about digital transformation and transformer roles that my Acorel colleagues or I could fulfil for your company please contact us on http://blog.acorel.nl/