ROI stands for the Return on Investment, but you might be thinking how it is related to the digital transformation, in this context it is an essential tool that works with various organizations to access the components like profitability and effectiveness all through out the process. This also works as a measuring tool that evaluates the profit margin against the initial investment to help the organization understand the key areas of investment and what are the future investment they can work on in order to leverage the technologies and get the good ROI on the digital transformation.
The basic two components associated with the Return on Investment are:
Before going on the process of measuring the ROI, it is very important have a clear objectives about your digital transformation, this mainly involves working on the customer experience, enhancing the operational efficiency, working on the increasing revenue and most importantly boosting the employee productivity. This initial step helps the businesses to align their metrics with the desired long-term visions and making the path way easy.
Once objectives are defined, it is essential for the user to identify the metrics that can help them in achieving the goals it commonly involves:
The cost shows the purchase process of the new customer.
It is the total amount that the customer spent in the business.
It is related to the saved time and the reduced error frequency in the processes rate.
It involves the changing of the sales figures in the entire digital implementing process.
Also it is essential to keep all these metrics under the SMART theory which means to be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound in order to have an impactful digital transformation.
In order to have an effective measurement of the ROI the user have to work on establishing the baseline metrics, before the actual implementation process. This step involves the collection of data through the current performance across various identified metrics. Like the current customer satisfaction score, the maximum revenue on each transaction, the productivity levels of every employee. This provides a point of comparison after the digital transformation.
The phase involves the comprehensive understanding of costs that is committed to the digital transformation process, it includes the set-up investment cost which comes when the user adds up the cost of software, hardware and the training. The fourth phase also includes the cost of maintenance and update with the money spent as the Opportunity costs. And when we add up all these cost the user will get a clearer picture of the total investment required on the digital transformation efforts.
Once the user is done with the implementing changes, the next step is to regulate the measures of all the outcome besides the already established metrics. Also it is important to conduct this in various intervals, for a regular assessments that works with the trends and areas for improvement.
Digital transformation is a long process and hence it requires sufficient time before tangible results. Also it is vital for the organizations to conduct long-term solutions that works with the long trends and do not vanish on short-term gains. This ideology helps the user in gaining sustainable benefits that benefits them long lasting.
ROI measurements can work effectively also when the organizations gather data and insights efficiently, here the organization have to adjust their strategies according to the ROI measurements. And even after this if the results do not match your expectations, it means it’s time to refine approaches that are more accurate according to the ongoing analysis.
There can be many factors that can affect the ROI of digital transformation initiatives:
The user has to make sure that all the digital initiatives are perfectly aligned with the business objectives which further promotes the enhancement in the ROI.
It shows the degree to which the employees can embrace the innovative technologies and can enhance the overall outcomes.
The economic conditions, competitive pressures are some of the external factors that can impact the effectiveness of digital transformations.
The speed of introducing the new technologies can affect organizational cost and benefits associated with it.
Lastly, the process of measuring ROI on digital transformation is not only working with the figures but also it is a strategic plan of working together for a desired goal. The user can also take help from the experts like santram to conduct a structured framework, in order to achieve the success of their digital transformation efforts.
The measurement of the ROI helps the user in gaining desired outcomes and optimizing the future initiatives.
The most Common metrics here are the revenue growth, cost cut, customer satisfaction score and the employee productivity improvements.
Yes, the Organizations can measure outcomes on the quarterly or annually, basis with equal progress tracking and identification of the trends over time.
Some of the common consequences are difficulty in establishing the proper metrics upfront, complex digital initiatives.