Play to WIN, in digital era, urge DNA, iTrain

• Launch of What’s Next: Raise Your Digital Quotient workshop to help companies get digital
• Targeted at managers of Brick & Mortars, sharing session by CDO of Celcom Axiata among highlights

HOW many times have you heard of the term Digital Disruption? More often than not it is a term that companies are hearing all too often when small startups come out of nowhere and change the playing field beneath them.

iTrain co-founder Bikesh Lakhmichand says that there has been enough talk about why companies should go digital. The pertinent question today is around ‘how’ can they get their digital adaptation going? Note that he is not talking about transformation which can be too much of a shock to the corporate culture and with many transformation projects ending on a whimper after the big bang launch.

The question to ask first is about the Digital Quotient – the measure of an organisation’s digital maturity – of your organization. Take stock first before planning to move on deepening one’s Digital Quotient through upskilling one’s middle level managers who then further drive in downwards into the rest of the organization.

Aiming to help companies achieve a deeper level of Digital Quotient, Digital News Asia (DNA) has partnered with iTrain, one of the leading training companies in Southeast Asia, to offer a two day training programme specially designed for middle level executives of brick-and-mortar companies.

“The fact remains that digital disruption sheds 45% of an incumbent’s revenue and 35% of their earnings, according to a finding by McKinsey & Co,” said Lakhmichand an entrepreneur who is immersed in the digital ecosystem and also happens to own 1337 Ventures, an early stage venture capital firm that also runs a regional pre-accelerator programme, Alpha Startups.

“Accenture did a recent report, Digital Performance Index, that we covered last week which looked at the top 28 public listed companies in Malaysia and one of the key takeaways was that while awareness of the impact and potential from digital is high, execution is still lacking and this needs to be urgently addressed,” says Karamjit Singh, DNA founder.

“We cannot underestimate the importance of speed and this was also emphasized by a senior Oracle executive I met last week who said speed to market allows one to innovate and change. We now live in a world where if you do not run fast enough, someone else will. And what will be the consequences for your business then?” adds Karamjit

“All this should act as powerful incentives for companies to start thinking on how they need to start moving now and not tomorrow,” says Lakhmichand, a DNA Digerati50.

“So, the question companies need to ask themselves is whether they are playing to win or playing NOT to lose,” he says.

The inaugural workshop, with guest speakers from Brick & Mortar companies sharing through their digital journey as well, will focus on the four lessons of culture, strategy, organization capability and talent.

With Industry 4.0 on the horizon, it is not enough to say that you are going digital, run some transformation courses with minimal to no impact achieved. Organization’s digital and business strategies cannot be separate anymore but have to be intertwined, well thought out and implemented, utilising the right tools. Data being a key asset that needs to be leveraged on to make data empowered decisions.

But even that is not enough, stressed Lakhmichand. “A fast yet agile culture like that found in startups is essential as well and there will talks on Lean Methodology and Design, on how one takes an idea to product in just five days.”

As mentioned, it is not all about dishing out theory after theory as participants will be listening to experiences of practitioners within a brick & mortar companies that are already embarking on their digital adaptation journeys.

DNA and iTrain are especially excited to have a chief digital officer (CDO) of Celcom Axiata, Dave Morrow, to share the experience of their digital journey in the hopes of becoming winners in their space.

Aside from that, there will also be actionable case studies for participants to put their new found knowledge to practice.

So enough talk about why you should go digital, it is time to look at how you can get digital adaptation going in your company so sign up for the workshop now – and play to win!