<div class="gn-article"><div class="gn-hero gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-hero__image"><img src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/687a235da6861294eec73166/68fa1269520b64d54e3c8ceb_651d3d643f597cda7daa6b76_62ce75f28856bb0e954613ff_Upgrading%252520your%252520Digital%252520Systems.jpeg" alt=""></div> <div class="gn-hero__head"> <span class="gn-kicker"><span class="dot"></span>Growth</span> <h1 class="gn-title">Upgrading your Digital Systems - Finding a Strategy that Works for You</h1> <div class="gn-meta"> <strong>The GO Network</strong> <span class="pip"></span> <span>13 July 2022</span> <span class="pip"></span> <span>6 min read</span> </div> </div> </div> <div class="gn-body"> <p class="gn-lede gn-reveal">This week, GO! invited five experts in digital transformation to share what they've learned about getting enterprise-level digital transformation projects right the first time, the common pitfalls, and the key to success.</p> <p class="gn-reveal"><strong><em>This article is comprised of key learnings from our virtual workshop for marketing, sales and business team leads with larger digital requirements, 'Upgrading your Digital Systems - Finding the Right Strategy for you.' Join an upcoming session </em></strong><a href="http://www.thegonetwork.com/events"><strong><em>here</em></strong></a><strong><em>.</em></strong></p> <h2 class="gn-reveal"><span class="num">01</span>Getting Started – Preparing your Business for Digital Transformation</h2> <p class="gn-reveal">There are many reasons businesses feel like they need to upgrade their digital systems.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">From outdated tech, new legislation, or a culture of doing things 'the traditional way,' a lot of businesses are some way off reaching optimum digitization to bring their processes up to par.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">As with any transformation effort, the project needs to start with an understanding of your business needs.</p> <h3 class="gn-reveal">Step 1: Audit what you already have</h3> <p class="gn-reveal">It might sound obvious, but <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/nadineclarke/" target="_blank"><strong>Nadine Clarke</strong></a>, Product Experience Partner at <a href="https://www.tangent.co.uk/" target="_blank"><strong>Tangent</strong></a> advises that the first step for upgrading your digital systems is to '<strong>identify which systems are working for you, and the ones that you are not getting full value for</strong>.'</p> <h3 class="gn-reveal">Step 2: Know what you want to achieve as a business</h3> <p class="gn-reveal">Nadine goes on to say that you need to know what you want to achieve as a business. '<strong>Gather the requirements from people who the project is going to effect</strong>, whether it's HR or Sales. What do they need?'</p> <figure class="gn-fig gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-fig__media"><img alt="Nadine Clarke of Tangent discusses upgrading your digital systems" src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/687a235da6861294eec73166/68fa1268520b64d54e3c8ca9_62ce760b8856bb22074614ba_Tangent_Article%2520Quote.png" width="auto" height="auto" loading="auto"></div> <figcaption>Nadine Clarke, Product Experience Partner at Tangent, on identifying digital system requirements.</figcaption> </figure> <h3 class="gn-reveal">Step 3: Identify what your pain points are</h3> <p class="gn-reveal">At the heart of a digital transformation project is the desire to 'do things easier.' By <strong>identifying your current pain points</strong>, you'll be able to focus your project.</p> <blockquote class="gn-blockquote gn-reveal">'We're going, why don't you just optimise? You can <strong>use digital systems to do things more efficiently</strong>. You can do a lot of things that mean you won't need to hire hundreds of new salespeople.'<cite><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/andynicol/"><strong>Andy Nicol</strong></a> · Head of Digital Strategy, <a href="https://sputnik.digital/" target="_blank"><strong>Sputnik</strong></a></cite></blockquote> <div class="gn-divider gn-reveal" aria-hidden="true"></div> <h2 class="gn-reveal"><span class="num">02</span>Getting Started – Preparing your team for a digital transformation</h2> <p class="gn-reveal">When upgrading your digital systems, one of the main reasons a project is likely to fail is not the system itself, or the budget. it's the people delivering the project. Having buy-in across the full business is key for success, but it doesn't happen overnight.</p> <blockquote class="gn-blockquote gn-reveal">'Don't alienate people. <strong>Make in-house teams feel like they are part of the project.</strong> Some people don't find change exciting, do you need to keep everyone engaged?'<cite><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonbutler77trunkbbi/" target="_blank"><strong>Jon Butler</strong></a> · CEO, <a href="https://trunkbbi.com/" target="_blank"><strong>Trunk BBI</strong></a></cite></blockquote> <figure class="gn-fig gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-fig__media"><img alt="Jon Butler of Trunk BBI discusses upgrading your digital systems" src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/687a235da6861294eec73166/68fa1268520b64d54e3c8cb0_62ce7636c55ca4ea595da6ff_TrunkBBI_Article%2520Quote.png" width="auto" height="auto" loading="auto"></div> <figcaption>Jon Butler, CEO of Trunk BBI, on bringing teams along through digital transformation.</figcaption> </figure> <p class="gn-reveal"><strong><em>Download: </em></strong><a href="https://www.thegonetwork.com/resources/how-to-guide-to-writing-a-digital-marketing-brief" target="_blank"><strong><em>The Ultimate Guide to Writing a Digital Marketing Brief</em></strong></a></p> <div class="gn-divider gn-reveal" aria-hidden="true"></div> <h2 class="gn-reveal"><span class="num">03</span>Keeping your digital transformation strategy under control</h2> <p class="gn-reveal">As Nadine points out, people can very often associate digital transformation projects as very costly.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">'It's like a house renovation. You start pulling things off and then realise there's something else you want to fix.'</p> <p class="gn-reveal">So how do you keep everything under control, and stop costs from spiralling? Her advice: '<strong>Align your objectives around what you want to achieve</strong>.'</p> <h3 class="gn-reveal">Keeping it under control: Prioritising your digital objectives</h3> <p class="gn-reveal">Like most projects, it's easier to keep it all under control if you prioritise what is most important to you.</p> <blockquote class="gn-blockquote gn-reveal">'<strong>Break down the project and the pain points and identify the easy wins</strong>. Most companies prioritise wanting to save money, so the "nice to haves" come later in the day.'<cite><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/brantmcnaughton/" target="_blank"><strong>Brant McNaughton</strong></a> · MD, <a href="https://www.ecce.uk/" target="_blank"><strong>ecce</strong></a></cite></blockquote> <figure class="gn-fig gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-fig__media"><img alt="Brant McNaughton of ecce. discusses upgrading your digital systems" src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/687a235da6861294eec73166/68fa1268520b64d54e3c8cb4_62ce7651c55ca4917c5dc0bd_Ecce_Article%2520Quote.png" width="auto" height="auto" loading="auto"></div> <figcaption>Brant McNaughton, MD at ecce, on prioritising digital objectives.</figcaption> </figure> <p class="gn-reveal">The importance of prioritisation is emphasised by Nadine. 'You will want to grow and scale the project, but <strong>the more you add, the more time it will take and added costs will come with that.</strong></p> <p class="gn-reveal">Think about what will have the biggest impact from the lowest effort and build it up from there. You can also choose to have a phased approach, i.e., <strong>you don't have to implement everything at once</strong>.'</p> <div class="gn-divider gn-reveal" aria-hidden="true"></div> <h2 class="gn-reveal"><span class="num">04</span>The common pitfalls of upgrading your digital systems – and how to avoid them</h2> <p class="gn-reveal">Like any change management initiative, people run into common challenges when upgrading their digital systems. For example, one mistake to avoid is choosing the technology first.</p> <blockquote class="gn-blockquote gn-reveal">'This is the wrong approach. <strong>You need to do a discovery process first</strong> – work out who is going to be involved and who the project sponsors are. Bigger clients will do this as its own product. Once you've got a requirement document and list, you can then start to mark things off against it, such as technology.'<cite><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/benclaytonfranklin/" target="_blank"><strong>Ben Franklin</strong></a> · Technical Director, <a href="https://www.quba.co.uk/" target="_blank"><strong>Quba</strong></a></cite></blockquote> <p class="gn-reveal">The importance of discovery is emphasised by Brant. 'You need to <strong>have a clear definition of what you want to achieve</strong>. The discovery phase is important for the brand, for the engineering and for the look and feel.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">Lots of agencies charge for this discovery phase. Software engineering can be a drain on resources because projects can easily overrun, and things happen that can't be predicted. If you get the discovery piece done initially, <strong>you then have the option to shop around for a better price</strong>."</p> <div class="gn-divider gn-reveal" aria-hidden="true"></div> <h2 class="gn-reveal"><span class="num">05</span>Assessing a digital upgrade vs starting from scratch</h2> <p class="gn-reveal">Many companies will already have digital systems in place, ones that have been with the business from the very beginning. In this instance, we wanted to know if there was a balance between updating your current systems or starting entirely from scratch.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">Andy explains that 'most people have legacy systems. The modern approach is to be lightweight and interconnected. Generally speaking, <strong>there is always a way with legacy systems. You can do it bit by bit</strong>.'</p> <figure class="gn-fig gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-fig__media"><img alt="Andy Nicol of Sputnik Digital discusses upgrading your digital systems" src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/687a235da6861294eec73166/68fa1268520b64d54e3c8ca3_62ce7668b6ee185defa3b3ef_Sputnik_Article%2520Quote.png" width="auto" height="auto" loading="auto"></div> <figcaption>Andy Nicol, Head of Digital Strategy at Sputnik, on working with legacy systems.</figcaption> </figure> <div class="gn-divider gn-reveal" aria-hidden="true"></div> <h2 class="gn-reveal"><span class="num">06</span>How to measure success through the development process</h2> <p class="gn-reveal">As you begin to upgrade or develop new digital systems, it's important to be able to put a measure on whether it's working. Here are three pieces advice our panel have for doing this:</p> <ul class="gn-reveal"> <li><strong>Continue to test - the job is never finished</strong></li> <li><strong>Measuring success could be as easy as an increase in conversions</strong></li> <li><strong>Define KPIs related to your business goals and measure against this</strong></li> </ul> <h3 class="gn-reveal">Knowing when it's right to engage external support</h3> <p class="gn-reveal">Due to the nature of the tasks, most businesses will not have a department focussed wholly on your digital systems. These systems are usually managed across several teams, with use throughout the entire business.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">So, when it comes to upgrading these systems, what is the balance between external verses internal support?</p> <aside class="gn-quote gn-reveal"><q>Agencies do this sort of work, day-in, day-out across multiple projects. We've seen all the challenges and roadblocks, and we know how to solve them. What you might see as a major headache can be a quick win to us.</q><cite>Ben Franklin · Technical Director, Quba</cite></aside> <blockquote class="gn-blockquote gn-reveal">'<strong>It needs to be project managed from both sides</strong>. An internal team doesn't need the technical knowhow, as long as the system is getting them where they need to be. We have worked with clients who have created in-house engineering teams to oversee the project, but they don't tend to have enough work to keep them going.'<cite><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/benclaytonfranklin/" target="_blank"><strong>Ben Franklin</strong></a> · Technical Director, <a href="https://www.quba.co.uk/" target="_blank"><strong>Quba</strong></a></cite></blockquote> <figure class="gn-fig gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-fig__media"><img alt="Ben Franklin of Quba" src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/687a235da6861294eec73166/68fa1268520b64d54e3c8cac_62ce767d4d140e267d12bf4c_Quba_Article%2520Quote.png" width="auto" height="auto" loading="auto"></div> <figcaption>Ben Franklin, Technical Director at Quba, on the value of external agency support.</figcaption> </figure> <h3 class="gn-reveal">Finding the right fit</h3> <p class="gn-reveal">For Nadine, it's all about being able to work with someone you trust and 'will challenge your thinking, who won't always tell you what you want to hear. <strong>Agencies can be your guide and make the decisions that you might not want to take</strong>.'</p> <p class="gn-reveal">'Forget the software. <strong>Choose a partnership that you will get on with and trust rather than one who will just build you a site</strong>,' says Ben.</p> <aside class="gn-callout gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-callout__label">What this means for you</div> <h4>Final checklist before upgrading your digital systems</h4> <ul> <li><strong>Have you audited the systems you already have?</strong></li> <li><strong>Do you know what you want to achieve with your digital transformation</strong></li> <li><strong>Have you completed/engaged in a discovery phase?</strong></li> <li><strong>Have you got internal buy-in for the project?</strong></li> <li><strong>Will you benefit from external support?</strong></li> </ul> </aside> <p class="gn-reveal"><strong><em>If you're looking for external support on a Digital Transformation project or need independent advice on where to start, The GO Network's cost-free agency recommendation, qualification and appointment can connect you with the right people.</em></strong></p> <p class="gn-reveal"><strong><em>Get in touch </em></strong><a href="http://www.thegonetwork.com/get-in-touch"><strong><em>here</em></strong></a><strong><em> for an initial conversation.</em></strong></p> </div></div> <aside class="gn-related gn-reveal" data-auto="related-reading"> <div class="gn-related__label">Related reading</div> <ul class="gn-related__list"> <li class="gn-related__item"> <a href="/articles/digital-transformation-at-scale-making-a-molehill-out-of-a-mountain" class="gn-related__link"> <span class="gn-related__category">Expression</span> <span class="gn-related__title">Upgrading your Digital Systems - Finding a Strategy that Works for You</span> <span class="gn-related__excerpt">Agency digital systems don&#39;t upgrade themselves. 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