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Key factors to consider for a successful cloud transformation project

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Moving systems and infrastructure to the cloud can dramatically lower costs, improve efficiency and make organisations more competitive. However, planning and conducting a transformation to the cloud is not a simple task.

Choosing the right technology platform is the first step. According to Microsoft’s Chief Executive Officer, Satya Nadella, digital transformation won’t happen with another bolted-on cloud app or a giant enterprise resource planning (ERP) implementation. It will happen with systems that can adapt and grow to fit unique businesses and industries. It is essential to form a deliberate transformation strategy based on the business’ unique goals and needs, rather than considering only the latest trends and fads.

Organisations need to thoroughly research and determine their business requirements, both for present and planned growth, to choose the approach and solutions that will best support their business processes and overall strategy. Furthermore, selecting the right transformation partner and determining how the cloud solution will be not only delivered but supported beyond go-live are just as important as the solution itself.

In this white paper, we will look at the various factors that ensure a successful digital transformation project: from choosing a partner and mapping your business processes to selecting the right team, the implementation methodology that best suits your project, and the support services after go-live.

Important factors to consider when planning a transformation project

By the time an organisation realises it needs to transform, the business may already be struggling to compete effectively due to issues such as poor visibility into supply chain and sales figures, overly complex IT systems or ineffective processes.

Many businesses have legacy IT systems in place that are critical to the operations of the organisation. Purchasing and implementing new technology systems do not constitute a quick and simple fix; the process can be complex and risky. Therefore, companies must consider what kind of approach and solutions will suit their needs best.

Digital transformation is a process, not a one-time project. Begin in the areas where your business can gain the most value today and will evolve with you into the future.

It is important to decide whether you want to modernise or transform several areas or just start with the basics; whether you want to focus on improving internal business processes, adding more value to your external customer experience, gaining true understanding of your organisational data; or whether you want to transform your entire operation.

Digital transformation has become part of every business. Most organisations understand that to remain competitive, they need to embrace new, digital ways of working. A move to a cloud-based environment is often considered a key way to transform.

Key factors to consider for a successful cloud transformation project

Table of contents

Important factors to consider when planning a transformation project 2

Realising ROI from digital transformation 3

Scoping your transformation project 3

4 key steps to managing scope effectively 4

Choose a strategic partner 6

Why DXC Eclipse 6

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For example, many businesses still have separate, legacy systems to manage operations, supply, sales, marketing and human resources — creating silos of information in which data is accessible only within individual departments and is not shared across the organisation. A cloud-based ERP system integrates multiple key business processes within a single solution, eliminating these silos and ensuring that all departments can identify issues and take action based on access to consistent, reliable information.

Having a single integrated view of your business, made possible by a cloud-based ERP solution, enables better decision making in the boardroom and is critical to making operational plans that align with and support strategic objectives. It is a great place to start your transformation.

Realising ROI from digital transformation

Transformation projects must deliver a strong return on investment (ROI), as well as ongoing value to stakeholders, in order to justify cost and be considered successful. Focusing on due diligence at the start of a project will help to assess potential ROI and the prospects for realising associated benefits.

Delivering value to stakeholders means understanding and agreeing on project deliverables and business outcomes right from the start. Organisations should formally document strategic business objectives and associated processes, as well as technology requirements, to help ensure that everyone in the business agrees on prerequisites prior to implementation. This will ensure that the desired value and outcomes are understood and delivered.

Traditionally, when IT professionals and senior management discussed the ROI of an IT project, they were mostly thinking of financial benefits. Today, business leaders must consider both financial and nonfinancial benefits to deliver stakeholder value. IT is no longer just an issue for the IT team. Business leaders understand that technology is key to running their business successfully.

Moving systems to the cloud can deliver the following benefits:

• Agility and speed

• Scalability

• Reliability

• Security

• Productivity

• Collaboration and engagement

Scoping your transformation project

Even though today’s technology and IT systems are becoming more intuitive and user-friendly, the purchase and implementation of an integrated software solution remains a complex project. The value chain is more intricate, the connections with customers, distributors and the channel have increased, and the number of available cloud-based and on-premises solutions is larger than ever.

Management frameworks for selecting the right IT solutions and implementation partners have become more rigorous. There are several elements to be considered when the organisation is looking to modernise systems and applications.

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Scope management is the starting point for any project, to identify and outline the deliverables and work that will be required. It is important to revisit the scope throughout a project to make sure everything is running on track, and to tweak where needed.

4 key steps to managing scope effectively

STEP 1: Engaging leadership to ensure management buy-in

For any project to be a success, leadership and strong vision must come from the top, with a clear direction set by C-level managers and/or the board of directors. Their input is key to ensuring that the project remains on track according to the organisation’s overarching goals.

The aim of a transformation project is to make an organisation work more efficiently and be more successful. Such projects are often considered high-risk because they are business-critical. It is therefore vital to have management buy-in from the start.

When the senior leadership team is engaged with and fully supportive of a project, it is more likely that the appropriate time and resources will be allocated, letting the project team focus completely on a successful implementation. For example, some companies will invest in additional staff to manage day-to-day operations so that the internal project management team and key stakeholders can focus exclusively on the implementation, thus avoiding the risk of conflicting priorities.

Having the management team and key users involved in a project from the start instils a sense of ownership. This helps to facilitate an easy transition to a new platform once it goes live.

Ultimately, the transformation will enable future business improvement and drive boardroom decision making. Therefore, it is essential that it has the complete backing of management and is aligned to the business’ overall strategy.

STEP 2: Understanding the business requirements and developing a business case

When considering a transformation, an organisation must fully understand the problem it is trying to solve or the process it is trying to improve. This sounds simple yet remains one of the biggest stumbling blocks. Teams often have not mapped current business processes, which will prevent them from being able to visualise and articulate desired outcomes of change. Therefore, a company needs to start by understanding what is working and what is not, so that it does not replicate inefficient processes. This will help set the goals for the project and define the scope.

Once a project starts, it may be difficult to change direction without additional cost or delays. This can lead to missed market opportunities and can rapidly turn initial internal enthusiasm into antipathy. The high-level scope of the project should be defined and documented in a business case, with input from all relevant stakeholders, prior to the project kickoff.

The core elements of an IT project business case include:

• Return on investment (ROI): An IT implementation project needs to deliver a strong ROI to justify implementation and operational costs. As organisations demand proof of value before investing in a technology project, it is crucial to conduct due diligence. This will help to assess the potential ROI and the associated benefits.

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• Highlight the breadth of benefits: Traditionally, management wanted to know only about the financial benefits of IT projects. A strong business case needs to explain all of the potential benefits and how they can contribute to the bottom line. For example, by focusing on increased customer satisfaction, improved access to key information and improved decision making, the stakeholder value will inevitably increase.

• Change management: Providing a change management strategy is often overlooked when preparing for a transformation project. Without effective change management, including business process documentation and process-driven training, organisations risk poor uptake, and the anticipated business benefits will not be fully realised.

• Execution plan: Change management will guide the organisation’s board and teams in the right direction. However, it is vital to remember the end users of the solution you are implementing. The desired business value will be achieved only with the successful execution of the project. A solid execution plan will convince management that the solution will deliver ongoing stakeholder value.

STEP 3: Choosing the right platform

Most companies have invested substantial capital in their IT infrastructure over the years. With the advent of cloud came a promise of lower costs and increased efficiencies. However, transitioning your technology infrastructure to the cloud should not be an all-or-nothing exercise. It is important to consider which parts of the business will benefit from moving to the cloud and which should remain on-premises.

It is equally important to look at a variety of parameters, including:

• Flexibility to adapt to the changing business model

• Future development path

• Ease of support

• Integration with existing/future applications

• Analytics tools available

• Scalability

All of these factors must be considered if a company is to choose the right technology for its needs.

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STEP 4: Future-proof the decision

It is important to select a solution that maps as closely as possible to the current and future requirements of the business. This is possible only when the future requirements have been visualised and shared with the implementation team. Key stakeholders need to be interviewed and all business-critical requirements discussed upfront. The team can then recommend a technology solution that provides the flexibility and scalability needed to expand with the business.

Adequate support is vital to ensure the ongoing value of the transformation. This should include consultants working with the business team to find new ways to extract value from the system. Training and ongoing patches should also be provided as part of the service contract. This will help ensure that the business uses all of the functionality offered by the chosen technology.

Businesses should look for a solution that can integrate proven industry best practices workflows with ease, as well as offer the flexibility and scalability they need to cope with future growth and market changes.

Choose a strategic partner

A digital transformation is a major undertaking. A successful project will depend to a large extent on the accomplishments of the implementation partner. The partner should be stable, financially secure, well-referenced and reliable.

A digital transformation is not about simply installing software. There are many stakeholders and complex, mission-critical business processes involved. This means a high quality of work is required, with the scope for customisation and the need for strategic guidance and support. Look for an implementation partner that has a history in the industry, can provide references from its existing customer base and can offer qualified, certified professionals to work on your project.

Ultimately, businesses should look for a partner with a customer-centric focus that can provide expert support and advice throughout an entire project: from initial scope and design through to solution development, delivery, training, launch and post go-live support.

Why DXC Eclipse

DXC Eclipse, a practice within DXC Technology, helps enterprise and mid-market companies accelerate digital transformation, solve business challenges and deliver intelligent solutions that make a difference for clients, employees and partners. We believe in delivering expertise, project transparency and excellent customer service in every engagement.

With team members in North America, EMEA, Asia and Australia-New Zealand, we are uniquely positioned to deliver Microsoft Dynamics 365, ERP, CRM, business process, analytics and collaboration solutions to clients across the globe. The largest independent Microsoft Dynamics partner in the world, DXC Eclipse serves more than 4,000 clients across multiple industries. Our practice delivers services and solutions that positively impact our world today and into the future.

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About DXC Technology

DXC Technology (DXC: NYSE) is the world’s leading independent, end-to-end IT services company, serving nearly 6,000 private and public-sector clients from a diverse array of industries across 70 countries. The company’s technology independence, global talent and extensive partner network deliver transformative digital offerings and solutions that help clients harness the power of innovation to thrive on change. DXC Technology is recognised among the best corporate citizens globally. For more information, visit www.dxc.technology.

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