It's being much discussed topic that digital is culture not mere technology. How organisations must introduce digital as culture? What are the gaps being observed and how they must be fulfilled.
          
Organisational culture is the key determinant of success of enterprises today. I fully subscribe to the view that digital is not another channel or technology, it is a full fledged business with the need for a well aligned culture. The success of digital technologies is only going to happen if there is comprehensive amalgamation and alignment of people, process and technology aspects. The key gaps and failures in digital programs being observed are because most leaders and business teams view Digital as a deliverable from technology team and refuse to reorient their processes or change their old ways of working.   What is needed is a very clear understanding of the key business goals and measures of success for the digital program which needs to be tracked diligently through an effective governance mechanism. In order to ensure alignment to the digital culture and programs, the KRA’s and incentives of people need to be reviewed and appropriate changes made. Similarly, re-engineering of processes and clear definition of roles and accountability needs to be done in order to ensure the institutionalisation of the digital programs  in daily operational processes for the organisation. 

In newly defined fully digital organisation what enhanced job profile and KRA's of finance, HR, sales & marketing functions.
        In my view, in a fully digital organisation, the KRAs need to be driven not by functional silos of Finance, HR or Sales and Marketing, rather the emphasis and focus should be on larger enterprise goals related to cost efficiency, revenue growth, customer experience, brand differentiation and internal employee productivity and alignment. A fully digitised organisation should streamline and automate manual processes, and reduce operational bottlenecks by ushering in paperless processes with efficient approvals and workflows. All departments should be working as a part of a collaborative ecosystem so that the value of the enterprise’s products and services to the customer can be maximised.
What are the barriers in creating and nurturing digital culture and how stake holders must overcome it
         The key barrier is resistance to change to embrace digital culture amongst managers and employees. Unless the rationale for change is properly explained, many employees fear the loss of job and / or authority and keep creating obstacles, either actively or passively in adopting the new ways of working. This is illustrated by the fact that adoption by average user of even clearly beneficial pathbreaking innovations like telephone took over 50 years, electricity and ATM’s took over 20 years and mobile phones  over 5-10 years.In healthcare, doctors took over 100 years to embrace medical innovations like the stethoscope.  It is therefore the responsibility of the digital team and key stakeholders to understand the current pain points being faced by users and besides leveraging technology , create redesigned processes and right skilled people who can fully deliver of the digital agenda. There is a need to work out a coherent communication plan around the redesigned processes with clear benefits outlined for both users and management. The team also needs to reassure any employees affected by the digital programs about the  potential to be able to perform higher responsibilities once they upskill themselves so that they can put their career on a faster growth trajectory.

It is saying that if you have first step correct, you have all steps correct. Define that "first step" and first initiative to introduce digital culture
          The first step is the need to understand the organisational context and decipher the biggest challenges being faced by the users and organisational functions in enhancing enterprise performance. If the user requirements and problem is well understood, the quality of solution will be much better. The first digital initiative should be a time bound program with measurable benefits where all aspects of people, process and technology are stitched together. It should be something which allows demonstration of quick wins and benefits to both the organisation and the people associated with the program, so that a positive momentum for change can be generated.  

Could you elaborate some plan of action to realise a quicker ROI on digital initiatives

         The key plan of action for success of digital initiatives is to have clear business goals, framework for governance and prioritisation. This needs to be accompanied with effective program execution and communication management . All members of the project and operational team should have  clearly specified roles alongwith accountability of persons involved in enabling the success of the program.

What is the difference between digital workplaces and traditional workplaces. What changes should be incorporated in workplace so as employees can perceive it as a digital set up.

         In a digital workplace, there is a clear emphasis on enhancing employee and customer experience with empowered employees, user friendly systems and processes, with access of digital systems possible anytime anywhere through mobile devices etc. On the other hand, in a traditional workplace, there is a lot more command and control based hierarchy  with a lot of manual processes and use of physical paper and approvals which result in lot of wastage of time and effort. The key changes which should be incorporated is by creating user friendly mobile based applications for easy access to systems, inclusive HR policies, transparent  process dashboards with redesigned/ reduced approval processes so that average employees get more empowered and start displaying greater degree of ownership.   

What is digital talent and how it is different from a technology talent

Digital talent refers to people who understand all 3 aspects of data, design and delivery of systems from a business perspective. Technology talent on the other hand refers to very experienced technology professionals who are primarily proficient in backend IT operations like infrastructure, network , security, software development etc. with limited direct interactions with business on understanding customer needs. Digital talent could also be IT aware business people who have good understanding of  functional process domain and are well aware of UI/ UX (user experience) aspects so they can make technology work well for the business.

What is the future of digital
             In my view, in this hyper connected world ,  a forward thinking, innovative Digital business is going to be the most important business channel for the future. Digital and e-Commerce based business models can help enterprises compete globally and have the potential to generate huge revenues for the enterprise. Technology has acted as a great leveller and flattened the global rules of marketplace and competition. Advancements in new age technologies like internet, IOT, cloud, Artificial intelligence, Big data etc. are indeed changing the rules of competition and democratising knowledge across the globe. If proper emphasis is given to maximising customer value by constantly leveraging data driven insights, creation of super-efficient customer centric processes with more user and mobile friendly system design, there will be significant business benefits accruing to the enterprise. The key to digital success is harmonising and synchronising people, process and technology aspects. We need to effectively convince both customers and our employees that new digital based operating models are in their own interest so that instead of fighting the change, they will start embracing the same..


Sumit Puri,
Group CTO, Evercare Dubai. Sumit associated with Max Healthcare as CIO. He has also worked in various leadership and managerial capacities in companies like Prudential, GE Capital, GE Money, PwC and Maruti Udyog. 
Puri had done his MBA in IT Strategy from IIM-Bangalore and BSc (Engg) in Mechanical Engineering from Dayalbagh Educational Institute. He is a Certified Professional in Life and Health Insurance from LOMA. He also posseses certifications in Oracle Applications ERP from PwC and PMP from PMI, US.