Adtech blogs

Digital transformation can be a powerful change agent for organizations, but it can also fail, particularly when an organization hires the wrong tech partner, shortens the testing phase, and relies heavily on outdated systems and practices. This article examines the reasons behind the failure of the digital transformation efforts of two major companies namely Haribo and MillerCoors:

Haribo:

Failure to re-evaluate existing business processes to ensure alignment with their overarching operational model
Failure to develop a proper risk mitigation plan to address supply chain setbacks
Failure to perform system checks in a designated testing environment that would have had the bandwidth to simulate real-life operations.

MillerCoors:

Re-using outdated contracts to plan out their digital transformation project
Choosing the wrong technology partner to aid in their digital transformation initiative
Hiring an army of outside consultants to oversee the project instead of relying on employees to drive the digital transformation initiative

Digital transformation is a transformative phenomenon that can go off the rails even during the best of times for even the biggest organizations. Contributing factors include an overabundance of investment in building capabilities which are not warranted, a culture of hero worship and an over-reliance on legacy systems and age-old processes across the organization. With that being said let’s take a gander at the reasons behind the failure of 2 tech giants namely HP and GE in their digital transformation efforts:

Hewlett Packard (HP):

1. Failure to break down project silos made it difficult for leadership teams to make extensive changes required to both existing processes and employee mindsets
2. Data integrity became compromised resulting in the company losing track of a ton of orders during the migration ordeal
3. Struggled to keep up with the influx of orders due to improper integration of new systems to existing processes resulting in the organization losing $400 million dollars’ worth of revenue.

General Electric (GE):

1. GE tried to do everything at once instead of empowering and tasking a small team of dedicated professionals with developing a sustainable solution that befits the organization
2. Failure to find a balance between the organization’s business needs and capabilities resulted in GE failing to make the impact that they desired

There are many reasons why big companies fail at digital transformation. The most prominent reasons include a lack of clear strategy or vision, inadequate resources or funding, resistance to change from employees and leadership, and a failure to adequately address security and privacy concerns. Additionally, a lack of focus on the customer experience and an inability to adapt to new technologies and market trends can also contribute to a company’s failure at digital transformation. With that being said let’s take a look at the reasons behind the failure of 2 FMCG giants namely Hershey and Revlon in their digital transformation efforts:

Hershey:
1. Unrealistic deadlines and failure to pre-empt risks
2. Project completion was set for one of the company’s busiest times of the year.
3. Leaders failed to adequately recognize the scale of work involved.
4. Shortcuts were taken such as shortening the testing phase resulted in the project failing on launch

Revlon:
1. Insufficient risk identification and mitigation.
2. No clear vision on what they aimed to achieve
3. Failure to implement effective control measures beforehand

The global healthcare industry has never been one to actively pursue digital transformation. But the COVID-19 pandemic changed all that.

When human errors become inevitable, automation needs to become the prerogative. Automation testing empowers QA teams to test more in less time and with less effort and is the only way to keep pace with agile development, and comprehensively verify software for all possible bugs. Other benefits include:

1. Promoting synergy between software teams enables better software validation
2. Makes testing scripts re-usable
3. Helps companies gain ROI from employing automated software testing
4.Providing increased test coverage that is impossible with manual tests