<div>For millions of Indian consumers in cities and rural areas, “being digital” has become a way of life. Similar to what’s happening in more and more households around the world, many Indians wake up in the morning and, the first thing they latch on to are their smart phones to check email or review their friends’ Facebook posts and Twitter feeds. At cafés and bus stops, conversations between friends are increasingly peppered with verbs such as “Googling”, “Tweeting” and “Facebooking” fromlingua digital.</div><div> </div><div>Accelerated penetration of smart phones and mobile broadband across the nation will only bring in larger swaths of Indian populace under the digital fold. IDC predicts that the Indian smart-phone market will witness growth levels higher than any other top markets in the world—as much as 460 percent during 2013-2017 alone. And according eMarketer, starting in 2017, India is expected to become home to the world's largest population of Facebook users and will emerge as the second-largest mobile broadband market.</div><div> </div><div>But consumers aren’t the only ones going digital. Indian workers are doing the same. Witness the rapidly digitising talent pools in Indian organizations, leveraging the power of sharing, networking and gaming. A new layer of connected intelligence is augmenting employees’ skills, automating processes and incorporating machines into lives of customer and workforce.</div><div> </div><div>Today’s digital consumers and digitized employees are constantly connected and more informed than ever. As such, they no longer just passively accept the products and services that companies have to offeror the practices and opportunities that employers and workplaces have to offer. Just as digital customers areaggressively shaping companies’ offerings, digitised workers are redefining the way work gets done.</div><div> </div><div>When it comes to serving digital consumers, gone are the days when companies could still succeed even if they kept customers waiting. Now, thanks to the increasing penetration of e-commerce, digital consumers can pick and choose the businesses they want to engage with. And the businesses they select will be those that providethe offerings that customers want—when and where they want them. Likewise, companies can’t expect to recruit and retain the best talent if they ignore the ‘digital personality’ of the more-digitsing employee. </div><div> </div><div>To profitably serve the growing mass of digital consumers as well as win and retain digitised talent, Indian companies can’t rely on simply tweaking productivity- and efficiency-enhancing strategies deployed in what we call the IT Era and Industrial IT Era. Instead, they will have to embrace digitalisation—whereby digitized resources (such as online channels, machines equipped with digital sensors and cloud-based software) are transformed into new sources of profitable revenue.</div><div> </div><div>Digitalisation involves recognition of connections among the information, motivations, decisions and actions driving customers’ decisions. It is about formulation of an “outside-in” strategy for making digital customers—whether consumers or other businesses—co-creators and shapers of experiences. From a talent perspective, digitalisation is about building flexible technology framework capable of combiningthe power of digital talent with the digital ecosystem within and outside organizations to quickly deliver new value to customers.</div><div> </div><div>To understand the intent, interest and intensity within companies based in India towards embracing digitalisation, Accenture conducted a detailed survey and in-depth interview based research. We had conversations with more than 100 C-suite executives across large, medium and small companies in a diverse array of sectors.</div><div> </div><div>To sum up the results in one line, we witnessed much talk, but less planned action.</div><div> </div><div>Nine out of 10 executives we surveyed said that digitalsation will be a strategic imperative for their companies over the next five years.</div><div> </div><div>To avoid missing the “digital bus,” numerous companies have rushed to adopt digital technologies such as social media and cloud technologies. Focused on earning quick returns on these investments, such businesses are working to pluck “low-hanging fruit” such as process efficiencies and productivity gains. As a result, they have not taken time to create a roadmap for using their digital resources to develop new-to-market offerings — the true value inherent in digitalization. Equally sobering, they have put their current and future digital gains at risk.</div><div> </div><div>A large number of executives surveyed have already started seeing the gains they’ve made from digital adoption hit a plateau. What they aren’t realizing isthat such outcomes stem from the practice of “bolting” digital technologies onto their existing operating and business model.For instance, 86percent of the companies in our survey that haven’t defined a clear digital roadmap complained that because of the high costs of digital adoption and digital transactions, combined with infrastructure deficits,they haven’t captured digital technologies’ full potential.</div><div> </div><div>Clearly, while companies are aware of the importance of digitalization and keen to embrace it, many are going about it the wrong way. </div><div> </div><div>To help companies embrace digitalization systematically, we have defined a framework for achieving efficient as well as profitable digitalization. To develop this framework, we analyzed the experiences of firms that have begun finding their feet in this effort. While they have encountered their share of surprises and setbacks, these companies are also benefiting by taking a methodical approach to digitalization. </div><div> </div><div><strong>The proposed framework comprises three steps:</strong></div><div> </div><div><strong>1)</strong> Create awareness and ownership around digitalisation.To approach digitasation strategically, organisations must make a paradigm shift in thinking, culture and behavior. As the first step, the CEO of the firm must create awareness of what digitalization is and what advantages it offers, and foster a sense of ownership around digitalization at the highest level. The CEO must encourage top leaders across all key business functions to have “skin in the game” and to drive digitalisation collectively.</div><div><br><strong>2)</strong> Design a digitalisation roadmap.Firms must develop a digitalization roadmap. They must put customers at the center of this roadmap and include tactics for using digital technologies to strengthen their understanding of existing and future customers. Fostering participation of leaders from all ranks, companies must design a “digital business value tree” (discussed more fully below) as well as consider potential digital operating models. While designing this roadmap, leadership must also detail the technology and skills required to harness the true power of digital assets towards delivering the desired customer value.</div><div><br><strong>3)</strong> Digitalise your business model. Companies must digitalise their business model, which requires making the right choices about their customer value proposition, resources, profit formula and performance metrics. They must nurture the capabilities and culture needed to support their business model and thus transform digitalization into a driver of profitable growth.</div><div> </div><div>To follow these steps, especially the second and the third, Indian companies will need to customize the activities associated with each step to suit their unique business realities. Moreover, they should not abruptly jettison all of their efficiency-focused digitisation initiatives. Instead, they need to find ways to leverage new efficiencies to craft a digitalisation strategy that makes them more competitive in their chosen markets.</div><div> </div><div>Indeed, the digitalisation journey will not be easy. However, by breaking it down into stages and taking a disciplined approach, Indian businesses can go beyond merely “doing better.” Ultimately, they can transform their businesses by activating new sources of revenue that take full advantage of the nation’s rapid digital growth.</div><div> </div><div>(Avinash Vashistha and Raghav Narsalay)</div><div> </div><div>(<em>Avinash Vashistha is the Chairman and Senior Managing Director for Accenture’s India geography. Raghav Narsalay is a Managing Director with the Accenture Institute for High Performance</em>)</div>
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