Today’s energy sector has unique challenges and opportunities that arise when undergoing a digital transformation journey. In this specialized industry, the journey intersects the worlds of business strategy and digital transformation, making the process of building a compelling business case for digital transformation a crucial part of the implementation plan. A pilot test can help you fine-tune an effective strategic approach as you make your plans to leave traditional paper-based systems behind and embrace the power digital solutions can provide.
Whether you’re an executive seeking to drive innovation within your company, a manager aiming to optimize processes, or an employee passionate about embracing digital technologies, this information is for you. Continue reading to acquire the knowledge and insights necessary to build a compelling business case for digital transformation, and ultimately, help your company thrive.
Four Steps to Building a Compelling Business Case
A well-constructed business case demonstrates how improvements to the file management system can result in cost savings for your organization, supporting future decision-making and helping to track performance. By exploring alternative options and the benefits, costs, and risks of each, you’ll justify your recommended solution and generate crucial support for your digitization program.
It’s likely that the people to whom you’ll present your business case are not experts in information management. Gaining approval for funding and resources to support your program will require clear communication of the cost impacts and savings to the bottom line.
Step 1: Identify Business Need
A well-constructed business case demonstrates how improvements to the file management system can result in cost savings for your organization, supporting future decision-making and helping to track performance. By exploring alternative options and the benefits, costs, and risks of each, you’ll justify your recommended solution and generate crucial support for your digitization program.
It’s likely that the people to whom you’ll present your business case are not experts in information management. Gaining approval for funding and resources to support your program will require clear communication of the cost impacts and savings to the bottom line.
Step 2: Outline Solution Options
In a previous article, we covered how to calculate the costs of your current file system. In the business case, compare alternate solutions to illustrate cost savings. Consider all costs and be transparent in reporting. Some costs are not as obvious as others, such as ongoing costs for software and equipment updates.
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Step 3: Recommend a Preferred Solution
A thorough analysis of solution options is critical to support your rationalization for the preferred recommendation. Show how the solution is meeting the business’s needs. How will it impact the bottom line? How will it affect how people work? How does it add security and lower risk for the organization?
Step 4: Present the Implementation Plan
Share details about administering your recommended solution. Your implementation plan should include information about these points:
- Budget: How much will your recommended solution cost?
- Resource allocation: Who will do what? Will existing staff need to be reassigned and trained? What is the required hardware and software support?
- Schedule: What is the estimated implementation timing? Will it happen in phases?
- Monitoring/communication: How will everyone be kept informed throughout the process? How will progress be monitored and success measured?
Your business case acts as a roadmap that guides your digitization journey. To ensure that your plan forward is the best it can be, you may want to test your strategies and ideas in a pilot.
The Pilot Project
Conducting a pilot project within a defined record set before proceeding with the full implementation will help test the technology and strengthen your implementation plans, including procedures and workflows. The pilot test is designed to help your strategic approach deliver a digital file management plan that is on target to meet your business’s unique needs. It will inform your case, strengthen credibility, and gain the support your plan needs to move forward.
Access understands the complexity of energy industry information and can help you plan for digitization regardless of where you are in your journey. If you’re not sure if you’re ready to get started, you can get guidance from the eBook, Adventures in Digitization: The Digitization Playbook for Energy Companies, to map out each step of the journey. The information in this eBook will provide you with more detailed tips and expert advice on building a strong business case and planning your pilot test.
