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Procedia Computer Science 175 (2020) 621–628
Abstract
Abstract
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© 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.
© 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.
© 2020
This The
is an Authors.
open accessPublished by Elsevier
article under the CC B.V.
BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
This is an
Peer-review open access
under article under
responsibility of the
the CC BY-NC-ND
Conference
Peer-review under responsibility of the Conference Program Program license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
Chairs.
Chair.
Peer-review under responsibility of the Conference Program Chairs.
Keywords: Digital Transformation; Process; Roadmap; Model; Step; Phase
Keywords: Digital Transformation; Process; Roadmap; Model; Step; Phase
1. Introduction
Economic development is very often the product of several social changes. Digital transformation is one of the
most recent manifestations of such change. Therefore, researchers and experts have closely studied this new
phenomenon to identify its implications, benefits, shortcomings and consequences on both social practices and
labor. The main focus has been and continues to be catalyzing a successful and efficient digital transformation.
When reviewing the literature defining digital transformation, definitions vary depending on perspectives and
perceptions [1]. This paper defines it as a new development model that calls for redefining relationships between
companies, their stakeholders, and clients and reviewing previous approaches to offering services and products [2]
as companies undergo multidimensional transformation.
The scope of this research is to define a roadmap for digital transformation and provide end-to-end support to this
process. Knowing that previous works have already mapped its dimensions [3].
However, it remains necessary to set clearly defined steps when approaching any change. In this case, it starts by
exposing and defining the process of digital transformation, by reviewing the existing literature and academic papers
and by grasping the many approaches to this topic among researchers and consultants.
This paper highlighted striking differences of opinion among researchers on how digital transformation should
best be supported. On the one hand, there are those who advocate for limiting such support to providing strategic
directives and on the other, those who share extensive tasks and operational guidelines on achieving this
transformation. Hence, the question arising is what is the appropriate level of detail needed for the successful
delivery of digital transformation?
This paper is organized into five main sections. The first introduces the context and the aims of this research, the
second lays out the adopted method, the third discusses and presents the main results. Further analysis of this is
provided in section four before presenting conclusions and perspectives to consider in section five.
2. Research method
This section explains the research method adopted to review the literature on processes of digital transformation.
It is key to have a consolidated view on the many academic efforts in this regard and how they intersect or diverge
when analyzing the process of digital transformation.
To have a balanced and deep grasp of this, the method included looking into both research and white papers on
digital transformation since 2009. The key words of these review, were the following: digital transformation
roadmap, digital transformation process, digital transformation steps... This resulted in selecting the following
articles and white papers.
After compiling this database of articles, the following phase was studying each of them and identifying the
processes of digital transformation, they were suggesting using data representation methods such as (Diagram,
process, model, steps…). This allowed for the extraction of the several phases that constitute and enrich the digital
transformation process.
152 phases were emerged out of this exercise after going through the aforementioned 31 research and white
papers. To make the data more accessible it was then categorized into generic phases based on
semantic intersections and similarities between the reviewed content, covering all the phases and insights raised.
After proposing this phase’s categorization, we evaluated their coverage by the articles studied so we can
determine the steps that are commonly needed in the digital transformation.
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Fadwa Zaoui and Nissrine Souissi / Procedia Computer Science 00 (2020) 000–000 3
This approach led to the results we present in section three, including all the categories of phases related to the
digital transformation process.
3. Results
This section shares the results reached thanks to the method outlined before.
The semantic-based categorization of the 152 identified phases culminated in building the inclusive categories
are presented below in Table 2. These account for the diverse perspectives and eliminate redundant phases scattered
across the reviewed work. It further allowed for better structuring the phases and accounting for the various trends in
the literature.
These categories provide initial insights on the different phases of digital transformation stemmed from the
literature. Tables 3 and 4 list the phases suggested coverage by the reviewed literature, allowing for a better
understanding and analysis of the most significant components of digital transformations seen by experts and
researchers.
These identified stages of digital transformation, and then grouped into categories, allowed for a more structured
analysis of the results, as will be shown in the next section.
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4. Discussion
This section analyses the results of the literature review exercise. As shown in table 5, several phases have
emerged as indispensable to the process of digital transformation. These are the following:
and question how efficient the adopted processes were. This should help sensitive the different stakeholders on
the need for an engaged and agile approach to the process of digital transformation.
• Defining the strategic orientation of the digital transformation of the company and setting strategic goals.
Some of the suggested categories were abstract/ very vague when others were very specific. This called for
bringing some categories together and splitting others.
In this vein, defining strategic orientations of digital transformation and declining these in specific objectives for
this transformation are two phases but they really are part of defining the strategy for this transformation. The
latter includes goal setting, internal and external diagnosis, and objectives to action plan…. In the meantime, two
main variables should be considered: the company size and its activity. It is worth underlining that this phase is
of utmost importance to the successful completion of the rest of the process.
• Implementing digital transformation
It is needless to mention that implementing digital transformation on the ground requires significant prior
preparation and guidance. But implementation remains the most concrete phase of this whole transformational
project. Change will be felt and visible to different stakeholders. How fast this change will be concretized
depends on how motivated and committed stakeholders are to the collective cause that is digitalization.
It is worth noting here that the reviewed material in favor of having a strategic vision, unanimously considers the
integration of technology as a step of implementing digital transformation, no shortcut is then made between ICT
integration and digital transformation, contrary to common beliefs and practices which tend to merge the two [36].
The reviewed articles did not cover significantly the other phases, which partly reflects the diverse views on
digital transformation. This diversity is double edged as it enriches the debate and the choices when it comes to the
process of transformation but at the same time could create confusion given the multiple possibilities, which do not
necessarily consider the multidimensional nature of digital transformation.
Moreover, it is noticeable from this literature review exercise, that the use of representation models is very
common in roadmaps on digital transformation. This representation is brief and synthetic but in many cases fails to
provide the level of detail (i.e. input- activity- output) necessary to adapt the suggested processes to the reality and
context of companies.
This analysis has highlighted the need for a concerted effort and serious reflection on the process of digital
transformation. Instructions should take into account the different dimensions and actors and their input when it
comes to digital transformation. The process should find the right balance between providing generic digital
transformation phases and maintaining a certain degree of flexibility that would allow for adapting it to different
companies. This task is vital but far from being easy especially when considering the different variables linked to
companies (size, activity, target...).
5. Conclusion
This paper is part of the academic reflection underway on digital transformation. It neatly builds on previous
works evaluating digital maturity with its dimensions and suggests a further deep dive into the process of digital
transformation.
The studied papers assume the prior understanding of the digital transformation concept and address its
implementation. We should nevertheless point that these papers, unanimously, support a multidimensional-oriented
vision of digital transformation and overstep the restrictive IT-oriented vision, which meet exactly our strategic
conception of digital transformation, considering it a strategic transformation process.
The first step of this study was this literature review covering scientific research and white papers. This
groundwork has made it possible to identify the fundamental phases necessary to having a generic process for digital
transformation. It also allowed for constructively criticizing and analyzing this process, bearing in mind that the
main goal of this work and any other in this vein should be supporting companies through their digital
transformation journey.
Furthermore, this paper has reconciled the many approaches to digital transformation by re-organizing the
categories and phases constituting the process of this transformation. These all fit under three fundamental and
indispensable pillars making up the process of digital transformation: 1) Evaluating, 2) defining the strategy, and 3)
Fadwa Zaoui et al. / Procedia Computer Science 175 (2020) 621–628 627
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implementing it.
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