You know that it’s essential in terms of maintaining a competitive edge in the market, especially in today’s rapidly changing business environment – since it increases productivity, agility and security, and helps businesses attract and retain customers.

However, it’s one thing to know it, and quite another thing to do it. That’s why we’re here to help with our proven set of tips.

Starting a digital partnership in 3 steps

Kick off with a good plan

It’s extremely important to have: a solid assessment of the current state of your business, a digital vision, and a long-term strategy (this should include a business model, user needs and the technologies to be used). You should know exactly what you want to achieve before you take any other actions, in order to select the most suitable company for your partnership.

So at this point, you have a few options to choose from:

• If you already have a plan – you are welcome to proceed to step no. 2.
  
  
• If you do not yet have a plan on how to transform your business and you’ve been considering getting some external help – consult with the experts. At Future Processing, we can organise an intensive IT Strategy Workshop for high-level executives to help analyse your company’s needs, pain points and opportunities. We work in small groups in order to discover possible solutions more effectively, and also help you develop an adequate strategy for delivery.
  
  
• If you have a few ideas but you need some guidance – you can also seek expert help from external specialists. Our Discovery Workshop is designed for situations when a vision needs to be structured and adjusted to the market and customers’ needs. We can help you set your business objectives, find the right solutions, and come up with a detailed plan on how to reach your goals.

Every part of the digital transformation can be implemented gradually, step by step. It is important to keep the big picture in mind – a complete overview of your business, so you know exactly where you are and where you’re headed.

Select a company to work with

Once you have a plan, and you actually know what you want to achieve and how to explain it to your potential vendors, you’re good to move forward and start the IT partner selection process. There are basically two options for you to choose from:

• You may work with the same company that helped you with your strategy. They have the advantage of already being familiar with your project and knowing your business inside out. This means faster implementation, since you don’t have to spend time sharing this knowledge again with a new organisation.
  
  
• You may select a different partner. It requires you to initiate the RFI/RFP processes – or an alternative solution that will help you evaluate and shortlist your candidates, so that you can confidently make the final selection.

By the end of this stage, you should have a signed agreement with clear requirements, detailed scope of work, expected business outcomes, manner of settlement, and governance model, etc.

Begin the cooperation

The big day has finally come. You have a good strategy and a technology partner ready to transform your business digitally. So, how can you make sure you start off on the right foot?

• Organise a kick-off meeting or a video conference, if meeting in person is not an option. This is a great opportunity to get to know the people who will be involved in the project, break the ice and create a pleasant atmosphere that will lay the foundation for your collaboration.
  
  
• Give your IT partner space to do their job by following some good practices that apply to partnerships like this:
  
  – stick to your strategy
  
  – be accessible and responsive
  
  – be open and transparent
  
  – respect the deadlines
  
  – communicate your ideas, but don’t tell your partner how to do their job
  
  – be prepared for changes that may occur along the way and react accordingly

This way, you can start any digital partnership without major problems and be pretty sure that the partnership will continue this way throughout the cooperation, since you’ve bet on the best possible option.

Wrap-up

Step no. 1 is the most important part of starting a digital partnership, since it directly affects steps no. 2 and 3 as well. There’s no way around it. You need to have an overview of where your organisation is right now, what you want to achieve, and how the transformation will change your business. Having a solid understanding of your business case is important to both sides of the cooperation, since this helps you make wise decisions, allows you to effectively proceed with your digital transformation and lays the foundation for delivering the expected outcomes.

So, if you’re thinking about starting the digital transformation for your company and you would like to discuss this with specialists in the matter – don’t hesitate to contact us, and we will be glad to help!

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