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briefing27 February 2026

Digital Transformation Doesn't Mean What You Think It Means

Most 'digital transformation' programmes are technology implementations dressed up in strategic language. Real digital transformation changes how the organisation thinks.

If your digital transformation programme is essentially an ERP implementation with a new name, you're not alone. Most organisations use 'digital transformation' to describe technology projects. The problem is that technology projects have a 70% failure rate when they're treated as technology projects.

Technology is the easy part

The technology almost always works. What fails is the change around it: the operating model shift, the capability build, the process redesign, the cultural adjustment. These are the hard parts, and they're the parts that get deprioritised when the programme is run by IT.

Real digital transformation changes how people work, how decisions are made, and how value is delivered. The technology is an enabler, not the destination.

Getting it right

Start with the business outcome, not the technology. Define what 'transformed' looks like in terms of capability, not systems. And invest at least as much in change management and capability building as you do in the platform itself.

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