REAL Talk With Sam Holcman

Public reports state that 84% of Digital Transformation projects fail to deliver their expected benefits, organizations look for “silver bullets”, that transform organizations to a 2020’s enterprise by “Monday morning”.

We review what Strategy is – we focus on this word, & what it actually means. It's more than implementing a new technology! We look at this approach enabling an organization’s strategy, especially in this age of continuous change & the hypercompetitive environment we're in.

Many organizations embarked on digital transformations are underwhelmed at the return on investment they see. Our observations suggest a high percentage of digital transformation projects and programs are “paving existing cow paths” – useful but far from game-changing.

The 2020’s & beyond businesses & enterprises require a full capacity to take on new & novel actions in response to new & changed circumstances. It's the ability of the business and its enabling technologies to deal with variance.

We discuss cybersecurity, & what you as a business person, technology professional, or just an innocent citizen needs to know. Do you need or know about cyber insurance? What are your rights if your personal information (bank accounts, passwords, social security numbers, credit cards, etc.) are “released” by a 3rd party? Do we need an agency that investigates, independently, cyber attacks? What about facial recognition? For organizations, what vulnerabilities exist in your supply chain?

Less than 50% of Digital Transformation is about technology. Why? This is the "easy" part. The difficult area of Digital Transformation is the human side of change driving Business activities. The probable change is due to enhanced or revised digital actions. We describe the A.C.T.I.O.n. model for Human/Organization Change.

Benefit from experience with organization changes leading to true advantages. Digital Transformation - the hard part is the human part. Not theory - hands on practice.

Finger-pointing is great, but that doesn’t mean anything is going to be addressed.

The path is clear. The path is logical. It is really not complicated. Yes, it is probably a bit different than what you are doing now. Organizations are embarking on this approach and change. It will not be done “next Monday morning”. Fundamentally, what is the “change”? Stop writing computer software and start assembling software. Why would there be resistance? Change – change is hard. We will lay out the path.

As consultant Tom Davenport said, “At American Airlines, they told me they had 11 different usages of the term ‘airport’. As a frequent traveler on their planes, I was initially a bit concerned about this but when they explained it, the proliferation of meanings made sense.

How do you have the unique meanings when you essentially have a running database?

Good Data comes before Big Data - we will explore how to get there. It requires Enterprise Architecture.

Any other hyped words I can throw into the title of this episode?! Much has been discussed in virtually every media outlet on the movement toward digitization, agility, and a host of other phrases being used to both generate excitement and trepidation. What does all of this really mean?

We provide an understanding of what is actually required to move from strategic intent to measurable actions and roadmaps.

If you heard the term "beltway bandits", this episode will be refreshing to you. We interview Brad King and Liam Speeden CEO & CTO of Robbins-Gioia, LLC respectively.

Since 1980, they approached Federal Government contracting in a different way, and are not the stereotypical beltway bandits! RG combines leading-edge capabilities in management and technology with a seasoned understanding of clients’ missions.

We are entering the Information Age, & existing the Internet Age. Digital "everything" is no longer a nice-to-have, it is an imperative. Yet, most organizations are being inhibited in addressing these new realities due to the Organizations Technology backbone, & IT approaches that are hold-overs from previous ages.

Have you asked technology execs how they plan to address increases in competition, increases in the speed of change, & the ease of which customers can change their loyalty?

Eric Sweden, Program Director at NASCIO – the National Association of State Chief Information Officers is our guest today. NASCIO’s mission is to foster government excellence through quality business practices, information management, and technology policy.  

NASCIO provides state CIOs and state members with products and services designed to support the challenging role of the state CIO, stimulate the exchange of information and promote the adoption of IT best practices and innovations.