6 Tips for Hiring the RIGHT Digital Transformation Agency

There will always be a demand for a digital transformation agency. In fact, while digital transformation spending was estimated at $1.6 trillion in 2022, it’s forecast to reach $3.4 trillion by 2026.

However, choosing the right agency is important to guarantee the success of your digital transformation journey. Without the right partner, you can forget about superior customer experience, valuable insights, or enhanced innovation.

Thankfully, you’re moments away from discovering how you can make the perfect choice.

“But I’m Still Not Sure Why My Business Needs a Digital Transformation Agency”

That’s a valid concern. After all, you’ll be spending a considerable amount of money to get your organization up to speed. Moreover, you may have read a few guides and believe your internal team can handle the journey ahead.

However, partnering with a digital transformation agency can offer your organization several benefits, including the ones below.   

Different Perspective

A skilled digital transformation agency has probably worked with many other organizations, including those in the same industry. Therefore, your own initiative can benefit from its knowledge and experience.

Moreover, an agency with international reach can help you gain a global perspective and ensure the integration of the right strategy.

Independent Facilitation

A third-party consultant can help your organization make unbiased decisions. This means they won’t be swayed by internal politics, which is one of the reasons most organizations fail.

Long Term Strategy Development

Digital transformation can take a considerable time as this isn’t a one-step process. Therefore, entrusting your organization’s workforce can impact their own efficiency.

A digital transformation agency can go beyond creating product offerings and strategies to training and educating your employees. This ensures your organization’s competitive edge and preparedness for changes in the future.

Improved Collaboration

Organizations that are yet to embrace Agile tend to operate in silos. Therefore, each of their teams are too focused on their own tasks and neglect the bigger picture.

With the help of a digital transformation agency, teams can communicate better and identify points of improvement.

Expertise in the Latest Technologies

Digital transformation agencies are on top of the latest technologies to deliver maximum value for their clientele. Therefore, they are experts on fourth industrial revolution (4IR) tech and the like to create relevant and compelling strategies.

Creation of Digital Ecosystem

To ensure the success of your digital transformation initiatives, you need to establish a digital ecosystem – a network of people, systems, and businesses that leverage technology to interact with one another.

A digital transformation agency can help establish this to deliver value to your enterprise. This process usually begins with a digital audit, which a vital step for identifying weaknesses and pinpointing improvements.

“Okay, So How Can I Choose the Best Digital Transformation Agency?”

Now that you realize the value of a digital transformation partner, let’s cover how you can select the best one.

Find an Agency that’s Truly Agile

Agile is an undeniably popular approach to software development. Combined with digital transformation, it can offer your enterprise numerous benefits including:

• Flexibility to accept changes and even expect them
• Prioritization of business value and aligning the entire approach to business’ needs
• Continuous improvements which also identify learnings and expand on knowledge
• Delivery of value with each increment instead of overwhelming the business by delaying outcomes for months

To achieve these, however, you need to ensure that your partner doesn’t just work with Agile.

It should be following it for its day-to-day operations. For instance, the agency should have an Agile culture that supports its activities. So, make sure to ask about this aspect thoroughly.   

Choose an Outcome Driven Organization

An outcome driven digital transformation agency will help your organization overcome tunnel vision.

The latter is a problem that drives organizations to develop or deploy apps recommended by vendors or stakeholders. This wastes time and money as customers remain frustrated.

On the other hand, an outcome driven partner will understand the outcomes you seek and why they matter to you. Therefore, its experts will start with the problems you need to solve instead of focusing on the solution.

Ask About the Customer Impact Angle

While criteria like experience, price, delivery time, and years in the business are important, you should ask how your potential partner will add value.

For instance, you can ask how it helped previous clients improve customer or employee satisfaction.

A reputable agency will have its case studies with facts and figures ready to share with you. Its representatives will also effectively explain their work and show how they created value.

Another way to assess a digital transformation agency’s competence is by how it emphasizes on delivering value to an organization’s customers.

After all, the initiative ultimately serves them. So, if a candidate can’t connect their work to meaningful outcomes, continue looking.

Inquire About the Organization’s Commitment to Your Project

As you know by now, digital transformation isn’t a small project. Therefore, your partner should be committed to the entire project regardless of how long it takes.

You should also ensure it can scale with the project size. For instance, if you decide to extend your initiatives to regional or international branches, the company should be able to cater to this request.

Otherwise, you’ll be wasting time onboarding another organization to replicate your current success.

Look for a Team that Collaborates Effectively with Your Workforce

As the stakes are high, you can’t afford working with a team that works solo without connecting with your people.

After all, the digital transformation agency you hire needs to collaborate with your workforce on activities like research, ideation, and prioritization.

Another aspect you should not neglect is how comfortable you are working with the agency’s team. Without this factor, working together for months will become a chore and drive you to make inefficient decisions.

Be on the Lookout for Red Flags

Unfortunately, there are many inexperienced digital transformation consultants out there. Their marketing tactics and sales pitch may impress some organizations only to waste their resources.

So, you need to look out for telltale signs such as –

• No clear deadlines or a precise schedule of milestones
• Poor employee morale or reviews, indicating a poor work culture
• Ineffective to poor internal communication
• Few to no positive reviews on websites such as Clutch.co
• No information on the types of the expertise the agency has on staff
• Ambiguous responses to questions related to its experience in your sector
• Undocumented results of a change or transformation program
• Use of readymade methodologies to oversimplify your project
• Creating an under-addressed or over-addressed strategy that don’t cater to your needs

Good Luck Finding Your Digital Transformation Partner

And you may have already found one since you’re on this page.

DPL has led several successful digital transformation initiatives over the years, including that of top organizations across four continents. We would love to discuss those as well as what your transformative goals are.

So, contact us via the form below and let us discuss how we can bring a positive change to your business.