It’s safe to say that technological advancement is key for growth in any industry, but the real question comes when we ask how it can be leveraged to achieve the most success for an organization. In a recent Deloitte study with 1,200 senior executives across six industries, it was found that organizations can achieve higher levels of digital maturity, i.e. experience direct benefits from digital innovations, by strategically using “digital pivots.”

The Role of Digital Pivots

Digital pivots are a set of technological growth concepts that can be applied to an organization’s functions for overall improvement. Each pivot can be applied to an array of functions, from financial analytics to marketing initiatives:

1. 1. Flexible, secure infrastructure: Increasing adaptability while maintaining security needs
2. 2. Data mastery: Creating new opportunities through data collection and analysis
3. 3. Digitally savvy, open talent networks: Recognizing and cultivating staff’s digital skills
4. 4. Ecosystem engagement: Collaborating with external partners to increase expertise within the digital world
5. 5. Intelligent workflows: Streamlining functions through technological development
6. 6. Unified customer experience: Establish efficient 2-way communication tools for insight-driven benefits
7. 7. Business model adaptability: Create conditions for digital business models to shift and grow with industry standards
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How to Get the Most Out of Digital Pivots

Taking steps toward digital maturity is much like anything else in life, with success resting on how they are applied rather than simply what is applied. Digital pivots must be employed strategically to create positive results, with room to evolve with expansive structures and practices moving forward.

After analyzing organizations through the lens of all seven pivots across nine basic business functions, Deloitte found that “mature” organizations applied pivots twice as often as their less successful counterparts. When more pivots were applied to specific functions rather than widely spread apart, higher maturity was also achieved. Overall, pivots were seen to have a greater positive impact when applied in unison.

It’s important to note the order in which pivots were applied for optimal benefit. The three “foundational pivots” were defined as:

1. Flexible, secure infrastructure
2. Data mastery
3. Digitally savvy, open talent networks

When utilized first, these pivots create a solid foundation for others to follow, building a business system equipped for the ever-changing tech industry. It was also found that when generally applied to background functions first, pivots were more likely to create positive outcomes. Technologically enhancing financial, human resource, and research and development functions created an insight-based foundation for future success with pivots in areas including marketing and sales.

Addressing Obstacles to Digital Maturity

The pivot implementation process has proven difficult for various organizations. When participants were surveyed, they found the top three obstacles to pivot-based innovation were operating structure/model, lack of focus/prioritization, and upgrading legacy systems/processes. These obstacles were rooted in lack of flexibility for both legacy systems and organizational behaviors, making the implementation of digital pivots more challenging.

Organizations with higher levels of digital maturity employed tactics beyond the pivots themselves to promote progress. The top three tactics were:

1. Strong leadership
2. A consistent digital strategy/vision
3. Modifications to the existing operating model, funding, and governance mechanisms

When technology was made a distinct cultural priority, organizations tended to thrive financially.

How SeeUnity Can Help

Our team creates growth opportunities for organizations with our enterprise-class content Integration and Migration solutions. SeeUnity’s API-based products and data connectors ease the digital transformation journey by helping organizations capitalize on modern digital technologies. For the past 16 years, we have helped our global customers of all sizes modernize legacy systems, enable secure collaboration, improve governance, and streamline their business processes with our Velocity, Fusion, and Echo solutions.

Velocity Content Migration
Thompson, Coe, Cousins & Irons, LLP, a nation-wide legal services firm, discovered a need for data unification and centralization. With SeeUnity’s Velocity Content Migration tool, the firm was able to modernize their large-scale legacy system by securely migrating data from their eDOCS DM to the iManage Cloud. Read the case study here.

Fusion Content Integration
Fox Entertainment Group, an American entertainment company subsidiary, wanted to enable secure collaboration between their Television Distribution Division and legal teams in order to streamline the deal approval process. SeeUnity was brought on board to help integrate their Salesforce and OpenText eDOCS systems with Fusion Content Integration, allowing the two teams to seamlessly work together. Learn more here.

Echo Content Synchronization
Neal, Gerber, & Eisenberg, a Chicago-based law firm, sought to upgrade the firm’s various business applications with compatibility and future scalability in mind. Attorneys were spending a significant amount of time moving large amounts of content manually between their iManage Work DMS and HighQ Collaborate in order to share documents externally with clients.  SeeUnity’s Echo Content Synchronization product enabled efficient attorney-client collaboration, increased productivity, and streamlined their workflow. Information Governance improved with an automated sync to archive documents back to the DMS. Because of Echo’s extendable APIs, the firm will be able to simplify converting to the iManage Cloud when they’re ready. Click here to read the full case study.

Gurumurthy, R., & Schatsky, D. (2019, March 13). Deloitte Insights. Deloitte Insights. Retrieved from https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/focus/digital-maturity/digital-maturity-pivot-model.html.2.