The focus of digital started with the customer and is now moving to the operating model. However, its true potential lies in transforming future business models.

Digital disruption is on the agenda of every CEO today. Yet digital initiatives in most organisations continue to be confined to disparate projects that are usually disconnected from the ‘core’ business. While this approach may serve the purpose of taking the first steps, it is a long way from truly embracing digital.

It's time for organisations to take a more strategic approach to digital. Most organisations recognise the potential impact of emerging technologies and have started to take action. But simply providing a digital customer experience or digitizing the operating model is not enough. Organisations that fail to recognise this are likely to be eclipsed by existing competitors with greater agility and rendered increasingly vulnerable to disruptive start-ups.

The biggest challenge is for businesses that grew to scale in a previous era. Now, with digital reshaping every industry, they must adapt and evolve to reach the next stage of growth in a digital economy. Achieving successful digital transformation requires a significantly more holistic approach and the process of bringing piecemeal digital initiatives together within a strategic framework is what will underpin successful digital transformations.

We believe the true impact of digital will be the transformation and disruption of existing business models. This paper explores issues related to rethinking business models for the digital world, including:

The evolving scope of digital: the focus of digital started with the customer and is now moving to the operating model. However, its true potential lies in transforming future business models.

The scale of the challenge: The rapid pace of digital advancement puts unprecedented pressure on businesses to adapt to the new reality.

The strategic imperative: Digital is about strategy, leadership, and innovative ways of thinking that are enabled by technology.

Rethinking business models: The three categories of innovation - product proposition, customer and markets - that will drive digital business models of the future.

1000