Cracking the Code of Modernisation: Strategies that work (and some that don’t)
Digital transformation, modernisation, getting your house in order – whatever you call it, it’s a long journey that’s difficult and essential in equal parts. No organisation can afford to avoid it, but not everyone gets it right.
To help crack the code of modernisation and explore techniques and approaches that really work, we asked three of our favourite modernisers: Nimisha Patel, Chief Digital & Information Officer for Bupa Global; Meri Williams CTO at fintech firm Pleo; Sam Burrows, VP Technology Services at Carnival UK (P&O Cruises & Cunard).
Here, we’ve highlighted the 7 most important points covered by the panel. You can watch the full session here.
Let’s get started.
1. Remember how important modernisation is
Modernisation is a journey, not a destination. So it can be easy to get side-tracked, forget what you’re trying to achieve and how important it is. Always keep the importance of modernisation in mind.
According to Sam: “If you don’t modernise, you’ll struggle to remain agile, you’ll struggle to remain competitive and potentially leave yourself open to cyberattacks.”
He stressed the importance of keeping (what are often) multi-faceted objectives front and centre at all times. “At Carnival, we have floating cities out there on the seas, and we need to look after them and ensure they run smoothly. But also, we have to ask ourselves, ‘how do we future proof our business and grow?’”
2. Why are so many organisations in a state of emergency, scrambling to modernise?
Most organisations aren’t short on smart people, so why are so many seemingly caught off guard by the urgency of their digital transformation requirements?
“This urgent state of needing to modernise is common everywhere,” says Nimisha. “It’s not unusual. Part of the reason is that tech is still viewed with suspicion by the wider business – the fluency and level of understanding aren’t there; it needs to be fully understood by the whole business. It’s just seen as a cost base, not a growth driver.”
Sam Burrows agrees. “It’s like ‘the business is over here, and technology is over here’, in two different, distinct places. But in reality, it’s all the business.”
Meri makes a great point that helps explain why tech often gets left to stagnate. “Maintenance isn’t sexy. Updates and patches aren’t exciting, they don’t get prioritised, and they fall behind. I’ve worked in organisations with software that’s literally older than me. You can’t have software that old running a business!”
Sam Burrows has experience of this at Carnival. “In some areas of our modernisation, we’ve kicked the can down the road for so long that we’re now too late. We’ve ended up with seven CRM systems. It’s the danger of not modernising in small, incremental steps.”
3. You wouldn’t put your mortgage on a credit card
Many businesses find themselves in a precarious situation where a substantial portion of their tech estate is outdated, unsupported, and incompatible with modern requirements.
“Technical debt is a bit like financial debt,” says Meri. “It’s not necessarily bad in itself, but you don’t want to put your mortgage on a credit card, right?”
But that’s exactly what a lot of organisations are unwittingly doing, she thinks. It’s just that few people realise quite how high the metaphorical interest payments are – because they’re not the ones paying them. The bill typically falls to the teams actually running those systems. And it’s not just decades-old organisations that suffer from outdated technology. Younger ‘challenger’ brands do too.
4. Project-based thinking is the enemy
Nimisha is clear on one of the biggest obstacles to successful modernisation. “I think project-based financing is to blame for a lot of the problems that we see.” She describes talking to finance people; asking them to try and think of software and systems as assets that need to be maintained – in the same way that machines in a manufacturing plant do. They’re adding value but need to be updated with new features to continue to improve. But it can be challenging to get the funding to do it as the project’s been ‘completed’.
There’s also a lack of optimisation in most businesses. “There are painfully few opportunities to dig into the details and try to optimise new tech,” says Nimisha. “Instead, it’s usually just a lift and shift attitude. If it works, it’s ok to leave it.”
5. Skills gaps are holding us back
There’s an IT skills shortage out there in the UK right now. No surprises here. So it’s important to take care of the experts you have. Nimisha says lots of IT people are burnt out and asking themselves ‘is it worth it?’. “They make one mistake and they might end up ‘in jail’. Stress and anxiety is everywhere.”
Meri picks up the point. “It’s kind of scary – kids today are growing up able to use computers but unable to code, which is like being able to read but not write. I think that’s the world that we’re living in now – and very different from 20 years ago.”
6. Turbulence is inevitable
You know this by now, but it’s worth restating: your modernisation journey will not always be smooth. “You have to take people in the business along for the journey and prepare them for the inevitable disruption ahead,” says Sam. “Turbulence is inevitable. Incremental delivery is the way to do it. Don’t go for a big bang.”
7. Culture eats modernisation for breakfast
Lastly, the discussion touched on the importance of cultural and organisational readiness.
“If your corporate culture plays the blame game and loves to point the figure every time something doesn’t go to plan,” says Nimisha, “then your hopes of successful modernisation have already been dashed. You’ll fail before you even begin, no matter how much money you throw at it.”
Ownership, or a lack thereof, is also a major hurdle to business success. Both Nimisha and Meri stressed the need for organisations to embrace their tech foundations regardless of what their core business is. “To put it bluntly,” says Meri, “there’s an increasing need for a lot of companies to realise that they are technology companies whether they are or not.”
“Where there’s challenge, there’s opportunity,” says Sam. “Make sure you deliver exciting proof of concepts that demonstrate to the business what can be achieved. Once the penny drops, your life becomes easier.”
If you’re looking for a line to sum up both our webinar and the overall state of modernisation today, Meri comes up with the goods: “It’s tough but it’s worth it.”
Hear more from Nimisha, Meri and Sam on the webinar here. If you’re struggling to crack the modernisation code, get in touch. We can help.