Of course, most leaders would agree that digital transformation (DT) is key to their company’s future. And of course, they would underscore that the company is already on its way. But, what does that actually mean? What way are we talking about, and – looking back at 2015 – what are key takeaways with regards to: pains that come with a transformational state; successful digital strategies; roadmaps and execution plans?

In the following, I would like to list my personal five 2015 takeaways.

1.) If you have no clue, put integration first

„Where to start – and how?“ This question has been common across industries when it comes to DT. For sure, at least one of an advisor’s answers has been among the following: focus on customer experience and think about use cases first; simplify your processes; become more agile in your IT. All these answers may not be wrong per case. What really matters though is the degree of digital integration, foremost defined as follows: ability to build an ecosystem of partners exploiting APIs; seamless communication between layers of software within a flexible IT architecture; consistent processes across touch points. Integration defined along those lines – this is where the thinking should start. The rest will follow.

2.) If traditionalists are telling you it’s too complex and too expensive, go greenfield

„This will cost a fortune, it’s risky, we can’t do it at that pace …” Of course, there are good reasons for traditionalists within an organization to argue like this when confronted with disruptive DT initiatives. But balancing the risk of not going fast and not driving DT (which can finally put the company at risk) with the opportunity emerging from DT may lead to a greenfield approach. This means: Consider to build a completely separate IT environment – it may be the foundation of your future company (and business model). It has never been easier to approach an IT revolution than today. Think about the benefits of cloud-based solutions, specifically of moving infrastructure to the cloud.

 3.) Be honest with yourself: You may not have the right people, nor the right organization. Change it, and change it fast

A former CEO from the TIME industry told me: You need to build your team as if you were a soccer coach, tasked with winning the world cup! Unfortunately, he built a team that didn’t win, mainly because he used his gang of the past and simply gave the individuals new orders (which some of them had no clue about). Face it: DT is all about people. Get those on board who know how it works – and let others go. There may be a learning curve for some employees, but for most of them it may unfortunately be too long … And when the right ones are on board, start building a DT organization focused on collaboration rather then politics; value the benefits of co-working set-ups where business and IT people are working closely together; and hire an HR team that can manage the change that is required in a speedy fashion.

4.) Accept it: If you are not fast enough, partner

Sometimes, it’s hard to accept that main competitors in your core business or some specialist providers are simply faster in delivering innovation to end-customers. In this case, does it make sense to try to get there by catching up? Don’t do it. Better look for standardized solutions out of the box and try to cater them to your needs if the standard doesn’t suffice. A number of clients that we have been advising for quite some time now, all followed our recommendation as they balanced speed with ambition – and speed turned out to be key to perform and survive.

 5.) Knowledge Management (KM) and Knowledge Transfer (KT) are becoming key to your company’s success. Prepare for this major challenge

A myriad of words has been published on corporate knowledge management and knowledge transfer. And it’s a truth that in most companies KM and KT are not working as well as they should be. This is unfortunate as DT also means: communicate much faster internally and create a learning society of ambitious knowledge workers willing to transform the business. This will only work though if knowledge is being shared, if access to general data on projects and detail is easily     accessible – and if processes are in place that enable knowledge transfer between individuals and groups of people. So, think about appropriate initiatives to invest into and drive KM and KT – it will pay off faster than you think.