1.
Major Obstacles of
Digital Transformation
Expert Talks, Manchester, 24th September 2019
Ryan Bryers, Associate Transformation Consultant

2.
Phrases I’ve used in my IT Career
I have a number of favourite phrases that I’ve built up over time in IT:
● Technology is a simple thing that is massively complicated by “PEOPLE”
● The truth lies between the “TWO EXTREMES”
● Beware of the “FLY FROM FEAR RESPONSE”
● Take the time it takes “TO TAKE LESS TIME”
● I know it’s new & shiny but “SHOULD YOU REALLY BE PLAYING WITH
THAT”
● Well there is always someone “SMARTER THAN ME IN THE ROOM”

3.
Viewpoints & Perspectives

4.
Fear of the New

5.
Things I’ve heard in my IT Career
When making change these are things that have been said to me:
● “We’ve tried that before, let me tell you why that won’t work”
● “Our systems can’t work like that”
● “It’s much quicker to just make that change on the system as is”
● “Clients really like our 30-year old product, they won’t go anywhere else”
● “Competitors don’t understand the marketplace”
● “Our system has way more functionality than theirs does”
● “They can’t deliver their business without us”
Would you like your
“Humble Pie” now or
later with a side of
“Disruption”

6.
Natural Instincts
We have a natural instinct as human
beings to fear change and run from it
● We like to live in our comfort zones
● We like being Queen or King of the castle
● As we get older we are less inclined to
accept/learn something new
● We like to feel in control

7.
The Right Way to Start
I fear at times being Agile is taken too
literally, I’ve seen the principle so misused
that the only real outcome was chaos.
● There is no guarantee of success
● Use Inception to bring people together
● Multi-discipline teams collaborate
● Do it early to find issues before they occur
● If Inceptions do just one thing, they de-risk
delivery - but remember they don’t
guarantee it

8.
Culture and People
From top to bottom Culture & People are
likely to offer the biggest challenges to a
programme of change:
● The culture for change has to be set from
the top down or it is likely to fail
● To change you need champions of change
● Communicate regular and often sets the
tone for change
● People need to be heard before they will
engage to the change programme
CULTURE
PEOPLE
= ?

9.
Process and Technology
The change most often involves doing
something differently, process change is
normally enabled by technology:
● People will always need the comfort of a
“how to” process guide
● You have to leave knowledge and working
process behind as you aren’t there forever
● Technologists likes can be tribal and
irrational, pragmatism needs to be used
● Choose the technology that fits the
problem not what someone else uses

10.
Things you will hear in Transformation
I almost guarantee you’ll hear some (if not all) of these things when you
start to be involved with or run a transformation.
● “... but that’s not what the Agile manifesto says”
● “… but that’s not what the framework says”
● “... I haven’t done that in the 30-years I’ve been a developer, why start now”
● “... it’s impossible to do that, it just won’t work”
● “... but won’t that make my role redundant”
● “... I need to know how much and when, Agile doesn’t work”
● “... how much will doing all this save”

11.
Cheat Sheet
Every situation you enter into will be different, some may be bottom up
transformation others may just be evolution to the next Digital step.
1. Understand the AS IS quickly by meeting people (multi-discipline)
2. Create a community to support the transformation
3. Use an Inception process to get clarity on The Opportunity-The Domain-
The Solution & The Plan
4. Show what good looks like and set a path towards it
5. Collaborate, Communicate, Document and be Available
6. Be PRAGMATIC, there is no place for purism in Digital Transformation

12.
Summary

13.
Thank You
Simple solutions to big business problems.
Ryan Bryers
rbryers@equalexperts.com
07733 312452