Businesses can’t afford to wait years for IT projects to deliver results. Speed, flexibility, and delivering incremental value are now the top priorities. This shift puts significant pressure on both business and IT departments to deliver faster and more precise outcomes.
Consequently, IT is now leading innovation and enabling growth. This is the new digital transformation.
"One of the most common challenges we see is a misalignment between business and IT priorities, resulting in disjointed efforts," says Espen Strømme Sahota, Director of Strategy & Growth at Columbus.
"When we ask clients to present their business roadmap along with the corresponding technology roadmap, we often find fragmented plans distributed across the organisation. There is frequently a lack of a unified strategy that integrates these plans and clearly prioritises actions based on value."
Bridging the gap between business and IT
To bridge this gap, IT leaders must ensure all departments—sales, marketing, operations, and customer service—understand how digital changes impact their workflows and create new business opportunities. Understanding and managing the interdependencies within the value chain is crucial for business success.
Espen emphasises that effective communication is essential. Teams must agree on which processes need transformation and understand their importance for organisational success. “When everyone shares the same objectives and understands the benefits, driving change and measuring results becomes easier,” he says.
The challenge is more than just alignment. "Internal silos and competing priorities often hinder progress when businesses are firefighting and focus on daily issues instead of strategic initiatives," says Espen.
Espen emphasises that IT should lead in aligning roadmaps by prioritising strategic discussions and honing skills like prioritising based on business impact and value.
Continuous value creation
"One of the most straightforward yet highly effective exercises we employ with customers is bringing together key stakeholders, either virtually or in person, to identify ways to enhance existing value and uncover new opportunities for growth and profitability," he explains.
"Initial scepticism is not uncommon, especially if past experiences with external consultants have fallen short of delivering substantial value. However, we adopt a pragmatic approach, concentrating on value creation and actionable steps to ensure successful adoption and realisation of benefits."
Espen provides an example of this approach: “With one customer, a discussion on profit margin improvement resulted in practical actions such as cleaning up master data and aligning policies. These steps had a notable effect, enhancing automation and increasing margins.”
By removing obstacles and connecting IT initiatives to measurable business results, organisations can create opportunities for growth and innovation. When IT is considered a strategic partner, it promotes alignment and achieves concrete outcomes, adds Espen.
Watson-Marlow Fluid Technology Solutions, a global manufacturing leader in peristaltic pumps, demonstrated how aligning IT and business teams ahead of initiating a major IT project can drive exceptional success.
Faced with the challenge of implementing a new CRM system, the company recognised that delivering value required more than just deploying technology. It needed alignment across the organisation to make sure the project addressed the right priorities and delivered meaningful outcomes.
To achieve this, Watson-Marlow ran an “Explore” project ahead of the main CRM implementation. This foundational step helped the company:
- Gain a deeper understanding of the challenges – by identifying critical needs from all perspectives, Watson-Marlow could determine whether the CRM system would address cross-departmental pain points effectively.
- Lay the groundwork for success – by involving business sta
- keholders from the beginning, Watson-Marlow could explain the “why” behind each initiative. This early alignment made sure that priorities were clear and everyone understood the roadmap before moving forward.
- Foster sustained engagement – early alignment between all stakeholders kept teams engaged and committed throughout the project, promoting collaboration.
Speaking on the project, Emma McLeod, Transformation Lead at Watson-Marlow Fluid Technology Solutions, said: "We recognised that delivering a CRM system on its own wasn't a solution. We needed to build the right connections with our people and also consider the processes that needed to come together to function effectively.” You can read Watson-Marlow’s story in full by clicking here.
Strengthening the digital foundation to enable business success
As IT takes on a more prominent role in driving business success, many companies have recognised the need to adopt cloud solutions to build a flexible and scalable digital foundation. But does it pay off?
“We’ve seen a lot of organisations move their applications to the cloud,” says Frederik Thordal Jørgensen, Service Director at Columbus. “However, many treat it like a static update. They don’t take advantage of continuous updates or new ways of working.”
This limited approach, according to Frederik, often stems from a few key challenges. Change fatigue is one of the most common issues, with businesses struggling to sustain the energy needed to continuously adapt their systems. Another regular issue is the lack of a clear strategy to guide what comes next, which often results in stalled progress.
“It’s important that you translate your strategy into both your technology and IT strategy. This means continuously improving the enterprise architecture to stay aligned with business goals,” Frederik says.
Frederik also points out that building a strong digital foundation isn’t a one and done exercise. It involves an ongoing commitment to aligning IT systems with business priorities. “You have to keep revisiting those goals. Ask yourself: What did we want to achieve? How has the business changed? Are we still delivering value?”
Business leaders who embrace adaptability and continuous learning will be better prepared to keep pace with change - especially as technologies like AI continue to evolve. This topic was recently discussed in our recent Future Bytes podcast episode where Beatrice Silow, Managing Director for Columbus Sweden and Global CMO at Columbus, shared her insights on AI, its impact, and what the future holds for AI in leadership.
Watch the episode below.
Bang & Olufsen, a Danish company that produce and sell premium consumer electronics, is a standout real-life example of how the right IT foundation can transform a business. Recognising the need to deliver better customer experiences and streamline global operations, the company set out to standardise its IT systems.
By linking systems and data across its operations, Bang & Olufsen has gained deeper insights that enable the company to deliver exceptional customer service and improve efficiency. Bang & Olufsen’s focus on flexibility and scalability has turned IT into a strategic asset, positioning the company for long-term growth.
Drive better collaboration in your business
Moving IT into a strategic enabler is key to achieving the full potential of your technology investments and delivering better results. But making this shift isn’t easy. That’s why, Frederik adds, it’s critical you bridge the gap between IT and business. By doing so, you can ensure alignment and prepare your organisation for transformation.
“As soon as an implementation is done, fatigue can set in,” says Frederik Thordal Jørgensen, Service Director at Columbus. “You need to think about how you can keep driving progress. If you do it internally, it’s easy to lose momentum. Having more than one perspective – someone who sees the rest of the business, understands other industries, and knows your own industry deeply, can help keep your organisation focused on business value and in continuous change mode.”
Frederik adds that it’s also important to stay focused on outcomes, not tools, so you can get the maximum value from your technology. “We see organisations get excited about updates but miss how those updates can drive meaningful changes in their industry,” he explains. “You need to think about how you can bring in new ideas and best practices to make sure you’re getting the most out of these tools. Whether you need internal resources, external specialists, or a hybrid approach, it’s about finding the right approach to keep your business moving forward.”