Calculating (Return on Investment )ROI for Your Digital Transformation? Here’s How to Do It Right

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If you’re like most business leaders nowadays, you’ve probably wondered whether undergoing a digital transformation at your company will actually pay off. It’s a fair question. After all, digital transformations require massive investments of time, money and effort.

 

Luckily, there are proven ways to calculate the ROI for digital transformation initiatives. In this post, I’ll walk you through the key steps so you can feel confident in the business case and returns before kicking off any major technology-driven change.

Start by Setting Clear Goals

First things first – you need well-defined goals for what your digital transformation is trying to achieve. And I’m not talking vague, fluffy goals like “leverage AI” or “improve agility”. Be specific and quantitative. Here are some good examples:

– Reduce production defects by 30% within 2 years

– Increase ratio of new product sales from 15% to 25% of revenue

– Cut customer onboarding time by 50% within 1 year

 

See the difference? Crystal clear desired outcomes.

 

Choose KPIs That Align to Each Goal

Now, identify the key performance indicators (KPIs) you’ll use to track progress towards each goal.

For the production quality goal, KPIs could be:

– Number of defects per 100 units produced

– Customer defect complaints

– Warranty claims

 

And for the customer onboarding goal:

– Average number of days for customer onboarding

– Percentage of customers successfully onboarded per month

– Customer satisfaction score

 

Quantify the Monetary Benefits

This next step is crucial – assign concrete monetary values to achieving each goal.

Let’s say reducing defects by 30% means $200k less in replacement costs and warranty claims each year. And cutting onboarding time by 50% allows 20% more customer signups per month, worth $500k more in annual recurring revenue.

 

Total up the Technology Investment

On the other side of the equation, add up all expected costs associated with the digital transformation like software, training, consulting, and new hires.

A detailed total cost of ownership model will give you the full investment amount, typically over a 3-5 year timeframe.

 

Calculate the Final Return on Investment ROI

With the quantified benefits and costs, you can calculate the ROI. Here’s the simple formula:

ROI = (Gain from Investment – Cost of Investment) / Cost of Investment

Track Against Goals Over Time

Finally, keep measuring those KPIs and recalculating ROI at regular intervals. This ensures your digital transformation keeps delivering value long-term.

 

Following this process will allow you to build a solid business case for digital transformation and maximize the ROI. What questions do you have about calculating the returns for your digital initiatives? Let me know in the comments!