Consider the red flags that suggest your digital business strategy needs, ahem, a bit of work.

Rob Preston, VP & Editor in Chief, InformationWeek

April 2, 2014

2 Min Read
Image: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/saechang/4623178705/" target="_blank">Mike Saechang</a>.

You've probably been hearing or reading the term "digital business," and some of you may be asking: What is it exactly? It's about companies in a range of industries changing the way they do business, especially with customers, using a range of digital technologies and approaches: mobile apps, data analytics, social networking, cloud computing, the Internet of Things, agile development. The movement started with the likes of Netflix in movie distribution and Amazon.com in retail, but no industry is untouched. Think of the digital innovations already changing the hotel, insurance, healthcare, media, automotive, energy, banking, and real estate industries, to name just a handful.

Does your company pass digital business muster? Or is it a laggard, an also-ran, a non-believer? To help you make that assessment, we bring you:

Top 10 Signs Your Company Isn't Cutting It As A Digital Business

10. Your company's App Store is run by Pop, a 70-year-old guy wearing an apron.

9. Your mobile strategy consists of upgrading the security on your executives' BlackBerry Curves.

8. Your e-commerce site has less customer appeal than a Woody Allen Kindercare Center.

7. Your analytics chief asks the janitorial staff to help with data cleansing.

6. Your business model eschews click-through marketing in favor of box tops.

5. Your CMO thinks Badoo and Tumblr are social diseases.

4. Your last "killer app" was written in Fortran.

3. Your data science team is buying its promising new big data sets from a Nigerian prince.

2. Your CIO thinks NoSQL is a movement to ban the likes of "Porky's Revenge" and "Weekend At Bernie's 2."

1. Your website gets fewer hits than the bong on Justin Bieber's private plane.

Add to the list by leaving your own snarky suggestions in the comments section below.

For more InformationWeek Elite 100 coverage and a complete listing of the top 100 companies, click here.

Too many companies treat digital and mobile strategies as pet projects. Here are four ideas to shake up your company. Also in the Digital Disruption issue of InformationWeek: Six enduring truths about selecting enterprise software. (Free registration required.)

About the Author(s)

Rob Preston

VP & Editor in Chief, InformationWeek

Rob Preston currently serves as VP and editor in chief of InformationWeek, where he oversees the editorial content and direction of its various website, digital magazine, Webcast, live and virtual event, and other products. Rob has 25 years of experience in high-tech publishing and media, during which time he has been a senior-level editor at CommunicationsWeek, CommunicationsWeek International, InternetWeek, and Network Computing. Rob has a B.A. in journalism from St. Bonaventure University and an M.A. in economics from Binghamton University.

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