Communication, sensitivity and transparency are absolutely vital" In addition to new tools and functions, successful Digital Transformation relies on people. By investing in developing their skills and confidence so they can lead and manage change, and by consulting with them, they will be empowered to work differently and have the confidence to ‘fail fast, learn faster’. In this way, they can become cultural change agents that help deliver the transformative corporate vision and strategy. “Change is a constant. It has never been this fast and it will never be this slow again”, observes Alan Hodgson, BMT’s Strategic Advisor for Security, Policing and Justice, who is passionate about a people-centred approach to Digital Transformation. “So, we need to develop people. They are the most important asset and they need to be supported by their supervisors, peers and senior leaders in order to thrive”. Transformation programmes often miss that key step of effectively engaging their teams and seeking their ideas when designing, implementing and embedding new organisational structures, systems and ways of working. Without this, you will never change the culture and learn to innovate. You may change where teams are working from, the brand, the company name, what a person does or how they access and deliver services, but this will not change behaviours. “By digitally transforming, enterprises can achieve new levels of innovation and productivity to adapt to future changes”, says Hodgson. “Often, the easiest thing to focus on is the technology,” concurs BMT’s Principal Data Scientist, Lisa Gralewski, “but we need to make sure that requirements are driven by user need.” In our role as customer friend, we help our clients deliver successful technology projects by navigating the tension that often arises between the leadership’s vision, the resources available to deliver what users want on the ground and what the technology itself can do. “With any big transformation project there will be many user communities and different rates of adoption. Communication, sensitivity and transparency are absolutely vital”, says Gralewski. Within the initial stage of a Digital Transformation programme, when the ‘target setting’ activity is conducted, a prudent Programme Board begins by considering the value of their corporate and clients’ data. This would include categorising the levels of criticality of that data remaining secure, both for operational and reputational reasons. This should ideally lead to the establishment of a cyber security KPI to ensure that data is appropriately understood, secured and exploited and both planning, and rehearsal takes place in preparation for when (and not if) an information security breach takes place. We focus on obtaining a complete understanding of business functions to determine cyber security activities so we can incorporate ‘security-by-design’, ‘defence-in-depth’ and ‘zero trust’ principles at the earliest possible stage, as part of the organisation’s broader risk management processes. “Digital Transformation processes are a unique opportunity for organisations to apply best cyber security practices to their new, digital capabilities”, says Marco Casassa Mont, BMT’s Principal Cyber Consultant. “Some senior leadership teams seem to be reluctant to embark on Digital Transformation programmes, however, we believe that the cost-benefits and efficiency-gains can be extraordinary if managed correctly. If in doubt, remember to start with small projects to build confidence and understanding.” Principal Cyber Consultant, BMT Marco is responsible for the delivery of cyber security projects in defence and security, business development support and cyber security R&D innovation. Marco has significant hands-on, deep technical expertise in various cyber security areas, including big data for security, cyber analytics for threat detection & prediction, cyber risk analysis, enterprise security solutions and architectures. Marco Casassa Mont
[email protected] Principal Data Scientist, BMT Lisa is a data analyst and chartered engineer with excellent skills in data science. She is experienced in technically leading defence, government and industrial projects. She has worked on numerous data analytics projects from predictive maintenance of fast jets to intelligence reporting. Lisa Gralewski
[email protected] Strategic Advisor, Security, Policing and Justice, BMT Alan joined BMT following a 31-year career with the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) – New Scotland Yard. He spent his career tackling the whole spectrum of crime, gangs and organised criminals with an absolute passion to cut crime, cut costs, improve public confidence and keep the public safe and secure. Alan Hodgson
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