When it comes to digital transformation, it’s all about the data, says Chris Gorton, Syniti SVP & Managing Director, EMEA.

Just about everyone working in tech can recount the gruesome details of a digital transformation gone wrong – one they’ve been involved in themselves or perhaps a warning tale, handed down through the years. Massive overspend, missed deadlines, and solutions that simply don’t deliver what’s needed, project failure comes in all shapes and sizes. And although it may sometimes seem that there’s a level of inevitability about it (McKinsey predicts that by 2024, companies will spend an estimated $100 billion on wasted data migrations on a global scale), IT projects don’t have to fail.

During my time working on large and complex digital transformations, it’s become clear the projects that deliver the best results have something in common. They prioritise data. They recognise that if you transform your systems, your processes, and your tech, and then pump them full of out-of-date, inaccurate data, the results will be limited at best. That saying – garbage in, garbage out – comes to mind. Your project will never be successful if it relies on poor quality data.

Think data first

Putting data at the heart of your transformation is essential. Every element of the migration and implementation needs to consider the data first. By that I mean understanding which data is business critical and which data needs to be 100% accurate. I also mean acknowledging the volume of data you’ll be migrating and provisioning for data that doesn’t exist yet.

As I’ve already mentioned, thinking data first also means addressing the quality of the data you’re migrating. Lifting and shifting what you already have means you could be transferring many of the problems with your old system to your new platform, and that your transformation won’t actually be as transformative as it has promised to be.

Considering data first early and setting meaningful data quality targets means that all your requirements, including those in the future, are built into the plan right from the start.

Bring others with you

Although the IT team is at the heart of any digital transformation, the most successful projects must involve other parts of the business. To get the balance right, you need a mix of people from around the organisation who understand how to achieve data accuracy as well as the frustrations of working with inaccurate data and a knowledge of the blockers to overcome. Think about the teams who will be most impacted by the migration – HR and finance could be a good place to start.

Buy-in from the C-suite is also crucial. So much of what senior leaders do is driven by data, from setting direction and strategic decision-making to improving performance and managing risk. If data accuracy isn’t already in their remit, now’s the time to bring them onboard. With the clout of the C-suite behind you, the rest of your organisation will take data and its governance more seriously during your migration and beyond.

I’m making it sound easy. In reality, persuading people who are already overloaded to take on more work and responsibility is difficult. Demonstrating what’s in it for them is a good start. Show how having the right, accurate data after migration will help them to reach their targets more easily. And explain what the consequences could be if data quality is ignored and the project fails.

Test and measure

Many transformations start out with the best intentions, with ambitious targets around data accuracy. But when it comes to the reality of a migration, it can be easy for data to slip off the radar. Pressure to deliver a finished project can trump a migration that brings real improvements.

My advice? To avoid project failure, build specific review points into your migration plan to carry out temperature checks on your data. Ask yourself: is data still our priority? And are we on track to migrate accurate and up-to-date data? If the answer to either question is no, be ready to adjust your approach. It is not a failure to realise that you’re not where you hoped to be, it’s better to know when there’s still time to do something about it. The worst thing would be to carry on oblivious, only realising something’s wrong when the migration is complete. Or perhaps knowing the data is not being prioritised and carrying on anyway.

No one enters a digital transformation lightly; the stakes are high. If the project fails, it can have long-lasting consequences for both the business and the IT team’s reputation. By taking a data first approach, you’re focusing on the end result: making sure your organisation runs even more smoothly after migration. You’re already a step closer to project success, and making sure your transformation project doesn’t become another cautionary tale.