Digital strategy is strategy first. Therefore, its task is primarily to set strategic goals and form an understanding of how we will move the business path from the current state of the organization to the desired (more competitive) goal state. Only then is it also digital, which means that digital technologies are used on this same business path, with the help of which we can cross this path faster, and digital capabilities, which give us additional business power for digital business transformation.
Since the business strategy is the highest business document of the organization, it must contain precise instructions: how we will involve digital business in the business development of the organization and how we will carry out the digital transformation to move into the target future business situation. Specifically, this means that, on the one hand, it is necessary to envisage the use of digital technologies for each existing strategic goal for its faster realization with more added value for all stakeholders (including external ones), and on the other hand to set new strategic goals related to digital economy. The ultimate goal of both sides of the same coin is the same, which is to ensure a more competitive position of the organization in the digital economy, which will bring it better business results.
To summarize: a digital strategy is an integral part of a business strategy and not an external supplement or an appendix at the end of a business strategy document or just one of its parts (eg a work related to informatics or marketing). In addition to the necessary elements of the strategy implementation from the last paragraph of the previous chapter, two additional strategic digital elements are especially important for the implementation of the digital strategy: the ability to use advanced digital technologies and the ability to manage data as an important input for all strategic elements. At the same time, this means that the success of companies solely on the basis of a classic business strategy is no longer satisfactory for their success even in different conditions of the digital economy.
Therefore, creating a digital strategy for a company is both an opportunity and an obligation to consider whether the basic elements of its business strategy are still in line with the laws of the digital economy, such as: sharing economy, experience economy (Bx – brand experience, Cx – customer experience, employee experience), more closely related business ecosystems, customer orientation, integrated customer orientation, co-creation, personalization, new digital forms of value supply, new technologies, new business models.