Sustaining Value After Digital Transformation: Preventing Post-Launch Erosion
Digital transformation is a journey, not a destination. For organizations that have invested heavily in modernizing their platforms, processes, and customer experiences, the true test of success comes not at launch, but in the months and years that follow. Yet, research and real-world experience show that the majority of digital transformation initiatives fail to achieve their full potential—often due to a sharp drop in value after go-live. At Publicis Sapient, we believe that sustaining and enhancing value post-launch is just as critical as the initial transformation itself. Here’s how to prevent post-launch erosion and maximize your return on digital investment.
The Hidden Challenge: Post-Launch Value Erosion
While much attention is paid to the design and implementation of digital transformation, the phase that follows—ongoing operations and optimization—can make or break the long-term impact. Studies indicate that up to 95% of businesses fall short of their digital transformation objectives, with the steepest decline in value occurring after the initial release. Why does this happen?
Common Pitfalls Leading to Value Erosion
- Loss of Knowledge During Handover: When digital solutions are handed off from transformation partners to internal IT or third-party support teams, critical tacit knowledge is often lost. This can result in slower issue resolution, reduced system performance, and lower adoption rates.
- Siloed Support and Product Teams: Product and support teams frequently operate in isolation, leading to fragmented ownership and missed opportunities for continuous improvement.
- Lack of Continuous Improvement: Without a mechanism for ongoing monitoring, measurement, and iteration, digital platforms stagnate. The initial momentum fades, and the organization risks falling behind evolving customer expectations and market demands.
- Misaligned Priorities: Business leaders seek partners who can deliver ongoing value, while IT often focuses on cost reduction. This misalignment can undermine the ability to sustain digital momentum.
The Solution: Application and Infrastructure Management Services (AIMS)
To address these challenges, Publicis Sapient offers Application and Infrastructure Management Services (AIMS)—a comprehensive approach designed to sustain and enhance the value of your digital transformation investments long after launch.
How AIMS Prevents Value Erosion
- Seamless Knowledge Retention: Our approach involves support engineers and experts from the very beginning of the transformation journey. By embedding these teams during the build phase, we ensure that critical system knowledge is retained and leveraged during ongoing operations. This continuity minimizes the risk of knowledge loss and enables faster, more effective support.
- Faster Issue Resolution: Because the teams that built your digital platforms remain involved post-launch, they can diagnose and resolve issues with unmatched speed and accuracy. This leads to lower mean time to resolve (MTTR) and higher system reliability.
- Proactive Performance Monitoring: We continuously monitor service level agreements (SLAs) and key performance indicators (KPIs), identifying and addressing issues before they impact users. This proactive stance not only maintains performance but also uncovers opportunities for further optimization.
- Advanced Tools and Automation: Leveraging our Sustain Engineering Platform (StEP) alongside industry-leading IT service management tools, we provide a unified view of your IT estate. Automation, self-healing bots, and cloud provisioning streamline operations, reduce manual effort, and enable rapid response to business needs.
- Continuous Improvement Culture: With regular tracking and analysis of platform performance, we identify and implement enhancements on an ongoing basis. This ensures your digital assets evolve in step with changing business goals and customer expectations.
The Value of Sustained Partnership
The benefits of this approach are exponential. By maintaining a close relationship with the teams who built your digital solutions, you gain:
- Seamless user experiences for both employees and customers
- Reduced operational risk through expert, proactive management
- Faster time-to-value for new features and optimizations
- Greater ROI from your digital transformation investment
Why Sustaining Value Matters Now More Than Ever
In today’s fast-changing business environment, the pace of technological and market change is relentless. Organizations that treat digital transformation as a one-time project risk falling behind. The winners will be those who embed continuous improvement into their operating model, ensuring that digital platforms, processes, and experiences are always evolving to meet new challenges and opportunities.
Take the Next Step: Unlock the Full Potential of Your Digital Transformation
Maximizing the value of your digital transformation requires more than a successful launch. It demands a commitment to ongoing partnership, knowledge retention, and continuous improvement. Publicis Sapient’s Application and Infrastructure Management Services (AIMS) are purpose-built to help you sustain digital momentum, prevent value erosion, and realize the full promise of your transformation.
Ready to protect and grow your digital investment? Let’s connect and explore how we can help you achieve lasting value—now and in the future.