Current State

There are structural inefficiencies in most business verticals which leads to processes being comprised of a complex set of disconnected events.

The answer to the question why its so difficult to improve the journey and the experience of the user can be summarized as follows:

1. Data Fragmentation: Data is in disparate systems and needs to be pulled and stitched together. This problem is compounded by numerous internal and external partners who operate on different systems.
   

2. Team Composition: There is no one person or team who understands the end-to-end process. The ‘Dream Team’s is a  cross-functional team comprised of multiple SMEs and seasoned business / technology leaders who have the ability to champion change (sometimes radical change) and are responsible for identifying business and technology process improvement opportunities and simplifying interfaces. These high-performing and experienced experts will make the difference between project success and failure because of their judgement and ability to understand data patterns.
   The team composition has significant implications on how work gets done (we need to collaborate across organizational boundaries, co-create the product with our customers), corporate culture, talent recruitment and leadership tactics.

3. Understanding Data Patterns : Most times the issue is not lack of data, but lack of access to data and the ability to draw true insights. 

Future State

To understand the future state we need to:

1. Think Outside the Box: Define the next generation modern customer experience and then walk backwards to fill in the gaps to understand the changes in business process, tools, technology and culture that are needed to support that experience.
2. Build a Digital Roadmap : Build a long-term digital strategy because people will expect different experiences in the next 5 – 10 year window. The next generation customer experience and interfaces are ‘liquid experiences’ – the interface will look different from what we are used to today. In some cases the interface may disappear completely waiting to be activated by a voice command, a person entering a room, change in blood chemistry, shift in temperature, a motion etc. This is ambient computing where the environment around us will be comprised of intelligent devices that don’t seem to be there at all. We need to understand the digital trends in this 5 – 10 year window and link the strategy to business objectives.