GDPR is a big driver for digital transformation, says Workday

Workday's David Hunt claims that firms are responding to the threat of big fines under GDPR - and are reacting with sweeping digital transformation programmes

The incoming General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) from the EU is a big driver behind the current popularity of digital transformation programmes, according to Workday.

Speaking during a Computing web seminar, David Hunt, principal enterprise architect at Workday explained that executives recognise the threat of the large fines the regulation will bring with it.

"The GDPR, which is coming into force in May 2018, is a significant driver behind digital transformation," said Hunt. "Senior executives understand that the threat of the fine is real, so something needs to be done. And every employee in an organisation should understand the journey, and the digital strategy," he added.

The GDPR states that organisations who fail to comply could face fines of up to four per cent of their global annual turnover. Although these fines aren't due to apply until May 2018, some experts have stated that the GDPR is already in force, and regulators could technically store up breaches which occur now, and impose fines later.

Hunt also discussed the role of IT, explaining that it had grown closer to the business.

"I see digital transformation as being the process of an organisation embracing new technology to better itself. And you should tie that transformation to an organisational objective.

"We're also seeing that the role of the CIO and senior IT executives is changing. They're building stronger relationships with other parts of the business like marketing, HR and finance. So they're able to create real business value with these digital initiatives," he explained.

Also taking part in the web seminar was Jonathan Gill, IT director at Watchfinder. He gave the example of the digital transformation programme underway at his firm, stating that it had initially met with cultural resistance from employees fearing that they were being replaced.

"We looked at our purchasing systems, because we buy watches from the general public, and want to give them the best prices, but we also have a business to run. We found that the guys doing the pricing can be affected by their moods. We wanted to get them to operate a standard procedure, so we transformed the way they work and moved to a system which suggested prices for them.

"And there was a lot of resistance, the guys thought we were putting them out of work. It took a while to work with them to say we're not replacing you, we're augmenting you. We wanted to take away the repetitive work and let the human brain do what it's good at, which is pattern recognition, building relationships and problem solving. We wanted to make their lives easier. A few months later the guys came back to say yes we see what you mean now. They went from pricing 15 watches per day each, to over 100 watches per day. But they also realised they're still in control, and that they can affect how the algorithm works," added Gill.

When asked why they embark on digital transformation programmes, 52 per cent of respondents to Computing's research said it was to make business processes more efficient.