There are four phases when it comes to defining a digital strategy, however it is an iterative process, meaning that a digital strategy team shouldn't pass through each phase only once, they should keep iterating over these four phases until all of their questions are answered and all of the blanks are filled.
Phase 1: Discovery
During the discovery phase the digital strategy team, analyses to understand the opportunities across existing business capabilities as well as discovering new potential capabilities which the organisation could derive value from. The goal of understanding existing capabilities is to ensure that they are optimized and future-proof to generate the maximum value to the organisation as well as it's customers. The transformation team also aimes to identify new potential capabilities which the organisation can bring to market. It is important to note that on the first pass of the Discovery phase the odds are that the transformation team will not be able to discover new potential capabilities, and should focus on existing capabilities. Only on subsequent iterations, when the design of the strategy is defined at least in part will they be able to effectively discover new potential capabilities.Phase 2: Design
During the Design phase the digital transformation vision and strategy are defined, this is where the transformation team along with the executive team define a cohesive vision and strategy for the organisation to digitally transform. The appropriate products and services are identified as well as prioritized for transformation.
Phase 3: Validation
The bottom up experimentation and implementation of the digital strategy, this is where the delivery teams with their leads implement the strategy to best provide value in the defined way for the customers and the organization itself within their business units, product, and/or service lines. They validate what resources they require and come up with a granular plan of action on how to implement the digital strategy.
Phase 4: Iterate
This is where the delivery teams work with the strategy team iterating on experiments looking for the most optimized and highest value implementations for customers and the organisation. They also mature and adapt the strategy over time as market forces evolve over time.
