Digital technology and the stages of digital business transformation

Abstract

Companies use digital technology to transform their business. Digitization, digitalization, and digital transformation have been proposed as stages in this business transformation process. Researchers have also proposed a variety of maturity models to assess this transformation. The distinctions and the ontology between the stages of digital transformation are not always clearly defined. Using expert interviews and literature review this paper derived a domain-specific ontology from commonly expressed keywords. Based on this, five stages of digital transformation were distinguished and defined: (i) digital passive, (ii) digitization, (iii) digitalization, (iv) digital transition and (v) digital transformation. These five stages may be used in further research as a rubric to assess digital business transformation.