The Lean Approach to Digital Transformation: From Customer to Code and From Code to Customer

The Lean Approach to Digital Transformation: From Customer to Code and  From Code to Customer is organized into three parts that expose and  develop the three capabilities that are essential for a successful  digital transformation:

1. Understanding how to co-create  digital services with users, whether they are customers or future  customers. This ability combines observation, dialogue, and iterative  experimentation. The approach proposed in this book is based on the Lean  Startup approach, according to an extended vision that combines Design  Thinking and Growth Hacking. Companies must become truly  "customer-centric", from observation and listening to co-development.  The revolution of the digital age of the 21st century is that customer  orientation is more imperative -- the era of abundance, usages rate of  change, complexity of experiences, and shift of power towards  communities -- are easier, using digital tools and digital communities.

2.  Developing an information system (IS) that is the backbone of the  digital transformation – called “exponential information system” to  designate an open IS (in particular on its borders), capable of  interfacing and combining with external services, positioned as a player  in software ecosystems and built for processing scalable and dynamic  data flows. The exponential information system is constantly changing  and it continuously absorbs the best of information processing  technology, such as Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning.

3.  Building software “micro-factories” that produce service platforms,  which are called “Lean software factories.” This “software factory”  concept covers the integration of agile methods, tooling and continuous  integration and deployment practices, a customer-oriented product  approach, and a platform approach based on modularity, as well as  API-based architecture and openness to external stakeholders. This  software micro-factory is the foundation that continuously produces and  provides constantly evolving services.

These three capabilities  are not unique or specific to this book, they are linked to other  concepts such as agile methods, product development according to lean  principles, software production approaches such as CICD (continuous  integration and deployment) or DevOps. This book weaves a common frame  of reference for all these approaches to derive more value from the  digital transformation and to facilitate its implementation.

The  title of the book refers to the “lean approach to digital  transformation” because the two underlying frameworks, Lean Startup and  Lean Software Factory, are directly inspired by Lean, in the sense of  the Toyota Way. The Lean approach is present from the beginning to the  end of this book -- it provides the framework for customer orientation  and the love of a job well done, which are the conditions for the  success of a digital transformation.