“Digital transformation is more than just digital; it’s about remodeling businesses to be agile, innovative, and customer-centric at their core.”

Solis said the first thing society does is judge the next generation with statements like, “put your phone down.” What that says is, “You need to be more like me.” Solis said to earn relevance society needs to do the opposite and embrace technology. Contrary to old thinking, technology like smart phone apps and social platforms help people become more informed.

Digital disruption is happening at lightning speed and only some of the best-in-class businesses are successfully keeping up the pace.

In documenting how companies are going through this digital transformation, Brian Solis, principal analyst at Altimeter Group, a Prophet company, developed a maturity model that chronicles the stages and the key areas of focus and change.

Solis said the “6 Stages of Digital Transformation” took 1.5 years to assemble and was developed to help CIOs, CMOs, and key stakeholders follow the paths of other successful companies like Dell, Lego, Starbucks, and Target to help make the case for driving transformation.