Totes Isotoner, Sr. Director of Information Technology: Digital Transformation Is a Journey, Not a Destination

Cathy Coletts, Sr. Director of Information Technology, Totes Isotoner, speaks to Ryan Grace, Market Director, Staffing & Consulting, Vernovis, about the ideal approach to the digital transformation journey, and about the importance of running co-op programs.

Coletts defines digital transformation as a necessary disruption, using digital technologies to either enhance or create new business processes, company cultures, consumer experiences, and strategic decisions.

“People see it as a disruption and they don't want to embrace it, but it has to change the way we do things; it's required to meet the rapidly changing consumer and market demands that we have. And it's cross-departmental. It's a collaboration, it's a process and a journey, and not a destination or a state to be achieved,” she adds.

She explains that the journey includes various aspects, including the network infrastructure, cloud software, cybersecurity development and operations, artificial intelligence, data analytics, and unified communications. The transformation tools give organizations the ability to be agile and to deliver solutions for business and customers quicker and more efficiently.

“One of the biggest talking points that I've had a lot recently with individuals going through digital transformation, specifically the data side of things, is early adopters versus the detractors, versus the late adopters. The detractors and late adopters really can cripple that process. And if you don't have a clear strategy, it's going to make that process much longer.”

Regarding challenges, Coletts mentions that organizations sometimes don't know how to start or how to evaluate their position, and then they perceive it as a single project, not an ongoing journey. While they might seem agile, their back-end processes are manual, overloaded, and people-intensive instead of automated.

“That's what I do in my position with digital transformation, and I help them map that out. But it doesn't solely fall on the IT department to make it happen, either. It requires effort by all,” she adds.

Coletts explains that IT leaders should assess the landscape, look at the organization from the computer systems, the back end, the front end, and the infrastructure, and put these into a presentation. It has to be maintained as an ongoing working document and the transformation has to be planned out for years. The plan has to be continuously reviewed and adjusted to keep up with the evolving technologies. “I have to look at it as implementing small measurable improvements on a regular basis,” she notes.

Speaking on the importance of co-op programs, she emphasizes that these programs vary and you should speak with experienced industry peers to learn how to execute one. 

“They do take some work on the organization's part,” she says. It involves training students for projects, mentoring and teaching them along the way, and providing feedback to their educational institutions. She expects first-time co-op students to get about 50% learning time and 50% work time from a participating organization. If a student returns for a second co-op assignment, it becomes more like 25% learning something new and 75% working on a project. “The organization has an obligation to provide new learning experiences for the student,” Collets concludes.