"Digital transformation" is one of those phrases everyone uses and almost nobody grounds in practice. When an SME tells me they want to "go through digital transformation", what they actually need isn't to buy more tools, but a roadmap: knowing where to start, in what order, and with what investment. Kit Consulting's strategy and digital transformation advisory, Red.es's digital advisory programme, funded exactly that. In this article I explain what this category covered — especially the "360" service, the most complete in the catalogue —, what a digital roadmap is, how it differs from the other categories, and where an SME should start. This is informational content: the application window is closed, so here you'll find the mechanics of the service and how to make the most of strategic advisory like this, with or without a grant. Since I have a broader general guide on the topic, this article focuses on the programme's angle; for the full roadmap method, I link out to it.
What did the digital transformation advisory cover?
Within Kit Consulting's catalogue, digital transformation materialised mainly through the "360" advisory service, the most cross-cutting of all. Unlike the specialised categories (which each look at a single area: AI, cybersecurity, data, sales…), the "360" assessed every aspect of the business at once to design an integral transformation. The advisor drew up a global diagnosis and proposed a plan covering every key area. In concrete terms, it worked on:
- Global digital diagnosis. An honest snapshot of the starting point: which processes are digitalised and which aren't, what technology you use, how mature your data, cybersecurity and digital sales are.
- Setting priorities. Which areas give the most return if digitalised first, based on your sector and size.
- Roadmap. The sequence of projects, with milestones and a timeline, typically over 12-24 months.
- Business case. The estimated investment and expected return, to justify each step.
- Change governance. Who leads, how progress is measured, and how the team's adoption is managed.
The deliverable was a digital transformation roadmap: the document that tells you what to do, in what order and with what investment, so you don't have to improvise. I develop the full method in my guide on the digital transformation roadmap for companies, which you can read as a detailed complement to this article.
What is a digital roadmap?
A digital roadmap is, simply put, the plan that sequences your transformation over time. It's not a list of trendy technologies, but a reasoned sequence of projects where each step builds on the last. A good roadmap answers four questions:
- Where am I? The digital maturity diagnosis by area.
- Where do I want to get to? The business objectives that digitalisation should serve.
- In what order? Prioritisation: what comes first, what comes next, and why.
- With what resources? The investment, the timelines and who executes each milestone.
The most common mistake I see is building the roof before the foundations: buying expensive software before knowing what problem it solves. The roadmap avoids that mistake because it forces you to think about the why before the what. Digital transformation isn't an IT project — it's a business project that uses technology.
How does it differ from the other categories?
This is the key to understanding the "360". The other Kit Consulting categories are vertical (they go deep into one area), while digital transformation is horizontal (it connects all of them). Here's the summary:
| Aspect | Specialised categories | Digital transformation "360" |
|---|---|---|
| Approach | Vertical: a single area | Horizontal: every area |
| Question | How do I improve this specific front? | Where do I start, and in what order? |
| Examples | AI, cybersecurity, data, sales | Global diagnosis and roadmap |
| When to choose it | You know which area you want to improve | You don't know where to start |
| Deliverable | Plan for the specific category | Transformation roadmap |
In practice, the "360" was the best entry point for an SME that felt lost: instead of choosing blindly between AI, data or cybersecurity, it first ran the global diagnosis and, roadmap in hand, decided which specialised fronts to tackle next. It's the logical order: first the map, then the specific route.
Where should an SME start its digital transformation?
This is the million-euro question, and the sensible answer is: with the diagnosis, not with the purchase. Before deciding anything, an SME should take an honest look at four dimensions:
- Processes. Which tasks are still done by hand, on paper, or in scattered spreadsheets?
- Data. Do you decide based on information or on gut feeling? Do you have dashboards?
- Customers and sales. How do you acquire, sell to and retain customers using digital channels?
- Security. Are your systems and your customers' data protected?
That diagnosis is where the priorities come from. Almost always the natural order starts by putting processes and data in order (the foundation), continues with digital sales (growth), and leans on cybersecurity (protection) in parallel. AI lands well once the data is already clean. I bring that sequencing down to earth in my digital roadmap guide, and to place it within the programme, in what Kit Consulting is and the guide to the programme's digital advisory.
One important nuance: there's no universal roadmap. An industrial company's roadmap doesn't look like a professional firm's, nor like a shop's. That's why the "360" always started by listening to the business before proposing anything. The temptation to copy what a competitor does, or to chase the latest tech trend, is exactly what good advisory work defuses: useful digital transformation is the kind that solves your bottlenecks, not your neighbour's.
What deliverables did you get?
The accredited digital advisor left documented deliverables. In the "360", the usual set was:
- A digital maturity diagnosis by area, with an assessment of the starting point.
- A transformation roadmap with milestones, sequence and timeline.
- A business case with estimated investment and expected return per phase.
- A recommendation of priorities and which specialised categories to tackle next.
- A governance model to lead and measure the change.
What kind of advisor provided this service?
The "360" required an advisor with a cross-cutting business view, not a specialist in a single technology. They had to understand processes, data, sales and security well enough to prioritise with judgement, and above all know the reality of an SME: limited resources, a small team, the need for quick returns. That's why the value wasn't in knowing "everything in depth", but in ordering and prioritising with business common sense. In my case, that's exactly the work I do with SMEs in Castilla y León and Las Palmas: translating the word "transformation" into a list of concrete, profitable steps.
What kind of company did it make the most sense for?
The "360" advisory added the most value for:
- SMEs that feel lost and don't know which front to start with.
- Growing companies that need to professionalise their management and stop improvising.
- Businesses with patched-together technology, where each department bought its own tool without an overall view.
- Management teams that want a plan before approving scattered digital investments.
By contrast, if you're already very clear that your only priority is, say, cybersecurity or analytics, it was better to go straight to that specialised category instead of the "360". Cross-cutting scope is an advantage when there's doubt, not when the focus is already decided.
An example of an 18-month roadmap
To keep this from staying abstract, here's how a "360" roadmap typically lands in an industrial SME with around 40 employees that "wants to digitalise" without knowing where to start. After the diagnosis, the plan ordered the work into three waves. The first wave (months 1-6) tackled the basics that hurt the most: digitalising the order and delivery-note flow, which lived on paper, and setting up a first sales-and-margins dashboard. The second wave (months 7-12) professionalised digital sales and the CRM, and reinforced minimum cybersecurity in parallel, because digitalising more processes increases exposure. The third wave (months 13-18) moved into advanced analytics and the first AI use cases, now that the data was clean and the team had built the habit.
What matters in that example isn't the specific technologies, but the order: no buying AI in month one, no setting up an expensive ERP before knowing which processes to sort out first. The roadmap turns a vague wish — "let's transform" — into a sequence of steps the team can execute and management can measure. And it lets you spend the money when it's due, not before.
How does it relate to Kit Digital?
It's worth not confusing two programmes that complement each other. Kit Consulting funded the advisory (thinking through the strategy, building the roadmap), while Kit Digital funded the tools (implementing the software). The ideal sequence was to use the advisory first to decide what you need, and then Kit Digital to implement it with judgement. Without the roadmap, many SMEs spent their Kit Digital voucher on solutions that later didn't fit together. With it, each tool plays a role within a plan. I explain that difference in depth in my comparison between Kit Digital and Kit Consulting, and you'll see how the priority changes depending on your activity in the analysis of Kit Digital by sector.
If you want a realistic digital roadmap for your SME, with or without a grant, feel free to get in touch.
Frequently asked questions
- What does the digital transformation advisory cover?
- In its most complete form, Kit Consulting's "360" service covers a global digital diagnosis of every area of the business (processes, data, sales, technology and security), the setting of priorities, a roadmap with milestones and timeline, a business case with investment and return, and a change-governance model. It's the most cross-cutting category in the catalogue: rather than going deep into one area, it connects all of them to design an integral transformation.
- What is a digital roadmap?
- It's the plan that sequences your transformation over time: a reasoned sequence of projects where each step builds on the last. It answers four questions: where you are (maturity diagnosis), where you want to get to (business objectives), in what order (prioritisation), and with what resources (investment, timelines and owners). It's not a list of trendy technologies, but a business plan that uses technology as a means.
- How does it differ from the other categories?
- The other Kit Consulting categories are vertical: they go deep into a single area (AI, cybersecurity, data, sales). "360" digital transformation is horizontal: it connects all of them. That's why it's the best entry point when an SME doesn't know where to start: it first runs the global diagnosis and, roadmap in hand, decides which specialised fronts to tackle next. First the map, then the specific route.
- Where should an SME start its digital transformation?
- With the diagnosis, not with the purchase. Before deciding anything, it's worth taking an honest look at four dimensions: processes (what's still done by hand), data (whether you decide based on information or gut feeling), customers and sales (how you use digital channels), and security (whether your systems and data are protected). That's where the priorities come from, which usually start by putting processes and data in order, continue with digital sales, and lean on cybersecurity in parallel.
Looking for a realistic digital roadmap for your SME? Let's talk for a free diagnostic of where to start. Presence across Castilla y León and the Canary Islands.
References: Acelera Pyme · Red.es · BOE