For years now, "Digital transformation" has sat at the top of every board agenda. Yet, despite years of investment, only 19% of Australian brands say they are truly getting value from their MarTech stack. What’s going wrong, and what can leaders do about it? Even government is rebooting its approach, mandating independent planning and accountability. It is time for every organisation to follow suit.
The reality is ambition stalls at Execution
The story is the same in every industry. Leadership teams set bold digital ambitions. Budgets are signed off. New tools and platforms get implemented. But outcomes fail to materialise. Productivity flatlines, staff become frustrated, and ROI shrinks.
The underlying problem is rarely a lack of talent, intent, or spend. The real killer can be a bloated, underperforming MarTech stack that slows teams down, burns budget, and saps creative energy. Technology is meant to be the enabler, not the anchor.
The Hidden Cost of MarTech Gone Wrong
When MarTech underperforms, the losses go far beyond subscription fees:
- Wasted time: Staff spend hours fixing data and navigating between platforms that should simply work together.
- Lost talent: High performers become disillusioned or leave when they spend more time troubleshooting than innovating.
- Missed growth: Campaigns lag, insights are delayed, and opportunities slip through the cracks.
Every hour and dollar wasted is a direct hit to your ambition. Most importantly, it is a direct hit to your business plan.
Why is the Government formalising digital planning?
It is not just the private sector that is feeling the pain. The Australian Government, through the Digital Transformation Agency (DTA), has now released its first formal Digital Investment Plans (DIPs) framework. From July 2025, every non-corporate Commonwealth agency will need to submit a structured digital roadmap. This isn’t bureaucracy for its own sake. It’s a direct response to the same challenge faced by corporates: projects that overrun, overlap, and underdeliver when planning is left to chance or driven by the loudest vendor.
The DTA’s new framework demands clear, evidence-based planning. Agencies must document their current digital state, future priorities, risks, enablers, and a step-by-step roadmap that aligns every tech investment to broader government outcomes. There is now a strong emphasis on transparency, accountability, and the independence of the planning process.
Government is effectively saying: stop letting tool vendors and implementation partners drive strategy. Put rigour into planning. Hold every stakeholder accountable.
Planning IS NOT implementation. Why the divide matters
Here’s where many organisations trip up. When you let builders do the architecture. Implementation agencies, often the same ones selling you platforms, are rarely the right people to design your strategic digital plan. We aren't saying it isnt't possible, but, Buyer-Beware.
Think of it this way: you would rarely if ever ask your builder to design your house. Architects design, builders build. The same logic applies in digital. Implementation agencies excel at delivery. But when they are running solo on strategy, several things can happen:
- Strategic goals are sidelined by technical features
- Budget and scope balloon as issues are discovered late
- The technology stack fills up with redundant or overlapping tools
- Agency/SI commercial interest risk overtaking your interests
The result? A digital environment that is expensive, fragmented, and hard to manage. This is why the DTA’s new Digital Investment Plan framework insists on separating strategy from delivery. Architects should map out the plan. Builder/s should deliver it.
The critical role of indepedence
Success in digital transformation starts with a hard, honest look at where you are today. An independent, unbiased audit of your current technology, people, and processes is a non-negotiable step. This is not a compliance exercise. It is how you ensure your strategy is built on facts, not assumptions.
Why is independence essential? When the same vendor that stands to benefit from selling or implementing technology does your audit, you’re unlikely to get the full picture. You want someone who will call out waste, duplication, and misalignment, even when it’s uncomfortable. The government has recognised this. So should every business leader.
Roadmaps that hold YOU and everyone accountable
A robust roadmap, built on independent audit findings, is not just a project plan. It is a strategic contract between all parts of the business.
- IT and Marketing on the same page, and know exactly what is expected, when, and why.
- Executives have a clear view from investment to outcomes.
- Vendors and delivery partners are kept focused on value, not just activity.
With a well-designed roadmap, technology decisions are never made in isolation. The roadmap puts people and process at the centre, aligning every project to the business plan. This is where the most meaningful gains are found. In reality, the biggest wins rarely come from new platforms. They come from removing friction in how people work and improving the processes that drive the business... otherwise known as Productivity.
A real-world example: Ambition undone by lack of planning
We recently worked with an ambitious mid-size retail/health sector brand. Their ambition was clear: become a digital-first brand, grow online sales, and use automation to personalise customer experience. Over five years, they acquired, purchased, and built many different marketing and analytics platforms. Each was purchased to solve a specific need at a point in time. The problem? There was no unified roadmap. Integration was held together with digital duct tape.
Campaigns took three much longer than necessary. The marketing team spent more time on manual data fixes than marketing work. Their head of digital left was in a perpetual state of frustration. When we were brought in for an independent audit, the first thing we did was map the current state—tools, people, process. What we found was not a technology problem, but a planning problem.
Technology, People, and Process, in that order.
Here is the truth:, technology alone is never the answer. You can have the best platforms in the world, but if decisions are made in silos, or if processes remain broken, progress will stall. The gold lies in how technology, people, and process come together.
An independent audit reveals the gaps. A strategic roadmap keeps all parties accountable. Most importantly, it shifts the focus from shiny tools to lasting business outcomes.
Outcome: Clarity, Accountability, and ROI
Start with an independent audit. Build a roadmap that aligns every action to your business plan. Hold every stakeholder-internal and external-accountable for results. When you do this, you achieve:
- Clarity on your true current state
- Alignment between teams, technology, and outcomes
- Full visibility of risk and opportunity
- The ability to cut waste and reinvest in what actually moves the needle
This is what the government’s new Digital Investment Plan framework is enforcing in the public sector. Smart private organisations are already doing the same.
Sound Familiar?
Well if it does, then you’re not alone. Let's talk.
References
- Mi3, Arktic Fox, Six Degrees Digital, Marketing & eComm in Focus 2025 report
https://www.mi-3.com.au/13-06-2025/draft-martech-spending-set-rise-again-although-scrutiny-and-roi-concerns-remain-ai - DTA releases first formal framework for Digital Investment Plans
https://www.dta.gov.au/blogs/dta-releases-first-formal-framework-digital-investment-plan