Master B2B’s research found the practitioner consensus is overwhelming on this question: the vast majority of B2B leaders believe digital transformation should be managed as a program, not a project. Treating it as a project creates a natural but misleading endpoint, a platform go-live, after which investment, staffing, and attention often fall off just as the harder work of adoption and optimization begins. Treating it as a program keeps budget, governance, and a dedicated team in place indefinitely, which better matches how quickly buyer expectations and available technology continue to change. The practical implication for leadership is resourcing: a program needs a standing budget line and an accountable owner, not a one-time capital allocation.
Digital transformation: project vs. program
The distinction between treating digital transformation as a finite initiative with a defined end date (a project) versus an ongoing operating discipline that never fully concludes (a program).