Digital Transformation is the use of new, fast, and frequently changing digital technology to solve problems often utilizing cloud computing, reducing reliance on user-owned hardware but increasing reliance on subscription-based cloud services.
Defining Digital Transformation
Digital transformation is the process of using digital technologies to modify existing or create new business processes, culture, and customer experiences. Hence to meet changing business and market requirements. This reimagining of business in the digital age is digital transformation.
It transcends traditional roles like sales, marketing, and customer service. Instead, the digital transformation begins and ends with how you think about, and engage with, customers. As we move from paper to spreadsheets to smart applications for managing our business, we have the chance to reimagine how we do business and how we engage our customers with digital technology on our side.
For small businesses just getting started, there is no need to set up your business processes and transform them later. You can future-proof your organization from the word go. Building a 21st-century business on stickies and handwritten ledgers just isn’t sustainable. Thinking, planning and building digitally sets you up to be agile, flexible, and ready to grow.
Areas of Digital Transformation
Leadership Transformation
For a successful digital transformation, leadership enables and empowers many things to happen; for example, increasing awareness and insight into the business ecosystem and also adopting innovation as a business model, adopting the Agile method for planning and governance. And last but not least, enforcing the valuation criteria to channel funding to strategic, enterprise-wide digital initiatives.
Therefore, without leadership transformation, it will be difficult to foster an enterprise-wide digital culture. A very key component to have for the organization to successfully navigate through the entire digital transformation journey.
Omni-Channel Experience Transformation
Consumption habits are evolving rapidly, enabled by new digital technologies and demand for simplicity, convenience, and instant gratification.
As a result, all the points of interaction with customers have to evolve along with customer needs. Over-the-counter communications made way for the telephone and online interactions. And it is in the online world where possibilities are developing exponentially. Hence, with emails, mobile messaging, social media, robochats, video chats, and more.
An enterprise may lead the way forward by eliminating face-to-face customer on-boarding, with virtual customer service, a mobile app that completely does away with physical service agents and physical branches; all customers need is a mobile phone and connectivity to complete their transaction requirements.
Information Transformation
Management of data is one of the keys to supporting the omnichannel experience. To be able to extract insights, and that can provide value and utility, data across all new and existing sources must be integrated and made consistent.
After applying big data and analytics technologies upon all this information related to customers, markets transactions, services, products, physical assets and business experiences, not only can new revenue streams be generated, but decision-making becomes informed and more impactful.
Operating Model Transformation
As everything starts to come together, the next thing to work on is making business operations more responsive and effective, by leveraging digitally-connected products/services, assets, people and trading partners.
One organization’s operating model may not differ much from another business’ operating model. To the customer who is outside the organization, they may just glance at the surface and not see anything unique about one particular company.
But, GRC or governance, risk, compliance, affects internal operations profoundly – how effective and efficient operations depend on GRC – and GRC would be the one main element that sets you apart from your competitors.
Worksource transformation
People are an organization’s most valuable resource. Recognizing who your internal and external contributors towards organizational values are one thing, but optimizing their productivity and flexibility is another.
This requires taking into account, IT talent and skills management, as well as a continuous competency development programme for them to achieve, and sustain the desired competency level required to perform their roles effectively in today’s digital workplace.
Using the right resource to achieve the right business objectives, is very important, especially if you want to leverage the myriad of cloud services and externally brokered services out there.
To Wind Up
Digital transformation is the integration of digital technology into all areas of a business, fundamentally changing how you operate and deliver value to customers. It’s also a cultural change that requires organizations to continually challenge the status quo, experiment, and get comfortable with failure.
The digital trend has started to change internal processes. Processes need to start to take into account the customer journey whenever they engage with a company’s products and services from the very beginning up to the end, in a digital way. As part of the digital implementation, an organization needs to think about the Digital Customer journey experience. And how digital processes could be incorporated to elevate their experience and achieve wider organizational goals ultimately.