Business Growth Relies Heavily On Digital Transformation, Here’s Why…
COVIDs undeniable role in Digital Transformation has shaped the “what” and the “how” of companies’ digital transformation agendas to the point where growth and mere survival now heavily depend on major Transformations.
Businesses in need of growing & staying ahead of change in what is now a digital-first world need to prioritize these five Digital Transformation actions:
+ On-Demand Expectations
+ Workforce Enablement
+ Digital Security
+ Strategic Partnerships
+ Data-Driven Decision Making
1. On-Demand Expectations
Today’s customer, internal or external, expects the same kind of experience in a professional environment as they would with technology in their personal lives. Work and personal lives are so entwined, that service delivery expectations have done the same. Although this is easy in the consumer market, it can be hard to achieve for a business. We have never had more choices, both in terms of how and where to deliver applications from, and who to partner with for service delivery.
The hybrid environment of remote and on-premise work demands agile hybrid IT and networking capabilities for both workforce performance and exceptional service delivery. Getting the user experience right for all stakeholders is a critical part of business transformation. This goes beyond the usability of tools and applications, it includes the working experience between IT teams, business leadership, the workforce, and ultimately the customer.
2. Workforce Enablement
Workforce engagement has driven many company culture conversations. With a scattered workforce that might never fully return to office work, the new driver is Workforce Enablement. Management teams need to focus on new ways to improve productivity and work efficiency. Digital tools play a pivotal role in unlocking and growing employee potential in and out the office, and in their personal lives too.
Digital Transformation shifts the core business functions such as finance, HR, and operational management from manual processes to automated digitized processes. This enables business leaders to build and run agile, adaptable, and fast-growing organizations that capitalize on opportunities beyond their previous limitations.
Delivering consumer-level experience, great performance and enterprise-grade security in the hybrid workplace is an enormous responsibility on IT departments. Partnering with the right technology talent can be the difference between enabling or shackling the workforce.
3. Digital Security
IT leaders are faced with the challenge of enabling access to data at the edge of their networks and keeping it secure at the same time. With remote work and widely spread data access points, the task of access control, data compliance, and protection is becoming increasingly complicated. General IT teams work with what they have in terms of knowledge and tools. That is no longer good enough. IT leaders need to start with future thinking and work back from there to simplify things.
As we look beyond the pandemic-enforced remote working to hybrid working models that incorporate workers’ different lifestyle needs, up-to-date security measures are critically important. Executives will need to balance security strategies that work for in-office staff with measures that still keep remote workers on personal networks and devices safe.
For digital transformation to be truly transformative, CIOs should work with both business and technology partners that understand the broader business objectives and can operate honestly and transparently to achieve these goals.
4. Strategic Partnerships
Competition within industries is more aggressive than ever and customer demands are increasing rapidly. Firms are becoming increasingly reliant on each other, working with suppliers and distributors, sub-contractors, and specialized consultants, with the aim of producing a diverse range of products and services that interest customers.
These partnerships require heavy document-based processes which are mostly perceived as exhausting, frustrating, and time-consuming. This obstacle can now be automated and streamlined with digital tools and digital eSignature and file approval solutions. These solutions are far more accurate, transparent, secure, timely, and in line with where the world is heading. Implemented correctly, these solutions can allow business execs to view, approve and sign documents from their mobile phones.
The significant time saving gained from video meetings, digital process management, and eSignature solutions will have a major impact on strategic partnerships and business growth.
Taking a lead with digital processes and technology integration businesses can get ahead of change and make themselves more available to future partners. This has become a fundamental element of business scalability in the new world. Digital Transformation produces the tools to generate time and resource gains, strengthening business partnerships.
5. Data-Driven Decision Making
At the center of a great Digital Transformation strategy, is the DATA and ANALYTICS generated by the new technologies and tools implemented. For most businesses, this produces data and information about the business they have never seen before. Data that allow them to make far more accurate decisions and see further into the future.
This is how a business profits from BIG DATA.
Today’s enterprises have far greater volumes of data than ever before thanks to the Internet Of Things (IoT). The right analytical tools can convert this data to valuable business insights for accurate, fast, and even real-time decision making. The deeper these tools are integrated into operations, the more powerful data it produces and the greater the impact on the business.
With enough of the right data, businesses can leverage AI-based technologies and tap into the bigger potential of data. This is where real significant innovation starts.
Leading an industry demands this level of thinking and doing.
Feel free to mail me at carl@digital-hq.com — let’s talk about this.