What is Digital Transformation?

Digital transformation is the implementation of modern technology to spark radical change within an organization. Digital transformation is a term derived from digital technologies and business transformation. Business transformation led by digital technologies is what’s called digital transformation. For a successful digital transformation outcome, it is important that enterprises focus on both — the right use of digital technologies and transforming existing business models.

Digital transformation requires industry leaders to rethink their business strategies and operations to transform their business for continued growth. By introducing new technologies and strategies to a company, businesses can expect to see growth in employee satisfaction, customer engagement, and business innovation. Enterprises are investing millions of dollars in digital transformation initiatives because of the potential value it brings to their businesses. Future-minded businesses are in a unique position to benefit from launching new digital initiatives. Through digital transformation, enterprises can offer exceptional and personalized experiences to their customers and employees, resulting in improved brand loyalty, customer retention, and increased revenue.

The digital transformation process designed by Invonto

What Drives Digital Transformation?

While technology is an important aspect of digital transformation, it isn’t the only aspect business owners should worry about. Digital transformation is more concerned with shedding outdated processes and legacy technology than it is about adopting new tech. Successful digital transformation initiatives start with a well-defined strategy that prioritizes business goals and identifies criteria for maximum success. You’ll want to focus in one or more of these key areas:

Customer Experience

The customer experience is a critical aspect of every business. If a customer is dissatisfied with your products and services, they will not come back; or worse they’ll tell others to stay clear of you. A poor customer experience could be the result of improper training, mismanaged operations, or sluggish process flow. Using modern technology can help improve these processes and can potentially enhance the customer experience. In a crisis situation like COVID-19, it has been important for companies to rethink their digital transformation strategies and make customer experience their top priority. Companies that truly care about their customers have a better chance of retaining their customers.

Employee Performance

Employee performance is another important aspect of every business. If employees don’t perform optimally, you could be leaving cash on the table. Digital initiatives can be a means to look inward and address aspects of your business including employee satisfaction, skill advancement, employee performance, training, and work collaboration. Providing employees with the tools to communicate, collaborate, and connect will increase productivity for greater business success. Companies can use technologies like cloud, mobile, and virtual reality for creating digital solutions that improve employee experiences and performance.

Data Analytics

Data is quintessential to any digital transformation initiative. With no data, it is difficult to dictate what path is more likely to lead to success. Data provides businesses with more valuable insights and keeps them informed in every aspect of their operations. In 2020, there are still many companies who rely heavily on paper-based processes. This methodology creates many gaps in your business operations that can be solved through the collection and analysis of data. Process automation and digital data drastically improves business performance and offers business key insights to business trends and growth areas.

Gaining a Competitive Advantage

Customers grow more and more demanding every day. To address their needs, businesses must always seek out to improve their products and services. Digital transformation can be a means to pursue innovation. A company that is more efficient will have the time and finances to invest in a multitude of ideas. If you are constantly moving forward, you will always have an edge over your competitors.

Why Does Digital Transformation Matter Today?

In the wake of the pandemic, an organization’s ability to quickly adapt to these rapidly changing times is absolutely crucial to the survival of the business. How do you prepare when the supply chain experiences disruptions and pressure mounts to support customers? Digital transformation is an answer to meet these challenges.

Businesses who are not greatly affected by the pandemic should not underestimate the potential of digital transformation. By remaining stagnant, businesses who are in survival mode gain an incredible advantage over those who decide to stick to the status quo. Digital transformation is spreading across industries. You can witness its effects in healthcare, manufacturing, construction, retail, e-commerce, supply chain, and travel. The real choice for CIOs today is deciding on the pursuit of innovation or getting left behind.

How Can I Get Started on Digital Transformation?

On the surface, digital transformation may seem like a major undertaking and it may be depending on the scope of your digital transformation initiatives. Though, digital transformation consulting companies can help you create a digital transformation roadmap separating your digital transformation goals into achievable and short term milestones. On average companies start seeing results of their digital transformation efforts within 3 to 6 months. Digital transformation consulting companies can also assist creating prototypes and minimum-viable-product (MVP) for emerging technologies such as augmented reality, virtual reality, internet of things, Blockchain, and artificial intelligence; allowing companies create innovative solutions quickly and at a fraction of the cost of full-featured solutions.

Conclusion

If this all feels a bit overwhelming, don’t worry! Much of the popular press that is associated with successful digital transformation projects revolves around a select number of high profile companies. Most companies have yet to start pursuing digital transformation. CIOs and IT leaders have an incredible opportunity to lead the charge and be innovators within their respective roles.

Because digital transformation combines process improvements and different digital technologies, we highly recommend you seek a digital transformation consulting company to help audit your business and develop your digital transformation strategy. Partnering with an experienced digital transformation consulting company can help turn your digital initiatives into digital success stories. If you would like to learn more about digital transformation, we invite you to check out The Digital Transformation Cookbook: How To Transform Your People Process and Data. It is a book written by Invonto CEO, Maulik Shah, collecting his decades of industry experience building digital solutions and leading digital transformation initiatives for Fortune 500 companies. If you have additional questions about digital transformation, please contact us to schedule digital transformation consulting for your company.

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