Integration of technology in all possible verticals of the business is what we refer to as digital transformation. Digital Transformations today, are very fast and easy, and it does not take time for the organization to shift onto new technologies. However, this scenario is very different from the past where each transformation process required a long time.
Although being digitally active and changing with the world is beneficial for the businesses as a whole, they face possible backslashes from their employees. Process Automation is the core value that runs on every digital transformation ride. This is where employees worry. They fear that technological adoptions would take over their job from the company. The organization should take steps to create an environment wherein harmony is achievable between physical and technological work. The Golden Triangle of People, Process, and Technology works wonders for the company and society as a whole.
In this article, we will cover all possible aspects of Digital Transformations.
Need for Digital Transformations:
Edge over the competition:
Digital Transformations provide companies the necessary edge over the competition. Companies that can integrate technology faster into their businesses succeed faster than their competitors do. It also enables businesses to enhance and provide futuristic offerings to customers. It also improves the overall customer experience and makes them loyal to their business offerings. Apple for instance was the pioneer in the introduction of TouchID and FaceID in mobile and other electronic devices.
Data-Driven Personalization:
A.I. (Artificial Intelligence) and Machine Learning have enabled companies to track users’ interactions with devices. A study of these interactions reveals trends and habits, which a customer follows regularly upon their interactions with the devices. Companies now use these data points to feature more and more personalized advertisements to the users to generate maximum sales leads. Organizations these days hire digital marketing agencies, which generate maximum leads at the minimum cost. Companies save a lot of effort from these digital marketing services. This is evident from the fact that more and more companies are now shifting their focus away from offline marketing towards digital marketing.
Impacts Culture and Values of Society:
The faster a country adopts digitization, the faster it becomes developed. This is the common notion that the world follows in the 21st century. For instance, countries, where the use of digital currency has outplayed the physical currency usage, are all considered developed. This is because it implies that the country has the required strong digital infrastructure and people there are willing to adapt to changes. India launched the digital payment platform UPI (United Payments Interface) in the year 2016. UPI proved to be a game-changer for the entire payments industry in India. People got confidence in transacting online and now India has the most volume of digital transactions in the world.
Such was the impact of UPI that other online payment means like Credit and Debit Cars, Net Banking also saw a huge boost in their transaction volumes.
Steps for Successful Digital Transformations:
Current Digital State Assessment:
Companies need to assess their current digital usage state before investing in the new infrastructure. Organizations should also research within their internal teams to get a detailed digital infrastructure requirement. Efforts are required to incorporate common digital tools across departments for better synchronization.
Main Objectives for Digitization:
Companies should clearly understand the main objectives/goals they want to attain with digitization. Goals decide which aspect of digitization the company requires. For instance, a car manufacturer has to install a supercomputer (hardware) to reduce gaps/defects in car manufacturing. Similarly, a digital marketing company may have to install applications and extensions (software) for automating bulk marketing mail processes and file deliveries.
Pilot Testing:
Organizations should conduct Pilot Testings for a new digital product, before making it a part of the full-fledged process. This will help employees to learn gradually the use of these products. It also prevents loss of productivity due to haphazardness.
Develop Leadership:
Companies should focus on certain employees who have leadership qualities. Training should firstly be provided to these employees for any new technologies. Leaders will then educate their respective departments and the process will become smooth and intuitive.
Periodical Reviews:
Reviews and Refinements in processes are required after successfully implementing new digitization schemes. Reviews help in understanding whether the applied digitization is working fine or not. While refinements are necessary to mold these products as per the needs of the person /process/department/organization.
Advantages of a Digitized Firm:
Increase in Mobility:
The pandemic outbreak, forced organizations to undertake strategies like Work from Home (WFH), Hybrid Work Model, and more. Companies that had digitized processes shifted to these without the loss of business. Automation and digitization offer this benefit to the business. IT (Information Technology) companies like TCS, Infosys, and Wipro succeeded because of their extensive digitized processes.
Improved Collaboration:
Collaboration between departments improves a lot when digitization is implemented. Employees across departments, areas and even countries stay connected continuously via tools like Google Chats (for messaging), Zoom (for video conferencing) for their day-to-day work status updates. Uniting the workforce is also possible with these tools. Company heads can convey their message to thousands of employees via a single platform. This saves a lot of time and effort on unproductive activities.
Data-driven decisions:
Digitization offers valuable insights to the companies about their potential. Organizations can make data-driven decisions. Decisions based on data seldom fail. Digitized Companies use data points to ascertain pointers like:
- Whether to enter or not in a new business.
- Estimated Costs associated with the business.
- Forecasting revenues and profit margins based on current performance.
- Productivity of employees.
- Attrition Rate, and many more.
All these data-centric decisions prove beneficial for a company’s current as well as future operations.
Employee Knowledge Upgradation:
Digitization also helps in educating employees on the usage of new technologies. Employees learn new methods of performing their tasks while simultaneously doing their jobs. Indirectly employees get the required skill upgrades too, by changing technologies. This helps employees not only in their current positions but also prepare them for future positions as well.
Trends Going Forward:
Digitization is set to grow to new heights in the years to come with AI-Driven technologies, which will open up newer and more underpenetrated areas of growth for the companies. We have listed certain trends, which can become big in the years to come:
- Wide usage of AI-Powered Voice Assistants (Google Assistant, Siri, Alexa) and consequent working on the Big Data.
- Employee Engagement via Robotic Process Automation (RPA)
- Faster mobile spectrum deployment and adoption like 5G, with a consequent rise in the IoT (Internet of Things) ecosystem.
- Finance Industry Growth through Self Service Banking and much more,
All these are possible current trends that can disrupt the future digital processes and industry as a whole. These trends are fast becoming part of the routine lives of individuals.
Conclusion:
Digitization is becoming more and more a requirement rather than a need. Businesses nowadays have to keep a continuous track of the technological changes that are happening around. Upon analyzing the trends, we observe that all trends have the center point of an enhanced customer experience and customer satisfaction.
Organizations should find ways for creating trust amongst the employees for implementing faster digital adoptions. Employees fear their job when massive digitization takes place. They think that AI and machine will take over their current jobs. Educating the employees about the advantages of digitalization can help resolve all conflicts. They should be educated that true digital transformation works when both employees and AI work in sync for achieving organizational goals.
Author Bio
Aditya is the Founder and CEO of Nico Digital and Digital Polo. He has attained the pinnacle of brand design expertise by delivering true value to brands and marketers. After pursuing his higher education in Business Analysis from Manchester Business School, he has helped both Nico Digital and Digital Polo unlock its true branding potential globally. You can reach out to him on LinkedIn and Twitter.
