We are a far cry from the working worlds of bygone eras. Technology has changed everything; from booking a table at that “nice, new restaurant that just opened around the corner” to online banking and organising the months to come, tech is the driving force behind everything we do.
For businesses, digital transformation isn’t an option, it’s a necessity. Opting to shy away from digital business transformation is done at your own peril, and if you wish to remain competitive and, most importantly, profitable, then it’s crucial you understand why the success of your business hinges on your ability to transform digitally.
Key Drivers of Digital Business Transformation
Customer Demands are on the Rise
While technology brings ample opportunity for organisations, it has meant the demand of the customer has increased. Everything is now available at the click of a button, and we have grown unaccustomed to the idea of having to wait.
For universities, negative feedback from students via National Student Surveys can impact table rankings and, therefore, revenue. One of the most common reasons for a student leaving negative feedback? Inadequacies in a university’s technology. This translates to most other sectors, as the customer experience has become so dependent on an organisation’s IT and technological capabilities.
Blistering Pace of Tools and Technologies
The ever-changing world of technology is fast-paced and unrelenting. The range of applications and digital technologies, such as Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), Big and Small Data, Blockchain, Microservices and Machine Learning can quickly become overwhelming for decision-makers. In order to take advantage of the many benefits of digital business transformation, organisations may choose to leverage the expertise of a Managed Services Provider, such as Intergence.
Hybrid or Remote Workforces
As a result of the pandemic, organisations had to find new ways of working. While hybrid, or fully remote workforces, were a necessary consequence at first, the many advantages of having a liberated, globally dispersed workforce soon became clear, and both models have been widely adopted by organisations across the world. This did, however, put additional strain on companies’ IT infrastructure, and quickly highlighted shortcomings in the technology they were using.
It is essential that your employees are able to seamlessly communicate with clients and colleagues, regardless of location. Therefore, a clear and collaborative communications solution is integral to the success of your digital business transformation.
Cyber Security
Given the recent rise in cyber crime, your cyber security posture has never been more important. In fact, a cyber attack is estimated to occur every 39 seconds, and the malicious agents behind these attacks are indiscriminate in identifying their victims. It is therefore crucial that your digital business transformation includes a robust and comprehensive cyber security solution.
Time is Money
For business leaders, the bottom-line comes first. Without digital business transformation, you are likely to spend time on highly administrative, time-consuming tasks. Not only is this costing you valuable time, but the knock on effect is reduced profits. Through digital transformation, you are able to drive increased automation, meaning you can do more with less, rendering multiple systems, databases and manual ways of working redundant – and boosting revenues.
Key Challenges Facing Business Leaders
While the bottom-line benefits of digital business transformation are clear to see, business leaders are faced with certain challenges. Understanding the advantages of digital transformation is one thing, however a company-wide implementation is an obstacle within itself. Businesses leaders are presented with obstacles, such as:
- Strategic Leadership: Digital business transformation is not an operational decision, rather strategic. This requires strong leadership from the top, as it can be an uphill struggle convincing board members of the benefits of digital transformation. Leadership are required to have a strong understanding of what digital transformation entails, its wide-reaching advantages and how it is a strategic change, opposed to simply a website or technology initiative.
- A change in mindset and culture: For digital business transformation to be successful, there needs to be a shift in approach. You need to be willing to experiment, take risks and be flexible with scope.
- Digital transformation is continuous: Digital business transformation will not occur overnight; the process takes time and customer habits and expectations are ever-changing. Your organisation will need to be able to build capability to manage change on a continuous and sustainable basis, it’s not a one-off, or something that can simply be implemented on the spot.
The Intergence Way
We have developed a framework for digital business transformation called the Intergence Way, combining the founding principles of Agile and Business Change to increase the speed and success of any digital business transformation.
Our digital change consultants, project and programme managers and our ecosystem of latest digital technologies can support you at each and every stage of your digital journey, from developing customer requirements and formulating digital strategy, through to implementation, benefits realisation, and continual improvement.
Additionally, we have identified 7 strategies to manage digital change, including benefits achieved, from building a solid foundation, through to process automation and data in one place.
Benefits Achieved:
- Those who transform digitally will change how customers perceive their organisation, and can open the doors for new opportunities, business models or even industries.
- Clients who have successfully implemented, or followed, our digital change framework have experienced significant competitive advantage and financial gains and have typically seen a return from their digital investments in 1 to 2 years.
To find out more on why your organisation needs to adopt digital transformation, get in touch with the experts at Intergence, today.
