Practical Tips for Successful Business Transformation Programs | Tech Gave
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By MiannaK1
Many companies have already begun their digital transformation. Despite the COVID-19 outbreak, digital transformation will cover 65% of global GDP by 2022, according to a study by the international consulting agency IDC. This will attract more than $6.8 trillion in direct investment to the development of digital technologies and services by the end of 2023.
The pandemic has effectively forced businesses to improve efficiency and service quality. These are not just key goals in a company’s digital transformation, but also critical determinants of the fate of a business in a downturn.
In this article, we will explain what digital business transformation is, what are its benefits and how to start practically moving along this path.
For businesses, digital transformation is the overarching process of integrating digital technologies into a new or existing manufacturing model. This definition can be successfully applied to other spheres of public life, for example, to public administration or education.
The main goal of digital transformation is to bring all business activities in line with the rapidly changing requirements of the modern world. In simple words, digital transformation helps a business to correctly accept even the most radical external changes and remain competitive in a new environment.
With the beginning of the digital transformation of the company, new positions and professional responsibilities may appear in it, especially those related to the IT field. For example, a Chief Digital Transformation Officer (CDTO), a Chief Digital Officer (CDO), a Chief Information Officer (CIO), a Chief Technical Officer (CTO), a data scientist (Data Scientist / DS).
Digital technology help employees to be more efficient. With their help, key departments of the company, such as HR and finance, can automate their most important tasks. For example, payroll or customer data processing.
Digital collaboration and networking make it much easier for different departments and groups to interact within an organisation. In addition, digital transformation enables remote operation and access to cloud and turnkey services.
Developing good customer relationships is the foundation of any successful business. And digital tools make that much easier.
Digital transformation can help improve brand image through more active customer engagement at various stages – from promptly addressing complaints to launching seasonal sales and promotions. This will lead to better results.
This most important task requires a whole range of measures. For example, strict control over the process of providing access to data, compliance with requirements for their safety, as well as ensuring protection against hacker attacks. It is hardly feasible if the company does not have its own IT department.
The obvious way out in such cases is to contact third-party cybersecurity specialists. It is preferable to make a choice in favour of those professionals who are familiar with the specifics of the enterprise. They understand the objectives of the business and can achieve their goals in the most efficient way.
Most companies are interdependent. To attract consumers to their products, they interact with a variety of partners – suppliers, contractors and specialised consultants. Of course, you can communicate with them on the basis of physical workflow, but this is tedious and inefficient.
Digital technologies are changing and simplifying this process by making it clearer, more accurate and faster. Optimising the internal interaction of partners saves them time and resources, which leads to the strengthening of mutually beneficial relationships.
Development of services on demand
Hybrid IT services that provide enhanced networking opportunities and improved service quality are in demand today by businesses more than ever. Take for example insurance sale software Entsia that will help a lot of insurance companies in their processes and work. It’s not just about the usability of apps for employees and customers. The work of “on-demand” services is unthinkable without a well-functioning mechanism of interaction with IT tools and IT personnel.
Tips for Successful Business Transformation
The practical implementation of digital transformation begins with strategic planning. You need to understand what tasks must be solved, what resources will be required, how the introduction of digital tools and innovations will affect the corporate culture as a whole.
A digital transformation road map is created in three main steps:
First, you need to determine the current state of the company – its corporate culture, business processes and operations, as well as the level of competence of employees. This will clearly identify pain points or opportunities that need to be appropriately addressed or exploited as soon as possible. Plus, immediately track progress towards your digital transformation plan.
After identifying topical issues and assessing resources, you can proceed directly to developing a strategy. To do this, you need to evaluate the various “digital” tools and select their areas of application. The main directions of digital transformation can be both the external sphere – products and customer experience, and the work of internal services – IT and cloud services.
Digital transformation is an ongoing process that typically requires significant investment in technology. It is extremely important to understand how many resources the company is willing to devote to this. At the same time, the budget should be calculated taking into account all areas of business that will be affected by digital transformation. This is how you can properly structure your digital transformation strategy by identifying priorities and setting boundaries for the process.
Stage 2. Provision of administrative resources
After defining a digital business strategy, you need to enlist its support from management. The management’s understanding of all the nuances of the upcoming process and its consequences is one of the main signs of a company’s readiness for digital transformation. This is why CEOs often start taking part in digital transformation as early as the strategy stage, along with the CEO, CDO and CIO.
Stage 3. Selection of partners
The right choice of value chain partners or stakeholders is critical to the success of the digital transformation.
A reliable partner will be able to:
-provide resources for transformation;
-offer consulting services to help you embrace digital technology;
-help determine the right direction for transformation;
-share successful approaches and practices.
Stage 4. Communicating the plan to employees
To create the conditions for a successful digital transformation in a company, it is necessary to communicate its value to the staff in a timely manner. This will provide credibility and internal support for the upcoming process.
Make sure employees receive a clear flow chart and transition plan. They must be prepared for digital transformation in advance.
Stage 5. Start of the transformation
The implementation of the planned strategy should take place at all levels of the organisation – from top management to ordinary personnel. In the digital transformation process, it is imperative that you stay focused on your business goals.
Digital change management should be led by the cross-functional working groups that form the CDO. They may include professionals with different competencies. But above all – specialists in strategic marketing, HR management and customer experience design.
These tactical teams will spearhead a culture change. They will lay the foundation for the successful implementation of the digital operating model in the company’s production chains.
It is critical for businesses today to embrace digital technology and experiment with social media, big data analytics and cloud computing. Focusing on digital transformation will give enterprises new directions for development, allow them to bypass competitors, and prepare them for the changes in the near future. We hope that this article will help entrepreneurs approach this process as consciously as possible.
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