Digital Transformation - Is About Making What We Do Today, Better

What is Digital Transformation

Digital transformation?(DX) is the adoption of?digital technology?by an organization. Common goals for its implementation are to improve efficiency, value, or innovation.?Digital technology can bring benefits to a business,?however, some company cultures can struggle with the changes required by digital transformation. Digital transformation is the integration of digital technology into all areas of a business, fundamentally changing how you operate and deliver value to customers. It's also a cultural change that requires organizations to continually challenge the status quo, experiment, and get comfortable with failure. This sometimes means walking away from long-standing business processes that companies were built upon in favor of relatively new practices that are still being defined.

Digital transformation should begin with a problem statement, a clear opportunity, or an aspirational goal. "The "why" of your organization's digital transformation might be around improving customer experience, reducing friction, increasing productivity, or elevating profitability.

"Say 'digital' to one person and they think of going paperless; another might think of data analytics and artificial intelligence; another might picture Agile teams, and yet another might think of open-plan offices," she notes.

?"Digital" is a hot mess of a word. And this causes a lot of grief in organizations."

Why does digital transformation matter?

?A business may take on digital transformation for several reasons. But by far, the most likely reason is that they have to: It's a survival issue. In the wake of the pandemic, an organization's ability to adapt quickly to supply chain disruptions, time-to-market pressures, and rapidly changing customer expectations has become critical.

IT leaders agreed that consumer behavior has quickly shifted in many ways since the start of the pandemic. Professor Sandy Pentland described how optimized automated systems in areas like supply chain management broke down when faced with rapid shifts in both demand and supply — a reality that just about everyone has faced on a personal level during the pandemic.

Rodney Zemmel, Global leader of McKinsey & Company, says that on the consumer side "digital has been accelerating in just about all categories." An important factor to watch will be the degree to which forced change three out of four Americans who tried a new shopping behavior, for example, will revert when possible, post today's emphasis on stay-in-place. McKinsey data shows that the accelerated shift towards streaming and online fitness is likely to stay permanently, Zemmel says. But the biggest shifts were around food. Both home cooking and online grocery shopping — a category that has been generally resistant to getting moved online — will probably stay more popular with consumers than in the past. Cashless transactions are also gaining steam. On the B2B side, McKinsey data shows remote selling is working.

Improving customer experience has become a crucial goal – and thus a crucial part of digital transformation. Dion Hinchcliffe, VP and principal analyst at?Constellation Research, calls seamless customer experience "the most important discriminating factor for how a business will perform."

How has the COVID-19 pandemic changed digital transformation?

"We've seen the COVID crisis rapidly re-shape both the "what" and the "how" of companies'?digital transformation?agendas

Take employee experience, for example, she suggests. "Even as employee experience has become a key theme in the HR community, in IT circles this notion had been getting a mixed reception – sometimes stereotyped as "spoiled employees expecting best-in-class consumer-grade tech on shoestring budgets," says Swift.

"Today, with a vast portion of the workforce now remote, employee experience of digital technology has gone from "nice to have" to "the only way work gets done. Consequently, it's getting the?problem-solving focus?it likely long deserved."

Swift calls out some other areas of digital transformation efforts that COVID-19 pushed higher on CIO agendas:

·????????Furthering the reach of customer support via tools including chatbot

·????????Automation tools for resilience reasons

·????????Radical housecleaning of redundant or conflicting systems

In response to the pandemic, CIOs have also embraced the notion that "the perfect is the enemy of the good," Swift adds. "Nothing silences an individual's – or an organization's – inner perfectionist like a full-blown crisis. In response to dramatic disruption, many organizations have undergone a healthy re-negotiation of their relationship to digital technology – prioritizing "hey, it works!" over "after years of slaving over this initiative, we've assembled the very best bells and whistles." The "working software"?lionized in the Agile Manifesto?is getting a true moment in the sun."

What does a digital transformation framework look like?

Although digital transformation will vary widely based on the organization's specific challenges and demands, there are a few constants and common themes among existing case studies and published frameworks that all business and technology leaders should consider as they embark on digital transformation.

For instance, these digital transformation elements are often cited:

·????????Customer experience

·????????Operational agility

·????????Culture and leadership

·????????Workforce enablement

·????????Digital technology integration

While each guide has its own recommendations and varying steps or considerations, CIOs should look for those important shared themes when developing their own digital transformation strategy.

The Benefits of Business Transformation

The five biggest benefits associated with business transformation.

1.?Increased efficiency:?New integrated technologies provide intelligent automation that allows for streamlined processes in manufacturing. Smart machinery and edge computing give instant data insights for quick decision-making.

2.?More productivity:?By?adopting digital technologies, businesses can maximize their output and minimize waste. Through tracking automated production and data analytics, it’s easier to predict and manage the number of materials needed.

3.?Return on investment:?With increased efficiency and productivity comes a better return on investment. Many companies are hesitant to invest large sums into new digitized systems. However, after approximately 5 years the payback period sets in.?

4.?Better sustainability:?Business transformation allows a company to implement intelligent energy management systems. By monitoring and meeting sustainability targets, an enterprise can protect the environment and strengthen its public image.

5.?Increased safety:?Automated production lines help keep human intervention to a minimum. Robotics and artificial intelligence provide greater control and protect the workforce by replacing humans in hazardous situations.

Steps to a Business Transformation

With all the different types of business transformations in mind, it’s not surprising that every initiative that aims to change a business from the ground up involves multiple steps. If a business transformation isn’t planned out well, it can cause major disruptions to the company and unnecessary loss in revenue.

1. Strategy -Before anything is set in motion, a company needs to develop realistic business transformation strategies. It’s important to understand the current state of the business, so it’s easier to map out a vision for the future in the form of a?target operating model. Every decision that follows should align with this vision.

2. Establish Leadership-Apart from the managerial transformation, a company needs to assign a program director or team that is overseeing the entire transition to a new operating model. This involves tasks like budget control and making sure the main vision is at the core of all decisions. The CEO, CFO, and members of the board are ideal candidates for these roles.

3. Planning and Scoping-In this step, the overall strategy is taken to the next level. A business needs to identify all the areas, work processes, and systems that will be affected by the transformation. This helps to outline sub-projects, their goals, timeframes, and budget limits. It’s also crucial to plan how the changes will be communicated to staff and customers.

4. Set up Program Management -- In order to establish program governance, the program director appoints transformation managers in each individual work stream like HR, Finance, and IT. It is their responsibility to deliver on time, motivate the team and stick to the roadmap. Many companies establish a Program Management Office that monitors the success and catches potential problems early on.

5. Build Resource-It’s not very realistic to assume that an enterprise’s current team is fully equipped to manage a successful business transformation. That’s why most companies seek outside help and hire experienced experts who work with the program director and internal transformation managers. A well-blended team ensures that a neutral perspective meets valuable insider knowledge.

6. Execution-With so many layers and steps involved, business transformation doesn’t happen overnight. Depending on the company size, the time from strategy to execution can take up to several years. It’s important to engage the staff and to regularly re-evaluate the implementation plan and adjust it along the transformation journey if necessary.

7. Integration-The most vulnerable period during the transformation process sets in right after the changes are implemented. New ways of working and new systems can be challenging at first. That’s why employees need to receive training before the execution and dedicated support?during the integration phase?while the?integration architects provide critical data about the integrations?within your organization.

Business vs product vs customer

Digitalization is influencing every aspect of our daily lives. Here are the 3 main ways you can leverage technology business-wise:

• Use technology to support your business processes and functions, and boost productivity and team collaboration.
• Develop new technology and integrate emerging fields of study into your product such as automation and machine learning.
• Improve customer experience with highly personalized communication, connectedness, and constant and accurate support.

Digital Transformation with End-to-End Work Management Software

End-to-end work management software?transforms and streamlines crucial business processes by integrating processes and procedures that help an organization increase efficiency, centralize data storage and accessibility, utilize assets and resources, decrease time loss and optimize business performance.

A more straightforward explanation –?integrating a number of different features into one easily comprehensive system, and creating a control hub for your entire business workflow.

Included features:

·?Resource management

·?Budgeting

·?Collaboration

·?CRM

·?Project management

·?Quoting

·?Time management

·?Invoicing

·?Task management

·?Reporting

·?Dashboards

·?Customization

?CONCLUSION

Digital transformation has been a rapidly evolving process for over three decades. The definition has changed throughout the years and will continue to do so – from data mining and basic online communication to machine learning and the Internet of Things. The business software market has been dominated by single-feature tools and clunky outdated enterprise systems. The extending complexity of the future will demand a rise in holistic business management solutions, which are robust, yet easily customizable and agile at the same time.

To stay competitive, make sure you are investing in both – raising your team’s digital IQ and implementing modern technological solutions. The benefits can be quite extensive, from boosting your efficiency and decreasing costs to being able to focus on growth.

So, don’t get hit by the express train of digitalization – hop on and see the benefits yourself!