What is Digital Transformation & Why is it Critical for Your Business?
The technological landscape has experienced exponential growth from the development of new coding languages like Google’s Go, to the fully open-sourced .NET from Microsoft. Every day, new products and features are being developed at a dynamic pace in response to demand for newer systems, modernized workflows, and the addition of continual quality-of-life improvements.
But a critical obstacle hindering the growth process for many companies is the hesitation to undergo a necessary Digital Transformation. Whether it's attachment to conventional processes, fear of organizational disruption, or reluctance to support employee training and learning initiatives, executives and IT leaders are at the critical crossroads of inevitable change.
What is Digital Transformation?
Digital Transformation is the implementation and usage of the newest technologies — typically software — for a given company to improve quality of life, productivity, and efficiency throughout its business.
A prime example of this is Amazon’s machine learning — an AI-based tool the company utilizes to create targeted advertisements to users based on their previous searches and purchases. After integrating this technology into their websites, storefronts, and their Alexa devices — Amazon now makes up approximately 77.8 percent of all retail media.
On a smaller scale, we can look at the average business seeking to streamline its sales outreach. While the business may already post updates to their website or manually mail them out to a predefined list, valuable time is being wasted by having to wait for the message to reach clients, leads, and prospects. By prioritizing a Digital Transformation that allows for the development of an automated email sequence, the company ensures updates are instead sent directly to their customer's virtual inboxes based on predetermined actions.
Simultaneously, by automating this process, the business saves time that it can reallocate to mission-critical business processes, instead of performing tedious manual steps that include entering customer demographic data, staging emails, and following up with customers on next-steps.
Identifying the Need for Digital Transformation
Digital Transformation requires businesses to first identify a protocol they would like to revamp such as legacy coding, manually disseminating information to clients, or utilizing an outdated system structure for day-to-day priorities. Once identified and scoped, a decision is made to either update the process to be form-fitting with current systems or digitize the processes to make them more seamless. For either case, leadership will need to decide what resources, talent and specific timelines are necessary to complete the project.
Take for example a business that currently utilizes a program running on an obsolete operating system (OS). A business looking to upgrade its current system is not only looking to update its machines to run the most current OS, but also looking to replace or scrap their old program in favor of a more advanced one. The new program needs to be able to run on their newly chosen OS while ensuring any necessary improvements are made; for example, eliminating redundancies or designing a much more ergonomic user interface. This involves full-function testing, assessments and troubleshooting that ultimately determines the right fit.
Key Benefits of Digital Transformation
Digital Transformations offer significantly more than just overall systems improvements; as they can increase Productivity, Efficiency, and Accessibility that benefit ROI.
Productivity — One of the most valuable benefits that a Digital Transformation provides is productivity improvement. By giving your staff the ability to perform tasks in a seamless, efficient manner empowered by modern systems, you build a streamlined work environment that is hassle-free, comfortable to use and provides cutting edge tools necessary to help complete critical projects. Employees are also more apt to stay with a company longer when equipped with a modern workflow and workspace that helps optimize their day-to-day.
Efficiency — Digital Transformation offers the most efficient ways to perform a business's given functions, including data capture and email blasts, timekeeping and cybersecurity. Efficiency can mean condensing what was an eight hour project into one that only takes two or having a yearlong project streamlined and completed in two quarters – most often by eliminating redundancies and reassessing key business processes.
Accessibility — A Digital Transformation provides increased accessibility to staff, customers, and prospects — generally in the form of remote software or server access. Both clients and staff gain greater access to your business through a fully digital form factor, allowing them to communicate and network from virtually anywhere. It also now offers many companies the ability to hire remote or hybrid workers to take on global projects.
Digital Transformation & Resolvit
Undergoing a Digital Transformation provides companies with the data and feedback necessary to optimize their departmental processes, implement advanced technologies and foster a more dynamic work environment that influences growth and innovation.
At Resolvit, we provide comprehensive digital transformation solutions for our clients based on the priorities and realities of their businesses. We set mutual expectations for performance and project engagement -- all while working collaboratively with our clients to source the necessary talent, build integrative IT frameworks and implement specialized teams necessary for success.
Want to learn more about how Resolvit can ensure success for your next digital transformation? Contact us today to schedule a free consultation.