This publication is in line with “Digitalization 33” Foundation’ mission to support and educate individuals and organisations and boost digital transformation that drives positive change.
What is digital transformation?
We live in demanding times in which consumer expectations are exceeding and require much time, effort, and attention. To meet changing market requirements, organisations have to reimagine their processes, technology use and, most importantly, how they think about and engage with their consumers. In the digital age, this rethinking means digital transformation and a strong understanding of what we do with technology, people, and processes to fundamentally change the organisation’s performance and reach.
Digital transformation starts and ends with users. Integrating digital technology into all working areas fundamentally changes how organisations operate and deliver value to their users. The successful transformational process creates new and modifies existing models, brand culture, and experiences.
Digitization, digitalization and digital transformation: what is the difference?
If you are interested in digital transformation, it’s good to recognise the difference between those terms as they do matter and understand what we’re talking about.
Before computers became mainstream, we kept records on paper. We manually protocolized everything in folders with documents, ledgers and journals. To get to today’s digital presence, we went through a process of converting ink-on-paper records to digital computer files. That process we call digitization. Examples are every action that includes converting information from a physical format to a digital one, such as scanning documents into pdf format or digitization of recordings from analogue gramophone records on a CD or HDD.
Digitalization is the adoption of digital tools and data to simplify and make more efficient your working processes. Аnd that isn’t a general changing the way your organisation accomplishes its goals and serves society. Digitalization brings quality and speed to our daily work. Our digital records are easily accessible, and paperwork is replaced by entering a few keystrokes on a computer keyboard or mobile device. That improves processes and makes digitised information work for you to become more efficient and productive.
Digital transformation is changing the way organisations operate by transforming their activities, processes, products and services, and models in а new (digital) way. They fully leverage the possibilities of digital technologies that add game-changing efficiencies, improve the experience and better decision-making.
Digital transformation encourages organizations to reconsider everything they do, from internal systems to interactions, both online and in-person. The main goal is to involve technologies to improve performance or enlarge their reach radically.
What are the possibilities for organisations with digital transformation?
A key element of digital transformation is understanding the potential of adopting new and innovative ways to do business based on technological advances. And, again, it’s not about how fast you can get things done in the same way. Digital transformation is about the full potential of technology and adapting a new infrastructure, processes and applications to make the most of technology investments.
The core reason for any change in organisations starts with people – in the first place with consumers satisfaction, and second with employees empowerment. Employees and users demand new digital technology and innovations that serve alike in the ways they expect. Cloud services, mobile apps, and Stuff-as-a-Service require different storage standards, analytics, automation, and management. One innovation leads to another. New technology drives to process enhancements which lead to better products and services. Then always-connected users require even more improvements because they have grown accustomed to certain experiences in our daily lives and see new things elsewhere. They demand them from you, too.
Digital Transformation Agenda
Start with goal determination.
Organisations frequently consider digital transformation as a process of adopting new technologies. Their organisational needments left as an afterthought. But the process ought to go the opposite way round. It’s essential to start it all by determining the organisation’s strategy for the longer term. First, establish the value you’re trying to reach out, then break it down into smaller, more easily attainable groups of tasks. Then you can begin inserting the technology.
Players realignment
To transform your organisation comprehensively, you have to be sure that you can count on your people. Тhe willingness for the change has got to come from the inside. Inform your workforce how digital transformation will benefit both the organisation and themselves. They have to know that AI is not coming after their jobs. The big change is basically not about reducing job positions – it’s a specific approach during which the entire organisation and its employees are going to be ready to grow in new ways. That includes improving their current skills and obtaining new ones to take a good position in the digital world. Whatever your goals for transformation, you will have to get your people to adopt your approach.
Proceed according to your strategy
It is the right time to choose the proper tech solutions and implement them. At this stage of the transformation, you have an opportunity to choose a small project that will demonstrate the transformation’s power and assure those who have doubts about it. Following, you will improve, expand and implement those solutions organisation-wide.
Аppraise
Collect feedback and opinions. Look at them critically and fairly. Do they match your expectations? If they aren’t what you or your consumers await, now is the time to make changes – that’s why you start with small and quick to implement changes. Or maybe the intentions have reshaped in the meantime, and you have to do some modifications? That’s OK, too. The most significant change during the transformation journey might be that your organisation will grow agile and flexible and that you will understand how to function amidst continuous change.
Continue to improve
At this level, you should already have seen the results you established in the initial transformation strategy at this level. They will inspire further innovations until the change becomes a constituent of the organisation’s DNA. There is always a space to scale up tech solutions and add new features. You have reached your destination. But there are many others ahead.
The main components of digital transformation
Renew processes
What do your processes look like? At some administrations, employees still use paper, rely on ballpoint, and storing documents in card-indexes. In other organisations, people communicate through email and chat and use smartphones in their daily activities. That does not mean that those organisations have experienced a digital transformation.
Digital transformation is about the adoption of technology that will empower completely new processes. For example, the implementation of EDI systems (Electronic Data Interchange) creates transactions that we could consider as a completely new process. These EDI systems automatically exchange information in a standard electronic format between trading partners. Thus, as a result, you could have reduced cost, time waste and errors. Processing speed is increased, and relationships with partners are improved.
Modernise operations
Deep transforming of operations is another essential component of a digital transformation. As with processes, just because you apply the up-to-the-minute and most inclusive technology to create your product does not mean that you have undergone a digital transformation.
An example is implementing a multi-model database with cloud technologies that could completely transform internal operations, empower customers and employees, and reduce and simplify steps across their experience.
Improve relationships with users
The customer experience (CE) is the core driver of digital transformation. It is comparatively effortless to see the effect of it upon your processes and operations. You perform processes daily, and your operations create your product or services. CE is less obvious, though.
Still, digital transformations have an enduring effect on how users interact with a brand and how they feel about those interactions. In the modern era, people are constantly connected, app-native and aware of what they can do with technology. Mobile devices, apps, machine learning, automation, etc., have caused a shift in end-user expectations. As we said above, one innovation leads to another. Then people demand even more improvements. They want better products and services and demand for excellent customer experience with more personalisation. They need to get what they want almost exactly at the moment they need it.
Digital transformation offers organisations an opportunity to engage modern buyers and meet their demands quickly. Users benefit from the progressive changes technology has wrought in many industries.
Conclusion
What does an effective digital transformation framework look like?
Digital transformation is the profound transformation of the organisation and its activities, processes, competencies, and models to fully leverage innovations and digital technologies. Thus, progressive organisations with present and future in mind accelerate their impact across society in a strategic and prioritised way. Every organisation has specific challenges and demands, but there are a few constants and common components of a digital transformation strategy. The key drivers are CE optimisation, operational flexibility and new forms of digital processes.
Sources:
- netguru.com – What Is the Difference Between Digitization, Digitalization and Digital Transformation; Digital Transformation Lifecycle Explained.
- remedi.com – 3 Essential Components of Digital Transformation.
- redhat.com – What is digital transformation?