What Does ‘Digital Transformation’ Mean to Your Organisation?

Digital transformation definitions vary across sectors.

Digital transformation processes for Educational Institutions will likely look and feel starkly different in comparison to that of Health services.

As the definition of digital transformation varies from sector to sector, so too will the rate of adoption. Organisations, depending on the size of their operations, may view the implementation of Digital Transformation as a mountain, while others, a molehill. Irrespective of the challenge, we shouldn’t be discouraged from embracing what digital transformation can deliver in the way of improving business processes and client satisfaction.

In general, the term digital transformation can be defined as:

'The integration of digital technology into all aspects of a business, transforming its processes, operations and client experience and how they deliver value to stakeholders.'

It isn’t just about speeding up traditional processes, it is about improving client and employee experiences. Digital transformation is about changing the mind-set of the organisation and about addressing any wants or needs in order for it to operate competitively within the digital world. This is only achievable if within the organisation everyone is on the same page.

Digital transformation is an important component for most organisations to overhaul their technology and processes. Some organisations have completed process after process, following the same business model endlessly without thinking outside of the box and building a digital transformation strategy with the potential to significantly differentiate between their existing operations.

What are the drivers of digital transformation?

• Rise in customer expectations

• Competitive pressure

• The need to improve productivity

• Increase speed to market

• Leveraging consumer insight

• Reducing risk and improving security

What are the goals in achieving digital transformation?

• Improve operational efficiency

• Improve internal or external customer experience

• Improve level of agility

• Better management of business risk

Technology enables us to connect all touchpoints of operations both for employees and customers. These touchpoints permit organisations to access key information, act on and leverage it to drive accelerated decision making, for a greater and enhanced experience for all stakeholders.

Digital Transformation is about change, agility, speed and connectivity in real-time, meeting client expectations.

The competitive advantage of digital transformation

Digitally transforming business methods and processes with the latest technology brings with it improvements in employee productivity, client retention and cost savings. This is all whilst creating transparency among consumers, B2B or B2C, who are demanding it now more than ever.

Part of this adoption is the utilisation of cloud based solutions and leveraging its flexibility to provide an enhanced 360-degree experience. With the right tools, an organisation can gain a competitive advantage by increasingly removing manual processes, adding automation and improving workflows. This is advantageous as it leads to:

• Increased sales performance

• Increased employee productivity

• Reduced costs and improved operational efficiency

• Enhanced client experience

• Market differentiation

Digital transformation is reshaping the aspect of the modern organisation, giving it a level of transparency that was unfamiliar five years ago – enhancing the control in which it operates. From improving the speed of decision making with real-time data available, to improvements in client experience by giving them exactly what they need, whenever and wherever they need it, which has become an increasing requirement with ever growing client demands.

Moving towards a client centric approach

The rapid development and ever-changing landscape leaves no time for organisations to be complacent when it comes to meeting client demands. There are solutions that help organisations increase agility and innovation.

One of the biggest winners for organisations is the real-time feedback and ability to adapt to market changes, enabling them to identify needs and wants almost immediately. This gives them the capability to adapt products and services to a dynamic, rapidly changing consumer-driven market.

By using technology to understand customer insights organisations can make informed choices based on accurate real-time feedback. Social collaboration tools help businesses make faster decisions concerning product and service innovations making it even easier to achieve the cocreation of new products.

Employee adoption

Central to transformation is the adoption of technology that will support and engage employees. Having access to technology will enable organisations to deliver enhanced services and experiences between business operations and daily tasks. By adopting a digital-first business strategy and using technology as an enabler, it can help employees reach their full potential thus contributing towards their performance. This can be accomplished by deploying digital solutions where they are needed most, freeing time for employees to focus their efforts on delivering service excellence which is critical to business success.

To maintain a strong productive workforce organisations must embrace employee adoption in the same vain as client adoption. Collaboration across departments is essential to aligning the new culture and is crucial to the successful implementation of digital transformation for any organisation.

The risk of digital transformation

Although digital transformation comes with greater risk of exposure, if you want to transform the way you do business and serve clients better, or optimise the experience, then you must mitigate the risk to your organisation by transforming business operations - but without the risk to client and employee data.

With the increasing use of digital solutions such as the Cloud, mobile working and the IOT in more areas of businesses, this connectivity brings its own inherent risks that organisations cannot ignore and must prepare before it is too late. Cyber security is critical from the outset of the digital transformation, the need to understand how you will use data, how it will be stored and now organisations can turn to artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) techniques to automate threat detection and eradicate to protect client data.

As technology evolves, so will the way in which we interact and use the available data to our advantage. For organisations to stay competitive, they must evolve the way in which they manage and use this data. To truly take advantage of the opportunities, organisation must become digitally centric in their operations embracing change internally to allow the experience to flow through to the clients..  By utilising this connectivity, it helps push the boundaries so organisations can revolutionise legacy systems and introduce digital options that in turn make significant improvements to the client and employee experience.

To find out more on how Apogee can help your organisation work towards digitally transforming your business operations, get in touch today.