10 DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION TIPS

We live in an ever-changing world and as technology becomes part of our everyday lives; the question businesses now ask is ‘how can we use this to transform ourselves?’

This article will discover the 5 main domains to target and the 5 obstacles to overcome when a business plans to create a Digital Transformation Strategy.

55% of organisations have witnessed evolving customer behaviours and preferences

53% of businesses have identified growth opportunities in new markets

49% of organisations have experienced the increased levels competitive pressure

(Huffington Post, 2016)

Understanding the new customer, identifying how sectors can merge, creating innovative initiatives to stay competitive and adhering to modern rules are the first steps a business should take to implementing digital transformation.

After your business has recognised the need for change, there are five domains that should be focused on:

Customers

Previously, marketing strategies had to appeal to the mass market to make sales, so advertising was done on a large scale; most commonly television broadcasts at peak time. The flow of communication was always one-way, as customers did not have a say in what to purchase.

Nowadays, consumers are smarter; they look for a brand’s ethics, they turn to friends for advice on what to purchase and they research before they buy. Communication is now two ways, as the consumer will tell a company what they need to change/sell.

Values

In the past, value proposition was defined solely by the industry and that you need to optimize your current business model for as long as possible.

However, now consumer needs heads the definition of value proposition and that to be successful, you need to evolve before there is a need to.

Competition

Previously, the only competition a business faced was in its defined industry and there was a clear distinction between the partners and any rivals.

However, today competition is now fluid; it is unclear who your competitors are and only the companies that sell across multiple channels stand out.

Innovation

In the past, all decisions were made based on seniority and their intuition. And the perception of innovation was that it was expensive, failure
cannot occur due to the high prices and all the focus was on the ‘finished’ product – so it must be completed and profitable.

Now ideas are tested constantly, by anyone in an organisation; the costs are much lower and failures are learned from.

Data

Valuable data, in the past, was expensive to generate and companies constantly faced the challenge of storing the mass amount produced. It was used as a tool to optimize processes and was managed through operational silos.

In today’s digital age, companies have taken the fact that data is continuously produced, and have transformed this into valued content by collating everything documented, logging it via Cloud technologies and cross referencing through silos.

These 5 key domains show that the future is here now, and that Digital Transformation can be implemented as soon as possible with immediate effect.

Human Resources

• Reforming the education system
• Enabling society to become IT literate
• Increasing specialized skill-sets

Technology

• A universal knowledge foundation
• Enhancing cyber security
• Robotics

Legal Systems

• Regulatory reforms
• Digitization of administration
• A collective foundation of knowledge 

Social Acceptance

• Education initiatives
• Remaining aware of social implications and ethics
• Including people from every social sphere and age group

Ministries and Agencies

• The forming of national strategies
• Integrating a Government promotional system
• Defining state subsidies for innovative companies

These 5 walls each have a lot of aspects to be broken down, which indicates that digital transformation is an ongoing process which cannot be implemented immediately.

However, this should not deter you from employing the strategy, because the research suggests that long term benefits will result, such as:

• Increased competitiveness
• Increased profit margins
• High levels of optimization
• Encouraged innovation 
• An overall productive way to do business

Digital First use these factors to become a better organisation; the future is an exciting concept and we can’t wait to get there.

Will you, or are you using this for your business? Don't know how? Contact us and we'll talk you through it.