No matter what your business model or sales strategy, the Covid-19 pandemic has forced everyone to go on-line and embrace the “new normal” and all that comes with it. The new hybrid working environment now necessitates a journey towards digital transformation, that promises better margins, enhanced productivity, streamlined efficiency, better connectivity, as well as a clear competitive advantage. In the last year alone, global searches for “digital transformation” have risen by 30 percent and this trend is set to continue.
Social distancing, complemented with the phenomena of work from home has led to many changes and chances are that if you don’t develop a digital transformation strategy, your business is not engineered for success. The pandemic has been a true test of our times and it has been companies who have changed the way they do business and adapted remote and digitally forward operations during the pandemic, who have survived and come out stronger on the other side. Survey results indicate that 87 percent of business leaders cite digitisation as a company priority, however, with McKinsey saying that 70 percent of all digital transformation initiatives are destinated to fail. Every digital transformation journey needs a clear roadmap if it is to succeed, and here are the top considerations to get started:
It’s an ongoing “always on” process
As much as digital transformation is about “doing things differently”, it is also about doing “different things” and is a constantly “Always on” cycle with no end. It’s a continuous process that adapts to changes in technology, innovation and most importantly, customer behaviour. Thus, organisations should adopt a mindset where they are continually evaluating and testing new technologies to see what can add value to both, the company bottom line and the customer journey. This is particularly poignant when we realise that according to McKinsey, 70 percent of all initial digital transformation initiatives will fail, because companies do not accept the need to continually innovate and keep adding “different things” to the process.
While the digital transformation journey will be different for every business, the one constant is the ongoing evolution towards the integration of more digitised services. For example, this may combine manual printing with automated finance, or electronic mail processing with analogue data capture. Whatever the mix, the need for a hybrid working environment necessitates a journey towards the adoption of digital transformation – with the experience of customers and employees at its centre and underscored by an on-going and continuous cycle of technological improvements and integration.
Integrate new technologies – especially cloud
Technology is evolving at a tremendous rate and applying a broad brush approach to digital transformation isn’t recommended, instead choosing the right technology is key. A leading technology that is guiding the way by enabling flexibility, agility and connectivity, suitable to a remote and hybrid working environment, is cloud technology. Cloud-enabled platforms and technology offer a host of benefits – in fact 80 percent of organisations that have implemented, or are planning to implement a digital transformation strategy, say that cloud is “important”, while an additional 13 percent say it’s “critical” to business enterprise in a post-Covid-19 era.
“Everyone needs to be involved and on board, otherwise, there may be a disconnect.”
Subbu Hariharan
A major benefit of cloud-based technology is the fact that it negates the need for an elaborate physical infrastructure, so that smaller businesses who struggle with the investment required for on-premises implementations, can access new capabilities through cloud-delivery models. Additionally, cloud-based platforms enable teams to collaborate effectively in a hybrid or WFH situation, with research showing that online cloud based collaboration tools can improve team efficiency and enable employees to stick to their task for 64 percent longer than those who are working alone. This way of working is now very much a need of the times – By March 2020 alone, Microsoft has already seen a 775 percent increase in demand for its cloud collaboration services in areas where social distancing and lockdown were in effect. As we emerge into a post-pandemic era, and move away from traditional business models, cloud-enabled technology will remain integral for our future workspaces.
Increased cybersecurity measures
As companies go more digital, cybersecurity has become a critical cornerstone, in fact, according to a survey by CNBC, more than one-third (36 percent) of executives say that cyber threats have increased significantly since the majority of their employees have started WFH. There is a real need for organisations to have robust measures in place to keep their documents and information secure, especially with a distributed and remote workforce. Outside of the official company network, employees are more vulnerable to being targeted by malicious actors.
“It’s important to work towards creating an organisational culture that embraces technology.”
Subbu Hariharan
While cloud collaboration platforms make working together easy, they also create additional security concerns: it may be easier to share files, but it comes at the cost of less oversight by IT teams. Moreover, according to industry statistics, it is estimated that a cybersecurity breach takes an average of 280 days to identify and contain, leaving companies vulnerable for extended periods to time.
Develop a culture of adaptability
Technology is changing and companies need to be agile enough to adapt, so it’s important to work towards creating an organisational culture that embraces technology and the changes that come with it. Everyone needs to be involved and on board, otherwise, there may be a disconnect between the organisational goals and employee’s willingness to embrace the changes.
Buy-in from customers, employees, suppliers, partners and other external stakeholders is of paramount importance to ensure that the digital transformation journey is successful.