Digital Transformation can enable better collaboration within and between organisations, more personalised ways of customer engagement, higher employee innovation and productivity, and more accurate insights from data, all of which help a business grow and improve the chances of thriving post-pandemic.
We define Digital Transformation as the integration of digital technology into areas of a business that often results in fundamental changes to how businesses operate and how they deliver value to customers and employees
However, because digital transformation will look different for every company, it can be hard to pinpoint a definition that applies to all.
For most organisations it’s about creating an integrated technology framework that underpins your operations. An enterprise architecture that brings together your data sources and enables you to deliver meaningful, accessible insight for people at every level, both inside and outside the business.
On-demand is key - think Digital First
Today, customers expect relevant content in relation to what they’re doing anytime, anywhere and in the format and on the device of their choosing.
Because of the opportunities that rise from using modern technology, customers will often rate organisations on their digital customer experience first.
Digital first requires you to rethink how you interact with your customers. Your technology should allow you to build stronger relationships with customers, team members, and business partners. If it’s not, it’s just getting in the way.
Consumers want personalised experiences, and technology can help you deliver them. But you’ll need more than just the technology. Delivering personalisation across the countless touchpoints that exist in the modern consumer journey requires loads of data. Consumers are real people who grow and change — meaning your approach to providing personalisation needs to continuously grow and change. This in turn drives a requirement to ensure your data sources are accurate, up to date and more importantly integrated. For example, we have recently seen an organisation who wanted to respond to Covid-19 Restrictions by allowing customers to click and collect kerbside, this involved the integration of 3 back end systems to work effectively. They achieved this by using low code rapid development tools from concept to delivery in 8 weeks.
Helping employees be more effective
Dealing with a dispersed workforce that may never fully return to the office provides a myriad of challenges. Employers are looking for new ways to create productivity improvements, with digital technology playing a pivotal role in helping employees to become more effective both in and out of the office.
Digital transformation provides a valuable opportunity for core business functions to move away from manual processes and automate key areas, improving efficiency and productivity.
The role of the IT Department in supporting innovation, by enabling remote working and providing access to technology and services on demand is critical to delivering an environment that enables employees to achieve.
Make better decisions, faster
Customers' preferences, purchasing power, and loyalty need to be the catalyst that drives any digital transformation strategy and big data can provide the meaningful insights that help to drive those outcomes.
Placing data, analytics and integration at the centre of a digital transformation strategy will allow businesses to gain the valuable business insights that will help to make more informed, quicker decisions.
However, the dual challenges of systems integration and data sharing between disparate systems have been a perennial challenge for CIOs. But with digital transformation in full force, there are now new market pressures to perform these integrations faster and with greater accuracy. Thankfully there are now low-code rapid application development tools available to help solve these challenges.
Focus on business partnerships for increased efficiencies
Not only are customer demands increasing, the battle with competitors to secure a larger customer base is fierce. Organisations are becoming increasingly dependant upon each other, with suppliers and distributors, sub-contractors and specialised consultants, all being asked to produce a diverse range of products and services that interest customers.
Traditionally the management of these partners requires document based communication which is often time consuming and inefficient. More companies are turning to an e-Business solution to enable a streamlined workflow that is more transparent, timely and accurate. These solutions can also be deployed on mobile technology, helping employees be more effective and productive on an everyday basis.
As a result of integrating a digital process into partner communication businesses can stay ahead of the curve and make themselves more available to future value-add partners. Internal processes will also become more efficient and flexible, with the ability to scale as required.
Security needs to be an increased priority
A frequent headache for many IT leaders is how to enable more data at the edge of their networks, while ensuring it remains secure. This has become an increasingly complicated task, requiring rigorous enforcement around access, data compliance and shielding from attacks. There are many horror stories involving breaches of security resulting in unauthorised access to vital data.
It is essential that progressive businesses implement a security strategy consistently across all networks, applications and data, whatever services or service providers are being used.
The pandemic has resulted in increased remote working and hybrid working models that incorporate workers’ different lifestyle needs, but IT teams still have to maintain up-to-date security measures. Additionally, executives need to balance security strategies that work for in-office staff with measures that ensure remote workers on personal networks and devices are secure.
To allow the benefits of digital transformation to be realised, CIOs should surround themselves with both business and technology partners that understand the broader business objectives and can operate honestly and transparently to achieve these goals.
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If you would like to know more about Intec’s Digital Transformation services, how it could benefit your organisation or more about Intec’s wide range of IT solutions, request a call back here
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[Whitepaper] Digital Transformation - A Roadmap To Success
