Over the last two decades, the advancement in communications and technology has completely transformed the way business operations function. It has brought a change in the ways businesses perform their day-to-day activities and a bulk of this radical shift can be attributed to digitization.
Digital transformation refers to the process of upgrading your business with the technology of the time in order to modify or create new business processes that enhance the product or service. Equipping your business with digital tools will transcend traditional roles like sales, marketing and customer service, thereby expanding the organization’s boundaries. Keeping your business updated with the latest developments will also ensure that your business stays aloft with the competition.
A Step-by-Step Guide to Digitize Your Business
Digital transformation is believed to be more than just a switch from the traditional way of working. It basically refers to utilizing digital platforms to simplify the work to increase your productivity and efficiency. Today, digitization has become a necessity for any business along with being a competitive opportunity.
1. Transforming Work Operations from Physical to Digital
It is common for workplaces to use traditional means to carry out basic operations. By digitising your business operations you can not only increase the productivity of your workforce but can also save on time. It could be a simple thing like going from registers to spreadsheets.
2. Reconsidering Interactions
Digitizing your business will impact the way your clients approach you. It is common for all businesses today to have a website along with a chat with a bot option. Such facilities help your customers reach out to you from anywhere anytime. This will also apply to the interaction within your team.
3. Digital Infrastructure
This refers to the equipment that you adopt to change the method of working in your business. Upgrading to cloud-based software or using seamless new web applications are a few examples of digital infrastructure.
4. Information Management and Analytics
A data-driven organization is always more efficient than an enterprise which lacks data points as the availability of data helps the management make informed and calculated decisions based on the factual information.
Having a proper agenda before initiating the transformation will help you get a clear picture of the areas that require your attention and what your business will look like post digitalization.
Points To Consider While Digitizing Your Business
Although digitizing your business may sound enthralling, it is important to consider a few points while taking the step. The following are the points that you can consider-
1. Industry Assessment
The best way to go about this process is to consider how digitalization is driven within the business. Assessing your business operations will give you a clear idea on the current requirements of the company. Consider the expectations of your partners and clients in order to identify the best tools. You can assess the strategy of your competitors to understand your current standing.
2. Plan the Strategy for Transformation
Your next step is to plan the strategy for digitally transforming your business based on the insights of the industry assessment. The most important step while making the transition is planning. This primarily refers to the process of chalking down the kind of operational model you would prefer to implement. This will give you a chance to analyse the internal operations and prioritize the necessary ones.
3. Prioritize the Agenda
When you plan the strategy for the digital transformation, it is important to consider which department or aspect of the transformation should be approached first. Ensure that you observe the requirements of your business while planning the strategy. For instance, a British business involved in production of machinery can prioritise its manufacturing function by making use of 3D printing services in the UK to visualize the prototype before diving into actual production.
4. Tactical Planning
After establishing a proper agenda, you need to break it down to tactical moves and work on digitizing your business unit-wise. Consider all the resources and the timeline required to execute the plan. This also involves meeting people who have expertise in the required domain and also studying various digital environments that you can adopt for your business along with filling the technological gaps.
5. Combining Domain Knowledge with Technical Expertise
Uniqueness in business is something that sustains it. This uniqueness is brought about by the knowledge that the team has. Combining this domain knowledge with the technical expertise will fetch effective results. A proper balance between domain expertise and technology will help the company to enhance the quality of the product.
6. Building a Hybrid Ecosystem
The transition from the existing IT to the cloud-based digitized ecosystem gives rise to the challenge of operating in a hybrid environment. This technically means that the business will be operating with both IT and cloud-based digitized equipment. While transitioning, it is vital to ensure that the company moves to the future infrastructure while maintaining the existing one. This also demands extra budgeting for training and data migration activities.
7. Expanding the Vision
While contemplating any kind of transformation, it is important to consider the cultural aspect of changes. It is important for the management to alter the company vision in line with the digitization aspect of the business. According to McKinsey, only 4 per cent of the global 500 companies have truly digitized. In order to successfully transform your business, it is important to align the vision through the whole organization.
Wrapping Up
Transforming your business with digitalization may sound fascinating but it involves a lot of ground work. Keeping your company up to date will ensure the continued progress of your business. It will help you catch up with the current market trends and provide scope for development. Digitalization is not just fancying your workplace with smart technology, but utilizing the technology to its full potential in the required domain. One of the most crucial points to consider is if your company is ready for this transition. So, make sure you prepare your company for this process when you are planning to digitize your business.
