‘Digital Transformation’ is a popular buzzword these days that can often mean many things to many people.
Simply put, it’s about using digital technology, such as the cloud, mobile and Big Data to enable organizational change. This change will allow businesses to adapt to fluctuating customer demands and competition from rivals both old and new.
In an increasingly digital world, ambitious start-ups are having a profound impact on established markets and brands by successfully exploiting this phenomenon.
Fast-growing disruptors like AirBnB and Uber have ripped up the rulebook, embracing digital technology to deliver services customers want without the need for huge capital investments. Even without owning physical assets such as hotels or cars they have still altered consumer purchasing behaviours, changing these traditional industries forever.
As more disruptors make their presence felt, established organizations must digitize – automating business processes, analytics and workflows. Otherwise they risk being left behind or, worse, put out of business.
However, a big challenge organizations face is the terabytes of information generated each week – too much for any person to read, let alone fully understand. It’s simply beyond human ability and human speed.
So how can an organization make the most of this wealth of information to drive growth and stay competitive?
By taking a digital-first approach, using analytics alongside content and process management technologies, enterprises will start to discover invaluable “digital breadcrumbs” – insights into market trends, process bottlenecks or customer satisfaction issues. These breadcrumbs can be used to affect organizational efficiencies, enhance product design or create self-regulating business processes that can save an organization time and money.
I believe that digital technology will drive a level of change for businesses, individual organizations and their workforces that has not been seen since the Industrial Revolution. Change on a truly massive scale.
We’re on the precipice of an immense transformation; automating tasks currently require human intelligence to be performed. While the specific catalyst and rate of transformation will vary across different industries, one thing is certain – over the next decade everyone will be affected.
In fact, there is already clear evidence of this. Tesla Motors is providing customers with over-the-air updates for their electric cars as easily as if they were downloading software to a smartphone. Now, owners are spared a trip to the garage while Tesla saves on the time and the expenses spent on a customer visit.
Despite examples of successful digital change, most organizations are only focused on solving discrete problems. For example, digitizing the management of supplier contracts but failing to automate or integrate these processes with their wider supply chain systems.
Only a few organizations are investing in digital-first and adopting this holistic approach to restructuring their business silos.
