Do You Have a Digital Transformation Strategy for Business?
• 4 min
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Digital transformation strategy is a powerful tool for adopting new tech and improving business efficiency. Find out how it will work for you.
How many articles about astonishing tech solutions for business have you read? A website, a mobile app, a web app, a progressive web app - all these and many more products can yield benefits. Which one to choose? Where to begin?
Similarly to business management, resolution of these issues requires a systematic approach. You need a digital transformation strategy. If you’d like to understand how to find yours, keep on reading.
What is Digital Transformation
The idea marked as digital transformation describes adoption of technologies to achieve key business goals. The concept comprises two broad aspects: interactions with clients and internal communications within a company. While introducing a website or an app can be an example of external transformation, adoption of a time-tracker or a task manager is a particular case of the internal one.
Nonetheless, digital transformation for business doesn’t describe just the solutions teams are using. It’s about transforming the work approach that looks like a huge shift in the workplace and pierces all parts of an organization.
Why is It Crucial?
According to Forbes, 70% of enterprises either have a working transformation strategy or are on the way to it. Besides, less than 30% of companies succeed in transformations while the rest are still struggling. The idea has several driving motivation factors:
- Effective processes and workflows. Digitalization will help to get rid of paperwork and make information transfer faster. You don’t need additional employees while your actual ones can concentrate on more creative or strategic tasks.
- Better collaboration. With digital transformation tools you will connect separate employees as well as departments. The communication becomes transparent and addressed so that the chances of a fruitful collaboration are higher.
- Loyal customers. Tech tools help you to become customer-oriented and note the tiniest mood swings of your clients. As a result, you’ll be able to provide the best user experience and relevant information that will help you to score a point.
- Profitability. We may talk a lot about customer care and engagement of employees but business is still about money-making. So, adopting a transformational strategy may result in revenue growth by 23%.
Some business leaders suppose that their current success will last for a long time. The time is usually over before they realize it and start using new methods. With the transformation strategy, you’ll get the foundation for long-term evolving and not a reserve for short-term staying alive. One of the brightest examples is the recent COVID-19 pandemic that caused not only economic recession but healthcare digital transformation at some institutions.
Stages and Milestones
The researchers haven’t worked out a universal roadmap for all kinds of enterprises. However, there are some common practices that can help you to figure out how to start the process. According to the industry analyst Brian Solis, there’re are 6 main phases of digital transformation in business:
- As usual. Companies work as they used to, without any research of customers’ changing needs. Sticking to this policy for a long time threatens the status quo.
- Active and Present. This is the stage when businesses realize the necessity for changes and may be testing different tech. The attempts are chaotic, though. Unless businesses take a step towards a system, the efforts will get nowhere.
- Formalization. When a business determines the course of action, all the experiments become planned and intentional. In this phase you may see the most rigid resistance caused by a company’s culture.
- Strategy. When a company manages to find a compromise about the formal steps, the leaders and visionaries start creating a roadmap and invest into the chosen technologies.
- Convergence. A company has tools, experience, a determined team and follows the plan. The next stop is the transformation itself.
- New Innovations and Adaptation. The process is never-ending. When you achieve the set goals, it’s time to discover new points of growth.
Who Should Lead It
One of the most essential issues of transformation is responsible people. We’ve mentioned a dedicated team but it’s consolidated on the 5th stage only. Who is the leader?
Let’s mention one more time that moving towards digital shifts is a strategic issue. That’s why, before creating new roles, think what top management can contribute. In practise, CEO, CTO and CMO can start the dialog. You can also rely on digital transformation consulting. Try to organize top management and employees around the customer and you’ll get an impressive number of product initiatives.
Getting There
We live and act in the digital economy. From year to year customers’ requirements for services are evolving, the external environment always has one more surprise for us. If business ignores a game-changer, the failure will be a question of time. Recent situation with the coronavirus has clearly demonstrated it.
At Fively, we meet so many conscious entrepreneurs who are ready to transform their companies into something better. Their motivation and determination energize everyone around them. In return, we translate their strategies into tech products. If you have anything to say or would like to ask about practical transformation steps, do not hesitate to talk to us.
Lera
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