9 Digital Transformation Trends to Watch out in 2024

While organizations have always known about the importance of digital transformation over the years, it has often been eclipsed by other priorities. However, prioritizing digital initiatives has become one of the most important enablers for companies to thrive in an increasingly competitive world.

Digital Transformation Trends are quite evident from the results of recent Gartner Forecasts. In their research, they found out that the worldwide market for technology that enables hyper-automation will reach $596.6 billion by 2022

The increased adoption of automation tools is an emerging digital transformation trend in 2024. Likewise, the right utilization of AI, hyper-automation,low-code/no-code tools, and cloud technologies will help enterprise scale tremendously.

1. Increase IT Budget

Perhaps an under-publicized digital transformation trend to watch out for in 2022 is the increase in IT budgets. Even though digital transformation reduces costs, experts predict that worldwide IT spending will be more than $4 trillion ^[1] in 2022.

Most CIOs ^[2] plan to increase investment in business intelligence and data analytics tools, as well as cloud platforms. Expenditure around information security and cybersecurity will also grow to address business risks.

An increase in the IT budget will mainly be due to industries buying and implementing third-party software, like low-code/ no-code solutions, to improve their in-house tech infrastructure. But choosing the right digital transformation tools can be considered an investment that is bound to give organizations a significant ROI in the future. 

2. Hybrid Workforce

The pandemic has forced organizations to accept the world of the hybrid; allowing employees to choose when to work from home or come to the office. But with the world majorly recovering from the impact of the pandemic, there is now a debate on whether hybrid work still has a place in today’s world. 

Hybrid work comes with a unique set of advantages that both organizations and employees have benefited from. Companies save up on infrastructure costs and attract top talent by building a flexible experience that promotes work-life balance. These benefits are hard to ignore and have become one of the most significant factors that a younger workforce is considering while choosing their next job.

3. Digitization

While digitization is definitely not new, it will continue to be a trend in the next year. Many often mistake digitization as just the absence of paper. But digitization is much more than just removing redundant pieces. In fact, it is the first stage of Digital Transformation where it reimagines work to drive maximum collaboration, efficiency, and transparency. This can be a pressing challenge, especially for smaller businesses where employees typically wear multiple hats. Digitization essentially converts disparate business processes into streamlined and automated workflows. In 2023, we see much more businesses adopting digitization as their first step toward digital transformation.

4. Cloud Transformation

Cloud transformation solves availability and performance challenges for organizations that want to migrate mission-critical applications to a secure cloud environment. The benefits of cloud transformation include secure and efficient data sharing, accelerated time to market, and improved scalability as well as flexibility. While this is not a novel idea, 2023 will see a lot of organizations shift to cloud-based solutions and use that as a base for increased security, mobility, and large-scale transformation.

5. Business Transformation

Business transformation refers to making fundamental philosophical changes to how an organization runs, which can include personnel, processes, and technology-related changes. The goal is to help organizations create additional value, pivot strategically, and become more efficient. In 2023, we will see companies leverage technology in order to achieve business transformation. This not only guarantees a philosophical shift in how organizations view technology and change but will redefine the way organizations do business as a whole.

6. Artificial Intelligence

AI has always induced a sense of futurism. And rightly so. It is hard to imagine a machine making strategic decisions and pushing forward the automation needle. But AI is no longer a far, out-of-reach concept. It is in the now. In fact, the AI market is predicted to have an annual growth rate of 52% by 2025^[3].

Artificial intelligence is one of the core technologies of digital transformation that can help businesses scale up. With innovations such as machine learning, deep learning, natural language processing (NLP), and predictive analytics, AI is now finding its footing in all areas of an organization and across industries. AI tools learn and improve from historical data, making it easy to create a successful digital transformation framework that completely fits an organization’s unique requirements. 

7. Hyperautomation

Automation is quite easily one of the fast-growing trends of digital transformation. It helps companies decrease employee workloads, simplify processes, and optimize productivity. With the increased recognition that automation is getting, we see 2023 as a year it metamorphosizes into hyper-automation—automation that goes beyond eliminating repetition but focuses on driving value and significantly reducing operational costs. For example, automating repetitive manual approval process will increase productivity and helps to streamline the process. Learn more on how automation supports digital transformation progress in enterprises.

8. Low-Code/No-Code

Business app development has become a crucial component of digital transformation. With the demand for apps at an all-time high, organizations have recognized the need to develop them in-house. This is where the low-code and no-code approaches come in handy. 

Low-code platforms give the power of app development to everyone, instead of just limiting it to technical personnel, IT developers, and coders. No-code goes a long way in accelerating digital transformation by reducing the time taken to develop and deploy apps while reducing overall costs and improving the application development lifecycle. In 2023, organizations are going to increasingly realign themselves with the low-code, no-code approach and drive increased adoption.

9. Citizen Development

While many assume that digital transformation can only be achieved through highly experienced developers, it couldn’t be further from the truth. Citizen development empowers non-technical and semi-technical employees to create specific digital applications and solutions. In addition to increasing development resources, you can also accelerate business value with the help of citizen developers. 

When business users become part of the development team, it directly leads to more powerful applications that are guaranteed to align with the challenges and the requirements. This approach also ensures that your IT department isn’t overloaded with work. 2023 may be the year organizations take the tiered approach to app development. While business-critical (Tier 1) applications are still developed by core developers, a bulk of tier 2 apps will be developed and deployed by citizen developers.

Bottom Line

Digital transformation is an ever-evolving process. To keep up with the speed of changes, companies need to keep abreast with the latest trends in digital transformation. Choosing the right solution is essential for digital transformation success.

 The All-in-one Digital Transformation Platform like Kissflow can prove to be the perfect solution for organizations looking to accelerate their digital journey. The comprehensive platform converges more work within a single platform and helps organizations optimize processes, handle a wider scope of work, and drive productivity and efficiency at scale. Discover how Kissflow can help grow your business.