The year 2020 was an eventful one. Humanity was confronted with a mammoth challenge, the pandemic, and people worldwide collaborated in an unprecedented manner. Technology stood out as a cure-all for many of our ills. Companies that were faced with an existential challenge went digital to enable employees to work remotely, manage supply chains, and perform vital business operations.
The impact of digitization was felt across the board—in manufacturing, education, automotive, healthcare, retail, media, and other sectors. The World Economic Forum report, 'Powering the Great Reset,' stated that the pandemic was a watershed moment for the digital transformation of business. Business success depends on utilizing digital models to create new value and experiences.
Digital transformation is no longer something reserved for the future. It's urgent and should be part of every company's mandate. Technology investments should be a top priority as organizations look at the future. Companies accelerating their digital transformation are now poised for success in the data era.
How does digital transformation future-proof your organization's growth?
Enhances operational efficiency:
Operational efficiency is a top digital transformation goal because enterprises seeking to boost profits must improve efficiency first. Digital transformation improves efficiency across the board. 40 percent of surveyed companies said operational efficiency is among the top benefits of digital transformation.
Digital transformation gives a company a competitive advantage in an ever-changing marketplace. A business can use new technology and the right digital solutions to:
- Manage internal resources optimally
- Improve and speed up processes
- Replace outdated legacy systems
- Automate manual processes and tasks
- Boost collaboration between business units
- Increase business agility
- Make business decisions based on data
Boost Agility:
8 percent of the companies would remain economically viable if their industry kept digitizing at its current speed. Agility is the key to surviving the ongoing period of intense digital transformation. Technology keeps changing, revenue streams dry up, and customer expectations increase.
An organization with great digital transformation strategies can anticipate challenges and build solutions preemptively to remain successful for years. It improves speed-to-market and adopts continuous improvement strategies. This ensures faster innovation.
Improves employee well-being:
46 percent of frontline workers surveyed by Microsoft said they are less stressed if they could use technology to make their job easier. Using digital tools that make employees' lives easier should be a part of every organization's digital transformation strategy. When organizations use automation technologies, employees are 31 percent more productive.
Fast-track the remote work culture:
According to research, only 12 percent of organizations supported remote working before the pandemic. Following COVID-19's emergence, the figure went up to 75 percent. Remote workers love that they can work from anywhere. 57 percent of remote workers think they are more productive while working remotely. Most of them are not concerned about virtual work damaging their company culture. Some believe it improves company culture.
Digital transformation helps create a healthy and productive work environment via cloud-based communication and collaboration tools. Remote workers easily collaborate, share information, and feel like they're part of a team, even if they're not physically in the office.
Greater collaboration across departments:
An organization is only as strong as its weakest link. Employees must collaborate for a business to run efficiently. Collaboration may waste a significant amount of your employees' time if digital tools are not used. As the business pace continues to accelerate and workers become increasingly mobile, organizations need collaboration tools that allow for more productive engagement and interaction. There are many technologies available today that enhance employee collaboration. Getting the most out of these tools should be a primary goal.
Faster innovation:
The digital landscape is constantly evolving rapidly, leaving no time for companies to rest on their laurels. Organizations that undergo digital transformation are more innovative and can spot gaps or opportunities in the market as they understand the digital space.
Even leading companies must adapt and innovate to stay at the top. There will always be new competitors, technologies, and digital trends. Customers will demand more—they will want better products faster than ever.
An Overview of digital transformation future
As industries across the globe undergo digital transformation, businesses must adapt or risk being left behind. Digital transformation can be daunting, but its rewards are numerous. When an organization integrates digital technology into all areas, it completely changes how it operates and delivers value to its customers.
80 percent of companies that undergo a digital transformation are more profitable than their peers. However, the journey to digital transformation takes work. Organizations that want to succeed must carefully consider their data strategy and organizational culture. They must be prepared to invest in new technologies and fully embrace change. From here on out, digital transformation will continue to shape the business landscape, and companies that effectively navigate this shift will be well-positioned for success.
Technologies that will greatly influence digital transformation:
Cloud computing:
Cloud computing is critical to digital transformation as it provides agility and scalability. Traditional data storage methods aren't enough to hold large amounts of data securely and cost-effectively. This is where cloud computing shines. It's a key component in most digital transformation initiatives, enabling greater agility and flexibility across an organization and faster scalability in many instances.
Storing business data in the cloud—spread across different data centres—guarantees its safety. Business operations may cease if the data is stored in a traditional server and the server gets damaged.
Low-code/no-code:
No-code and low-code allow for rapid application development by providing declarative programming paradigms or visual programming languages. The technologies differ entirely from traditional app development as they do away with complex coding. In traditional development, writing code is essential to creating applications. But no-code and low-code platforms utilize drag-and-drop elements and visual user interfaces instead of code for application development.
Companies that adopt either of these two development technologies shorten development cycles, accelerate time to market, and reduce developer dependencies. Office administrators, business analysts, accountants, HR personnel, and other professionals can quickly build and test applications.
AI & Machine Learning:
Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning are used across many industries in ways you may not realize. AI often transforms customer insights into business decisions, improves process automation, speeds up service delivery, and identifies new business opportunities. On the other hand, machine learning uses data to train computers to perform actions and make decisions based on data. The technology can be used to create and optimize artificial intelligence processes, opening the door to many business opportunities.
Robotic Process Automation:
Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is software that partially or fully automates manual, rule-based, and repetitive activities. These tools can copy human actions by interacting with software and digital systems. They can complete the right keystrokes, understand what’s on a screen, identify and extract data, navigate systems, and perform different actions. They can perform work faster and more consistently than humans and don’t need coffee breaks.
RPA platforms can automate certain processes, eliminating mundane business tasks. They allow employees to focus on tasks that need their expertise. When combined with digital transformation technologies such as AIML, RPA can provide greater value. It can boost efficiency, accuracy, and speed of performing tasks.
How can Kissflow Future-proof your digital transformation journey?
We live in a digital world where everything must be always-on and address our needs immediately. For this reason, businesses must continuously adapt. The question is no longer whether to embrace digital transformation but how to future-proof that transformation. The good news is both large and small businesses can take clear, meaningful steps toward becoming future-proof.
Kissflow can help your organization to build a sustainable strategy. Use the digital transformation platform to make your company more resilient by transforming non-digital business processes and creating new processes that leverage digital technology to accelerate business and drive innovation.
