When you Need to Digitally Disrupt, You Need to Embrace Digital Transformation

Believe it or not there was once a time when Apple was not the globally dominant force it is today.  They were close to bankruptcy when the Co-Founder of Apple, Steve Jobs, shared his nuggets of wisdom with the entire organization. He said “The way out of these difficult times is not cost-cutting. It is to innovate and embrace digital transformation.”

It is this piece of advice that the companies should pay attention to in this current business environment. Companies have been told time and again that the fastest and the most effective ways to enhance a company’s operational productivity and processing is to technologically innovate and embrace Digital Transformation.Digital Transformation helps the enterprise in simplifying and accelerating manual tasks that are capable of being automated and digitised.  Businesses must focus on Big Data, Social Media, eCommerce, cloud computing, and choosing the right ERP system to completely reshape how business is transacted in the future.

Why should you Embrace Digital Transformation?

The era of Digital Transformation is upon us now. Many previously stable and successful businesses have been forced to evolve or take risks before going obsolete. Financial Times earlier this year shared that “Artificial intelligence has the potential for dramatic disruption of everything from manufacturing to education and mental health.” With companies investing in automating processes to reducing costs and utilising big data to increase margins, industry leaders are recommending to join the change sooner rather than later.

In order for your Digital Transformation journey to take shape, let me list down five key advantages of becoming digital.

1. Enhanced Customer Acquisition and Retention: Technology advances have helped businesses improve operations outside of regular office hours. eCommerce and mCommerce allow your business to showcase new and existing products and services to an online market. These platforms open one more window which helps businesses strengthen communication lines with the customer by offering a 24/7 selling platform.
2. Streamlined Operations: Digitally transformed businesses have powerful technology enhancing machinery for internal operations, enabling teams to collaborate seamlessly across departments and streamline communications across the whole workforce and supply chain. The ability to share valuable inventory data and material lists from the warehouse to the manufacturing unit can result in real-time data in relation to production levels and shipments being transferred which helps in decision-making. This level of digital structuring on every operating level also enables accurate sales and income forecasts, which in turn facilitates the company’s ability to plan for future growth.
3. Global Reach: Recent advances in cloud technology have removed barriers to entry for most enterprises, regardless of size. Geographical location is no longer an issue as cloud resources are accessible anywhere with an internet connection, software resources are distributed to a worldwide workforce, and the recovery backup, security, and storage of each digital asset are safely handled by cloud service providers.
4. Big Data Decision-making: A suitable ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system will streamline the management on every level. Analytical tools will further assess captured data with the help of chart and visualisation tools. From this data, predictive models will be assessed to help key decision makers identify opportunities and risks. Consumer behaviours can also be analysed to predict the next market trend and when implemented correctly allows lead generation scoring to recognise a prospect in the sales channel.
5. New Product Development: Many businesses in need of digital transformation have so far failed to keep pace with the market and competitor evolution. They need modern systems that can aid in market research, production, and subsequent sign-off of new services, products, and campaigns.

Envision the Digital Future

Mobile: Mobile platforms not only aid your enterprise in showcasing products and services but also provide an initial foundation for your business to develop your infrastructure further. Once the initial infrastructure is ready, you can build innovative applications and devices that best suit your customers.

Real-Time Insights: Customers want services that are designed to suit their needs and the more information they gather about products, the better will be the results. Modern businesses need to reshape their businesses to meet the market demands, or risk being forgotten. Customers are no longer satisfied with ordering products. They want recommendations on what to order next and how to track when the shipment arrives. Businesses need to have a 360-degree experience 24/7 across multiple platforms and devices. As the world shifts to IoT-enabled devices, expectations will also increase as more data will mean more opportunities to engage with and please the customer.

Smart Machines: The convergence of latest advances in AI and machine learning are leading to the rapid automation of jobs. Research shows that many low skilled jobs have already or are in the process of being replaced, and by 2020 as many as 15% of the UK workforce will have to reskill in order to keep pace with the digital transformation.

Cyber Security: The increasing scale of malicious attacks against organisations has led to additional security and vigilance against cybercrime.  The best recourse is to make sure your businesses is on board with the latest digital technologies.

The constant updates of new servers, cloud computing, and IoT means increasing challenges for organisations to scale up their cyber-security infrastructure. Organisations need to be proactive and experiment with Big Data security analytics programs and security-in-the-cloud initiatives to be on-board with the latest advances. Failing to keep up with the latest measures now will only lead to an increased risk of major security breach.