The methods of operation that today’s businesses are choosing to implement are being heavily influenced by changes in digital technology. Furthermore, these businesses are having to deal with the fact that such changes are evolving at a speed faster than they are able to keep up with. In order to keep up, they need to be asking themselves if they even understand digital transformation, if they are prioritising it to the degree that they could, and if not, should be they be prioritising it more?
Embracing change in a tech-driven environment
Certainly, some industries are embracing digital transformation more than others, such as the casino industry, where sites like casinoFever.ca are constantly adapting to the increased changes in the digital world. But there are many other industries that need to step up to the plate. As we’ve seen over and over again in recent years, the business environment is changing, and the companies that survive will be those that adapt and change along with it. These organisations need to be investing their IT budget to meet business requirements, and business leaders should be focusing their IT efforts on progression, innovation, and results.
Digital transformation is about the rapid progression of business tasks, models, competencies, and processes designed to take full advantage of the opportunities and evolution of digital technologies and their effect in a strategic manner. Essentially, there is no difference between digital transformation and business transformation. Another term that is used is digital business transformation, which adheres more closely to the business side of transformation. Digital business transformations are affected by outside environmental factors, customer behaviour and demand, and tech-based innovation.
Innovation and implementation are the keys to transformation
Tech-based innovation results in what can be referred to as technology disruptions. Transformation is about more than just tech-based innovations and how they disrupts business, however. How these innovations are implemented and used also matter. What value do they offer to these business? Are they easily implemented or does implementation cause problems? Then there’s customer behaviour. What the customer demands from the business (and the technology required to fulfil these demands) also needs to be taken into account. Businesses further need to respond to outside factors, including competition in the market, a changing economy, regulatory laws, and demands from business partners.
A study conducted by Forrester Consulting and commissioned by Accenture Interactive revealed that the main influencers in digital transformation are faster speed-to-market, customer satisfaction, and profitability. The study targeted decision-makers, who were asked about which strategies they were prioritising over the next year. The most common response was improving the customer experience. The second-most popular response was cost-cutting, improving differentiation, and increased revenues. Of course, while these strategies might be easy to incorporate into a plan, achieving them is another matter entirely.
The study reveals one very important conclusion
The most significant factor that can be concluded from the study is that, in the context of digital business transformation, each of these aspects: business functions, tasks, models, assets and processes, are interconnected. This is an important part of digital transformation: various aspects of a business are inter-connected and are dependent upon one another.
When it comes to managing change, there’s no bigger challenge than digital business transformation. Yes, it affects strategic positioning and industry structures, but it also has an effect on each level of a business. In fact, you could break that down even further and make the same claim about each single process, task, and even its extended supply chain. Leaders in organisations are expected to always be challenging their company to ensure these changes result in competitive advantage and increased productivity, while providing an excellent customer experience.