At the most basic level, digital transformation involves using digital technologies to change a business process to become more efficient or effective. It can involve many things, whether it’s process automation, a new website, improved user experience, or a migration to the cloud. The idea is to use technology not to replicate an existing service in a digital form, but to transform that service into something significantly better. Does your organization have a digital transformation strategy in place?
A recent study by Mordor Intelligence valued digital transformation at US$263 billion, and it is projected to reach US$767 billion by 2026. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, unpredictability has become the new normal in nearly every sector of business. Gartner’s forecasts indicate that IT spending will reach US$4.4 trillion this year. Leveraging digital transformation can help businesses build resilience to accelerate their growth, remain competitive, and take advantage of unique market opportunities.
Broad Culture Shifts for Companies
Changing business processes and corporate culture are just as vital to the success of digital transformation as the technical implementations. Company culture can heavily impact employees’ perception of change, and an unresponsive culture can result in wasted time and money.
According to an article on ZDNet, there are five skills every company needs to achieve successful transformation:
- Digital fluency – Depending on the industry, digital fluency can range from a basic knowledge of Microsoft Suite to an in depth understanding of cloud computing.
- Data analytics – Data analysis skills are needed to process data and use it in a way that’s both permissible and productive.
- Digital marketing – Marketing skills are essential in engaging your customer base and ensuring a product’s financial success.
- Cyber security – Cover potential risk areas by hiring those with cyber security skills
- Leadership – Company leaders should possess a multitude of “soft” skills, such as expertise in communication, influence, empathy, and strategic thinking.
Digital transformation is about investing in a complete transformation of the business to increase the competitiveness and value of the organization. To increase the growth and ROI of technology investments, companies must be proactive in developing a digital transformation strategy that details the intended transformation of processes, work styles, and more.
Creating a More Sustainable Business
Digital transformation has played a key role in enabling remote working. There is a growing focus on leveraging IoT technologies to drive a seamless experience for the employees while creating carbon-neutral office spaces. Digital transformation has also helped employees to focus less on manual, monotonous activities and instead channel their efforts into more purposeful work thereby enabling a better work-life balance.
Sustainability and digital transformation initiatives impact one another in tandem. A sustainable business model alongside a digital business model makes sense, because transforming business processes to be more data-driven and efficient inevitably improves sustainability. Companies should start by renovating their economic models, work processes, and communication paradigms.
Start Your Digital Transformation Journey
It’s important to prepare for your organization’s digital transformation journey beforehand. Check out Digital Transformation: Moving Toward a Digital Society, a five-course program from IEEE that provides the background knowledge needed to smartly implement digital tools into organizations.
Contact an IEEE Account Specialist to get organizational access.
Check it out for yourself on the IEEE Learning Network.
Resources
Charpentier, Laurent. (23 August 2022). Decades Into The ‘New’ Millennium, Finance Teams Still Struggle With (Lack Of) Digital Transformation. Forbes.
Ene, Carmen. (25 August 2022). The Next Frontier of Digital: Technology as A Sustainable Business Asset. Forbes.
Ganapathi, Chidambaram. (8 August 2022). Digital transformation is paving the way for a sustainable workplace. The Times of India.
Kenkare, Pallavi. (10 August 2022). Digital transformation: Top 5 skills you need to succeed. ZDNET.
Ramalho, Tiago. (22 August 2022). Why You Can’t Have Digital Transformation Without Sustainability. Readwrite.
Samuels, Mark. (5 August 2022). What is digital transformation? Everything you need to know about how technology is changing business. ZDNET.
Williams, Daniel. (18 August 2022). How CIOs can approach digital transformation investments to increase value. TechRepublic.
The term used most frequently recently across all businesses is “digital transformation.” The post has rightly explained, you must handle digital transformation before your rivals do if you want to remain competitive. You’ll lose your business if you don’t! I appreciate you taking on this subject.
Yes digital transformation is here, and very important
Great Post!!