The Future of Business Innovation is Digital

What is digital business transformation?

Digital business transformation is the idea of embedding digital technology across the whole of a business with the aim of driving fundamental change and creating greater value for a business. It isn’t simply the digitization of a company’s product or service, it goes deeper than that, starting at the very bottom of a business’s structure and working its way up through processes, models, people and roles. Equally, it’s not just about adopting new technologies, it’s about rethinking business processes and organisational culture.

With the rise of technology, AI and all things digital, change is constant – and fast. So, businesses who fail to adapt are likely to get left behind. Why? Digital transformation, if done well and handled efficiently, has the ability to help businesses increase their agility, their efficiency and ultimately then their successes, with brand new and previously untapped value. Research finds that companies doubling down on technology are growing at a 5x faster rate than those that aren’t.

So, how is digital transformation changing things within business?

Reportedly, an estimated 90% of businesses are going through digital transformation. But, what is it that’s changing when you start to transform digitally?

Here’s 5 ways digital transformation can help innovate and transform your business.

1. Improved operational efficiency

By using technology to streamline business operations, making them far more agile, efficiency can be improved. For example, leaning into automation for repetitive, everyday tasks frees up human resource for more strategic work, while also reducing the chances of human error. Real time data collection through advanced analytics and big data can also help make informed decisions and respond to changes in the market far quicker.

2. Improved customer or client experiences

Using data and AI provides the potential to create better, more personalised experiences for customers and clients. Businesses can meet and exceed customer expectations by leveraging digital transformation.

3. Improved innovation and increased agility

Digital transformation enhances innovation and agility by providing the tools and frameworks necessary for rapid development, collaboration and adaptation.

With the use of more data at our fingertips, data-driven innovation means new solutions, ideas and offerings are in line with real-life needs, trends and demands. What’s more, it allows us to tap into external sources of innovation, like crowdsourcing from customers or analysing competitors. Collaborative tools allow for better knowledge sharing, while agile methodologies fostered by digital transformation that focus on continual feedback and improvement and flexible responses to change, help companies stay astute.

4. Workforce transformation

Digital tools and online processes have allowed remote working to be more feasible and achievable, helping to transform the working world. Tools and platforms that enable collaboration are now vital within businesses. What’s more, to stay on top of digital business transformation, companies are now forced to upskill their workforce with digital skills to stay competitive, investing in employee development and transforming their workforce on the ground.

5. Collating customer and market insights more easily

With the ability to harness huge amounts of data, businesses are able to gain more in-depth insights into market and industry trends, customer behaviors and even operational performance more easily to help inform strategic decisions. AI and machine learning also has the potential to provide predictive insights to inform strategic decisions and help with automation.

Implementing a digital transformation strategy

Implementing digital business transformation is a complex process that requires a strategic approach, careful planning and a focus on both technology and people. So, start with developing a clear vision and strategy – think about your business objectives and goals and why digital transformation might help, get stakeholder buy-in and start creating a roadmap that includes both short and long term goals. You might also want to assess your current capabilities and see where gaps and areas of improvement lie within both your technological capacity as a business and your employee’s skills.

You’ll want to choose technologies that are right for you, can be scaled with your business needs and can support your business transformation. They also need to be able to integrate seamlessly with your existing systems.

You’ll also need to think about empowering and training your workforce. From digital skills training to help facilitate digital innovation to helping employees deal with change with management strategies, and even fostering a culture of continual innovation by encouraging your workforce to try and experiment with new tools, your employees are at the heart of your business so should be a focus in any business strategy.

With the ever-changing and ever-developing digital environment, when planning for digital business transformation, think about agile methodologies that allow for quick changes, flexibility and continual feedback. Really think about leveraging any data you have to drive decision making and anticipate trends in this fast-paced environment.

And finally, start small – but look to scaling and integrating your digital transformation strategies in the long-term.

Digital business transformation offers a range of benefits that can significantly enhance a company’s performance, competitiveness and customer satisfaction. To position themselves for long-term success in an ever-changing market and to remain competitive, digital transformation is both desirable and needed.