The recent years have seen monumental changes in how businesses around the world are not only operating while adapting to advances in technology, but also challenging and pushing the boundaries of what we consider the norm, and what's within the realm of possibilities. With tech companies, tech-related service providers, and IT departments around the world witnessing an evolution to what their role is in today’s day and age, let's jump straight into all things digital transformation. What is Digital Transformation? To put it simply, digital transformation is how the use of technology has increased within everyday operations in any business. The integration of digital technology is a key step for businesses, both old and new, in order to provide your workforce with new methods of operations and delivery. Tech and IT departments, long known as the backbone of any business, making sure all of our devices are functioning properly, have now broadened their reach from simply managing all the apparatus for everyday functioning to analyzing business operations and making crucial decisions for future growth. With the advent of covid, the global pandemic has accelerated this transition and ushered IT experts towards a greater responsibility; within different regions across the world, digital transformation has seen, alongside rapid implementation, different interpretations of what digital transformation even is and how it is to be adopted. How is Digital Transformation Being Implemented? While digital transformation may seem heavily dependent, obviously, on technology, it is often more about letting go of outdated and inefficient practices and creating space for innovation and efficiency. In addition to the previously expected responsibilities, progress evaluation, data handling, sharing of resources, increasing workflow efficiency, gauging cost-effectiveness, and business analysis, are now some of the imperative skillsets to have for any IT professional stepping into the field. Letting go of legacy technology and adapting to a new digital approach has never been easier as more and more of the new technologies, software and applications, are now geared towards cloud usage and making it easily accessible to the general public. If that isn't enough of an incentive, people hanging on to legacy systems due to pure nostalgia need to realize the true potential of digital technology lies in flexibility and seamless integration of new systems in order to improve upon previous versions without having to change entire hardware systems. Some examples of digital transformations include customer service evolving from a simple support helpline to self-help forums and portals that allows customers to resolve issues more quickly, HR departments utilizing communications platforms such as Google Meet and Microsoft Teams for online learning, hospitals now offering virtual checkups and prescriptions, retail stores introducing e-commerce loyalty cards with incentives such as discounts and sales that can be availed through online stores, and much more. Is Digital Transformation Important for My Business? The answer to that is pretty straightforward; yes it is. And here’s why: As times change so should your business to stay ahead of the competition and, most importantly, to stay relevant. While some key aspects such as business efficiency, customer service, and operation management are great areas to focus on, this is just the beginning. A lot of corporations give thought to the transition when it comes to dealing with the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of their business, as more ‘visible’ business opportunities can take a higher priority than incremental internal improvements that prove to be more beneficial for the long run. It's important to note that alongside cost-related incentives, digital transformation is known to bring about better resource management, facilitate flexible and productive workflows, allow collaborative environments which strengthen business partnerships, adds value to customer interactions, enhances data collection, and enables data-driven insights that are crucial for any business to improve themselves. As productivity and efficiency increase, employees will have more time to navigate around tasks and incorporate more of them into their everyday achievements, thus further adding to revenue streams and opening up avenues for the integration of new products and services into your business. How do I implement digital transformation into my business? Through research and analysis, contextual ideas can be generated to come up with business plans that help to boost or reinforce any existing, virtual presence. The important thing to keep in mind is to ideate a feasible and compelling strategy that resonates with the core values of the business and appeals to the stakeholders. When you align your transformation with your business goals, it becomes easy to come up with a bottom-up approach that is successfully implemented into the existing framework. Once the feasibility has been identified, with an evaluation of potential risks, the next natural step would be to run a pilot test and document the progress in order to analyze the impact and prepare for any changes to be implemented. Be sure to take in customer and employee feedback to gain valuable insights for future considerations. Alongside future-proofing your business, you’ll be able to provide a more productive work environment for your employees, with quicker resolutions, which will inevitably result in more efficient workflows that increase your output capacity, ultimately resulting in increased profits. Is it too late to start now? If you’re feeling like you’re late to the party, that's completely normal. With the global press hyper attuned to the success stories of businesses around the world, it's easy to become a target to the misconception that you’re too far behind to catch up. Most headlines will show you a variety of companies that have successfully transitioned to the digital realm, with barely any coverage on how hard the transformation was and how long it can actually take. The good thing to take away from all the media coverage is how these success stories provide you with a precedent of what to do and what not to do. While it may be hard to guess long-term progress patterns, in the wake of the global pandemic adapting to digital solutions is a seemingly win-win situation when it comes to surviving in the market and keeping up with emerging customer demands. The greater the integration of analytical tools and digital transformation strategies, the easier the transition and the greater the impact that digital transformation can have on your business.