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Digital Transformation: Unlock True Business Value through Technology

Digital Transformation: Unlock True Business Value through Technology

The influx of new technologies is opening up fresh opportunities and challenges for businesses. In this write-up, we focus on how digital transformation unlocks real business value through innovative technology.

Digital disruption has taken over the entire globe. 

We are rapidly seeing its effect on both our lives and work.

Simply speaking, technology has become an indispensable part of the modern world.

The question is, how do you maintain your organization’s business processes up to date in the age of technological disruption? 

You can either follow the trend and take huge risks or embrace digital transformation and unlock true business value through this innovative mechanism. 

In short, digital transformation is the utilization of technology in different facets of the business. 

It ends up changing how you operate your business and how you deliver value to your customers.

Businesses who are prioritizing digital transformation tend to deliver more than just products or services. They deliver experiences.

In the forthcoming sections of this write-up, we will divert our attention to digital transformation technologies that will play a critical role in unlocking the true business value through technology.

However, before we do that, let's focus on the digital transformation trends that will pave the way for enterprises' brighter future.

The Anatomy of Digital Transformation

Companies like OpenText, ZOHO CREATOR, SAP, etc. help the enterprise manage its information and transform digitally. 

Here’s a research conducted by Mckinsey. It consists of some trends that were highlighted by the company when it comes to digital transformation.

Organizations with Successful Transformations Deploy More Technologies Than Their Counterparts

The most commonly found goal for digital transformations is digitizing the organization's operating model, cited by 68% of respondents. 

Out of this, half of them say that their goal was to launch new products or services or interact with external partners through digital partners. 

On top of this, when it comes to adopting technology, respondents say their organizations are using 4 out of 11 technologies asked by Mckinsey during the research.

It also reflects that organizations that are successful in digital transformation deploy more technologies than others. 

This might seem contradictory as more technologies would result in more complex execution of transformation initiatives and more opportunities to fail. 

However, organizations with successful transformations are likely to use more sophisticated technologies like AI, IoT, and advanced neural machine-learning techniques. 

When Key Factors are in Place, Respondents are Up to Three Times More Likely to Report Successful Digital Transformations

The research also showcased how exactly organizations should make the technology-supported changes that make a massive difference in the successful digital transformations.

Success of Digital Transformation is Highly Likely for Businesses That Adopt Organization-Wide Workforce and Talent Practices

It also showcases that developing talent and skills throughout an organization is crucial for traditional transformations. 

Of the 21 key factors for success highlighted by the research, 3 relate to the workforce's digital capabilities. 

The first one talks about redefining an individual's roles and responsibilities to align themselves with the transformation's goals. This can assist in clarifying their roles and capabilities required by the organization.

 It has been observed that respondents are 1 and ½ times more likely to report a successful digital transformation when this practice is in use. 

The other central points are about the engagement levels of the specific roles of integrators and technology-innovation managers who minimize the potential gap between the business’s traditional and digital counterparts.

People who are in these roles assist in fostering more substantial internal capabilities among colleagues. 

Integrators are those employees who inculcate the new digital methods and processes into the prevailing ways of working.

Apart from these three keys for success, the research also claims that winning transformations have a better-funded and more robust approach to talent than others. 

Transformation success is more than 3 times likely if the respondents say that their organizations have invested in the appropriate number of digital talents.

Companies That have Made Complete Use of Digital Tools as a New Organizational Norm are More Likely to Report Success

Organizations look to empower their employees to work in new ways during the digital transformation stage. 

The research tries to answer how and by how much digitizing tools and processes can support success.

In the same research, McKinsey inquired from the respondents about the seven structural changes that their organizations have made since the transformation started. 

Three of these changes - each of which involves using digital tools, a new organizational norm - emerged as keys to success. 

Success Rate of Digital Transformation By Change-Story Elements Communicated by Respondents

With the change in traditional efforts, clear communication becomes quite critical during the digital transformation. 

One crucial aspect of success is communicating a change story, which helps employees comprehend where the organization is headed, why it is changing, and why changes are essential. 

Most organizations that follow this practice have a chance of getting 3 times more successful transformation. 

The second factor is senior leaders fostering a sense of urgency for transforming changes within their units. This is where good communication becomes essential. 

Other results suggest that successful organizations tend to relay a successful story more than others when communicating change stories.

It was also found that employing remote and digital communications to showcase the transformation vision does a far better job of supporting success instead of in-person or traditional channels. 

When senior managers and initiative leaders employ brand new digital channels to reach employees remotely, three times, the success rate goes up. 

As promised earlier, let’s now look at the digital transformation technologies erupted in recent times with wide implications in the near future.

List of Prominent Digital Transformation Technologies

Google, Amazon, Facebook, Twitter, and Uber are some of the major tech giants that have changed society with digital transformation technologies. 

Some groundbreaking innovations have provided fresh ways to take desired actions like ordering food, hailing a cab, or even communicating with loved ones. 

Here are some of the digital transformation technologies that have erupted in the current times, which will have broader implications in the near future. 

1. Robotics

According to a blog published by 451alliance, it has been claimed that one in four manufacturers is executing smart robotics today. This statistic is deemed to increase to one in three over the next two years. 

With the implementation of robotics increasing beyond repetitive tasks to more analytics-based activities, we will see it being used with other technologies like IoT, AI, and sensors. 

When it comes to digital transformation, robotics has a central role to play in driving operational efficiency and giving time to human beings to focus on other essential tasks.

2. The Internet of Things (IoT)

The Internet of Things (IoT) has shown tremendous growth when it comes to bringing unprecedented visibility to both products and operations from the perspective of manufacturers.

By the end of 2019, 3/4th of large manufacturers updated their operations with IoT and analytics-based situational awareness.

With the help of far greater insights and analytics from IoT, enterprises stand a chance to achieve critical digital transformation objectives. 

This includes enhanced efficiency, flexibility to respond more swiftly to market and customer demands, and innovation across their products and services.

3. Artificial Intelligence (AI)

The more accurate term for AI would be machine learning.

The reason being, it offers opportunities for machines to learn by making mistakes, changing their own data, and algorithms to produce more precise and ingenious processes for further utilization.

We will see AI & machine learning becoming an integral part of digital transformation for major enterprises shortly.

After that, we will see the rise of AI making organizations more capable and enterprising to take advantage of lucrative opportunities.

4. Digital currencies

Electronic transfer or flat currencies are seeing growth in recent times. The traditional physical wallet will soon become a part of history.

On top of this, with the emergence of blockchain technologies, we will soon see the need for private ledgers to get extinct. 

This will mean fresh challenges for banks and financial institutions, governments, and enterprises.

5. Mobile computing

The practice of using mobiles and smartphones has become quite prevalent nowadays. 

In the near future, these pocket-friendly devices will be used as mobile computing devices that can be carried worldwide and carry out extraordinary feats.

Portable computing power will become a reality, and the connectivity levels will increase beyond imaginations.

6. New business models

Changes in businesses due to technology will continue.

There is another term for it called “disruptive technology.”

For example, subscription models for anything-as-a-service (XaaS) have started to dominate businesses and continue to do as does data monetization.

We will see more new business models coming up as time passes by.

Concluding Thoughts

With time as the global pressures continue to demand more flexibility, greater agility, and better quality across the entire enterprise value chain, it would become essential to look at the digital transformation journey and inculcate a value-based approach for creating a robust enterprise product. 

Organizations can easily realize the untapped potential of their business using digital transformation technologies by delivering a unified and aligned workforce to business functions and adopting an incremental approach as a part of the business roadmap.

Vivek Asrani is working as a Senior Content Specialist. He has been providing high-quality content to clients for several years. Many of his articles have been published in magazines and blogs. His expertise revolves around blogging, website content writing, press releases, infographics, eBooks, etc. He loves reading and writing.

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