Digital Transformation – A Need of the Hour
Updated: Jul 24
Digital transformation is the procedure of utilizing digital technologies to convert current traditional and non-digital business courses and services. It involves creating new ones, to meet the evolving market and customer expectations. Thus, entirely changing the way businesses are managed and operated, and how value is delivered to customers. In this article, we would explore what is digital transformation in detail.
Digital Transformation means the implementation of digital operations and tools to achieve conscious business goals. A successful digital transformation strategy requires a deep understanding of the true capability of the technological prowess at hand. Digital transformation usually concentrates on enhancing the customer experience by offering new ways for customers to explore products and services.
As we have understood what digital transformation is, we can see various beneficial functions of digital transformation.
Benefits of Digital Transformation
Enhance Customer Experience
At the core of all digital transformation strategies, the approach is the enhancement of the customer experience. This is because Digital transformation ought to deliver its promised benefits of enabling the business to be more adaptive, scalable, and competitive. More importantly, using IT solutions help businesses in delivering better values to the customer by enhancing the purchase experience through different interfaces. On the other hand, the cost of digital transformation increases the return on investment manifolds. Most companies developing digital transformation consider enhancing customer experience as the top priority.
Automation of company methods
The pandemic has caused business firms to think about the purpose of automation. Businesses are emphasizing automation for good business resilience, prompt development, and deployment cycles. Digital transformation enables this process effectively. This results in reduced risk with better and fast decision-making. The IT team of the company can make decisions quickly. A lot of time is saved, and that time can be used on delivering the best digital experience for customer satisfaction. There is an accelerated need and scope for different types of automation solutions for various purposes such as job schedulers, billing, inventory management, shipment tracking, sales, and customer feedback.
Altering existing systems to new-age technologies
The tech team has started adopting extensible automation platforms to migrate various applications to the cloud. It helps in driving integration and reducing complexity. There is an urge and need for transforming existing systems to new age updated technologies. All these may be achieved by incorporating AI and ML technologies. The preliminary cost of digital transformation may look high but in the long run, it is an investment. It helps in enabling the existing processes for better performance and faster interpretation of data analysis.
Help staff focus on things that matter
This digital transformation allows employees to spend less time doing tedious work. It enables us to optimize operations and focus on innovation and new opportunities. This would result in adopting new methodologies and digital transformation strategies and trends that are mandatory for building competitiveness.
Safety and security of the data of the company
Nowadays, one of the major problems for companies is to keep a huge amount of their data safe and secure. Hacking is one of the common problems being faced today as malicious entities get easy access to the data of the company. Securing data is a vital and complicated task. It can be easily done and is one of the advantages of digital transformation. It involves meticulous enforcement around retrieving data and agreement with data regulatory statutes. It also supplies shields against attacks from proficient hackers.
Digital Transformation in Various Industries
Technology intervention has changed service forever by making customer records easily and quickly retrievable via computer. Digital transformation is changing the way business gets done and, in some cases, creating entirely new classes of businesses. Various industries use them to suit their objectives and goals to maximize return on investment.
Manufacturing: It is an industry that is adopting digitization rapidly. One of the main subjects for manufacturers is to focus on raising a digital thread that secures all aspects of the manufacturing process together. Manufacturing is realizing the advantage of digital transformation. This can be carried out by incorporating data from the supply chain to create, produce, construct, and improve customer service.
The oil and gas industry: Companies are employing sensors and data analytics to enhance the precision of drilling operations and to monitor pipelines for leaks. The advantage of Digital transformation is that it can also support energy companies’ engagement with their customers and employees in new ways.
Small Industries: Many small businesses have begun the Digital journey with steps towards better efficiency, business collaboration, and customer experience. The cost of digital transformation is very economical as per the estimate. They have adopted solutions such as remote working technology, e-commerce platforms, digital payments, and many more.
Banking: Today, banks are digitizing at a very fast pace to keep up with the requirements of their customers. Banks have a formal digital transformation strategy aimed at making the customer experience safer with solutions including online payments, digital wallets, portal payments, and applications and automated fraud detection.
Agriculture: It is another sector that is adopting digital transformation at many levels, with the mission of guaranteeing balanced, effective, and healthy food and improving the supply chain to improve food security for the overall population and reduce environmental impact.
Automotive Industry: This industry is highly dependent on digital transformation for developing, manufacturing, and selling automobiles. Digital transformation strategy has been planned by large automakers in response to the changing consumer demands. The use of IoT to enhance line operations and data. They help to track vehicle performance in addition to developing new marketing campaigns.
Retail: E-commerce has become the standard for many consumers, and the retail industry is working towards its digital transformation. The use of technology helps to form an omnichannel experience for clients. It helps to enhance inventory management, personalize the shopping experience and track customer behavior.
Fitness: The health and fitness industry enhances efficiency and customer service in various areas such as equipment maintenance, scheduling appointments, and customized training programs.
Insurance: The insurance industry is running towards a client-centric digital transformation, to offer more personalized products and services.
Popular Digital Transformation Examples
IKEA: It is a Swedish furniture company that uses DX for a better customer experience. It has changed the shopping experience for customers. A cloud is a central tool in Ikea’s digital transformation.
LEGO: One of the early digital transformation examples is LEGO in the year 1997 into the video game market. From then onwards, games have become a vital element of brand promotion affecting the sales of their blocks. The games are available for free, and the promotion of their products is done.
NIKE: It is a giant in the sports footwear industry and has started focusing on mobile devices. It uses updated technologies based on reference algorithms and machine learning.
DISNEY WORLD: Disney World parks are the best analog entertainment parks in the world. Disney World has become one of the superb digital transformation examples, resulting in improved visitor experience.
MICROSOFT: First, Microsoft has opened to mobile devices, supplying, for example, Office for iPad. In addition, the company has invested in cloud computing by setting up cooperation with e.g., Dropbox and developing its OneDrive service.
J.P. Morgan: J.P. Morgan announced that it is using blockchain technology to improve funds transfers between banking institutions globally, including payments originating from Taiwan banks to beneficiary banks in other markets. Through improved information exchange related to such payments, the new solution called Confirm is expected to help reduce the number of rejected or returned transactions caused by mismatched payment details, lowering costs for both the sending and receiving banks.
Mayo Clinic: Augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) innovative technologies that have the potential to vastly change the landscape of cardiology practice and approach to patient care. VR is a completely simulated, interactive, and computer-generated experience. Any type of sensory feedback can be incorporated; although most environments utilize visual and auditory feedback, medical systems frequently also incorporate tactile feedback. AR involves real-world objects and environments overlaid seamlessly with computer-generated perceptions. AR starts with the real world and alters the environment, while VR creates a totally simulated world.