Although consumers want valuable solutions to their problems fast, the adoption of digital transformation has still been slow. However, in the wake of the pandemic, the digital age seems like it is just around the corner.
Digital transformation, as the process of utilizing digital technologies to drastically improve business models, has become one of the hottest topics for companies around the globe. Executives in all industries are going digital to replace or improve their existing traditional technologies and processes. Moreover, digital transformation is a cultural change through which companies continually challenge the status quo. The recent pandemic has put many companies in ‘’survival mode’’ where an organization’s ability to adapt quickly to disruption has become of critical importance.
The Framework
Digital transformation varies based on the organization's specific challenges and demands, but there is a common framework that companies should consider as they embark on the digital transformation journey. The common digital transformation framework assumes digitization of 4 main areas: customer experience, products and services, operations and organizations.
Digitizing Customer Experience
Customers have always been the most important stakeholders of any organization. It is essential for every company to know its customers and serve them in the best possible way. CRM systems greatly help companies identify their customers’ needs and demands. The digital footprints that customers leave behind daily through social media platforms enable companies to link preferences to habits and accommodate to them accordingly.
These insights are invaluable for digital marketing as well because to be competitive in today’s world, companies must engage with their customers online and personalize their product and service promotions in order to increase customer loyalty.
Digitizing Products and Services
Selling the experience rather than products has become paramount for companies to stay competitive in today’s saturated market. To create such experiences, companies need to think about how to take customers on a journey and stay in touch with them throughout the process.
Analysis of customer behavior on social media helps organizations predict the usage of products and level of satisfaction, enabling organizations to anticipate customer needs before problems arise.
Digitizing Operations
Advanced digital technology can improve business processes in a number of ways. By automating, standardizing and globally sourcing processes, organizations can become more agile, more responsive to rapid changes, and better able to increase and sustain profitability. Ever since RUBICON adopted Agile practices, we’ve been able to develop high-quality products quicker, and transform operations to adapt quickly to rapid changes.
Digitizing the Organization
Digital solutions support the creation of ecosystems by the members of the value chains enabling them to work more closely together. However, to have the full advantage of effectively working together in an integrated ecosystem, employees have to break down silos and collaborate across different departments. This requires them to respond quickly and consistently to changes in the market and within their organizations. Moving towards the digital mindset means rewarding innovation and allowing customers’ opinions and suggestions to positively influence product development.
The Types of Digital Transformation
New digital technologies create significant opportunities for organizations if effectively embraced and pursued. There are 4 commonly differentiated types of digital transformation:
Business Process Transformation
Business Process Transformation entails utilizing digital technology (data analytics, APIs, machine learning, AI, etc.) to reinvent business processes with the goals of lowering costs, reducing cycle times, and increasing quality and productivity. These transformations can create significant value for organizations because they focus on specific areas of business.Business Model Transformation
The most common reason companies embrace digital technologies is to transform their traditional business models. Business model transformation refers to improving fundamental building blocks of how value is delivered in an industry. Corporations that achieve business model transformation open significant new opportunities for growth.Domain Transformation
Domain transformation is an area with little focus but vast opportunities. The new technologies offer executives options for unlocking new business opportunities for companies beyond their target market. This type of transformation often provides the greatest value and leveraging it efficiently can reap the benefits of new growth.Cultural Transformation
Long-term digital transformation requires companies to redefine organizational mindsets, processes, and capabilities. In the digital age, companies have to recognize the importance of agile workflows, decentralized decision-making, and a greater reliance on business ecosystems. As technology changes, industries will continue to be forced to take active steps to adapt to changes successfully. Corporations that pursue digital transformation in a multi-dimensional way will find greater success than those that don’t.
Embracing Digital Transformation
Embracing digital technology has never been more necessary for sustained growth. Here are some concepts to consider in order to adopt them successfully:
- Switching from product-focused mindset to customer-focused;
- Creating innovative digital experiences;
- Customizing customer journeys;
- Enabling remote work and automation;
- Utilizing AI and machine learning;
- Prioritizing long-term value of digital initiatives.
Digitally transforming your business can be quite a complex project, so here are a few pieces of advice from RUBICON:
Think cloud. Replace on-site solutions with cloud solutions to be more agile and meet customer demands quickly. Additionally, with cloud solutions, the latest features are automatically updated so you are never behind.
Personalize. In today’s world customers have come to expect personalized experiences. Companies can provide that by using the data in their CRM software to evaluate buying behaviors and purchase history.
Tie the digital channels. Customers want a seamless experience regardless of the channel. Consider tying all the digital channels together to provide a user-friendly customer experience.
By focusing on these three factors, organizations can start embracing the new digital landscape, exceed customer expectations and improve the overall customer experience.
How Can RUBICON Help
RUBICON helps companies transform their business processes with digital transformation solutions. Our dedicated agile teams help our clients digitize their businesses by successfully improving performance, efficiency and customer experience. To find out more about the software solutions we design and develop, take a look at our recent case study.
Are you ready to start your digital transformation journey? Contact us to take the first step and we will lead you through it.
Original blog post: 2021 is the Year for Digital Transformation
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