Humanity as we know it has completely changed. That sounds dramatic, doesn’t it? That’s because the situation is dramatic. Very dramatic. But we don’t just mean the last few years, but all the many different and varied revolutions that have happened throughout history and changed the world completely. Most recent of those drastic changes is the Internet revolution, followed closely by the digital revolution. What is this digital transformation that everyone’s talking about? If you also feel that you are being spoken to in Double-Dutch, this article is the place where you’ll find the answers.
Let’s start from the end: Digital transformation is the application of new technological changes to solve problems and create business opportunities and achieve a competitive edge. Sounds complicated and scary, right? It really doesn’t have to be. Ultimately, the aim of technological solutions that surround us is to produce efficient and creative solutions to existing problems and expand the traditional methods used by different organizations.
By 2020 many organizations had compromised the way they worked over the previous decade, simply to be able to remain within their comfort zone. This does not necessarily translate to the best customer service, but in most cases, clients agreed to accept the level of service offered to them, even if they sometimes wondered to themselves: “What year are we in?”
Then came the CO-VID epidemic and forced all those who had remained in their comfort zone up till then to expand their horizons and take steps towards the future – or rather, towards the present! It forced them to incorporate new technologies into their organizations, whether within the organization itself or when working with customers, to enable their business to continue to exist during lockdown.
But make no mistake, even with all this technology applied in the times of CO-VID, this wasn’t yet a true “digital transformation”. Why? Because in the end, what actually happened was that many organizations simply “put a band-aid” on deep problems instead of treating them seriously. They did not necessarily adopt a true change or embrace a new organizational strategy.
True digital transformation requires management to devote time for formulating a new organizational strategy to suit this digital age we live in. A band-aid is not enough; what is needed is a complex internal surgery! This “surgery” will include an analysis of market trends, exploration of digital technologies and their potential, including any new opportunities or risks involved, and so on.
Did you think that was it? We’ve only just begun! In addition to this analysis, in order to one’s organization to undergo the best possible digital transformation, it will need to dig and explore almost every area related to the organization. From designing the customer experience and researching the consumer journey; through establishing a smart, efficient and digital process infrastructure; examining the current organizational model and promoting the application of innovative organizational models; implementing data production processes in order to get the broad and comprehensive picture and to apply flexible technology systems. This also involves training employees and developing their digital literacy; nurturing and preserving their talents; and developing their skills to deal with the challenges of the new digital environment.
If you ask us, we admit that the amount of work in the digital transformation process is not simple or easy in any way, but hand on heart, we can definitely say it’s worth it!
