The Digital Transformation Process for Businesses

Today's rapidly and technologically advancing world has become a backdrop for the survival of the fittest for businesses. The new and improved way to do business is to transform into a digital workspace. It is no longer enough to open a store and wait for customers to see you as they go past your door or see your advertisement board.

Customers nowadays are more digitally savvy. They know what they want and they want it now. So, if you don't keep up with the race and become a digital business, you most likely will miss out. you need to be able to let your customers know you exist and convince them that you are the best choice to meet their needs.

In order to stay in the race, digital transformation initiatives are being taken by companies in the light of improving business processes and productivity. The digital transformation strategy differs from business to business, as their products and services, and therefore the supply chain of each is different from the other. Some businesses may require machine learning and artificial intelligence, some may need cloud computing, and others may need much more or much less. whatever their needs, there is a solution for everyone. 

To think that digital transformation is a once-over project would be misleading. Implementing a new type of technology without taking the big picture into consideration could have more challenges than benefits. The best practice would be to implement this transition while keeping in consideration your business goals and objectives and choosing the best fit.

Although in the past it was the IT department responsible for such digital transformation. However, that is not the case any longer. This has now become an organizational effort where all users, from management to employees are involved. Since the leaders need feedback from the end-users to ensure the solution works properly, it only makes sense that everyone who will be using it is involved in the implementation phase. 

Leaders should spend the early stages of the newly invested implementation asking their employees, in other words, those who constantly use the system about their experiences. Their experiences should be asked about the existing system, looking for ways to improve. Then, when making the switch, leaders would know exactly what to look for in the new system. 

After all, there would be no point in taking out the old without bringing in the new and improved. Continual feedback will aid in continual improvements through additional transformations.

Small or large, all companies nowadays have to use many applications for their digital transformation needs in order to keep in line with the digital age. This digital transformation process which begins as a need for one application continues on to become a search for new applications as the company continues to grow. This actually becomes a never-ending process as the company progresses and new needs continue to arise. 

When this is the case, companies have processes such as researching and deciding on a new product, integrating it with existing systems, and distributing it to all users within the company. Of course, all these processes also have a financial dimension, which comes with substantial licensing costs which can’t be overlooked. 

No doubt the adoption of digital technologies will bring good things. Such as increasing productivity, the ability to manage big data easier, and improved customer service by understanding and improving the customer experiences. It also brings with it some questions. 

So, our question when setting out the digital transformation framework is which is the better option for our business: 

1) To buy so many different software for each need in digital transformation strategy or, 

2) To look for a platform that is natively integrated, will meet many common needs and at the same time can be customized for new and special needs of our business goals. 

To be able to answer this question, it is necessary to evaluate the needs and business models of companies in two main categories. The first is what is called the back office, which is the needs of the company that are unrelated to the customer. The other is what we call the front office, and is related to the customer. Here, we can consider customers as both external customers, and internal customers, which are our employees.  

In fact, the needs in the area we call back office have been resolved with systems called ERP for a long time. Customer-free areas such as accounting, finance, production, payroll, and purchasing can be managed in an integrated manner with customizable ERP systems. 

The main problem is experienced in the area that relates to the customer, which we call the front office. Since ERPs cannot solve these issues to the desired extent, companies are forced to use different products for each one of their needs. For example: