Digital Transformation is the method of integration of digital tools into all aspects of a company’s business. In this blog, we talk about the 5Ds of Digital Transformation Strategy and look into a few examples of the successful implementation of DTS.
Digitization has taken the world by storm. Want a pizza? Order online. Need to send money to a friend? Internet banking. Missing your family? Video call. The solution to all these problems is digitization. Today, without a proper digital presence, your business will not be armed with the techniques to beat your competition.
You may think that using more technology or changing workspace is the solution to digital transformation. Well, it is more than that.
It is a method of utilizing the digital world to reach out to your customers and bring them closer to your product. Utilize the vast new world of the digital platform to create a customer-centric image for your brand.
While the adoption of digital transformation could pave the way for development, it is not an easy target to achieve. The change entails not just embracing new technology, but to possibly change the organizational culture, how you acquire and interpret user/customer data, and interact with them.
Let’s have a look at how you can adopt digital transformation:
5 Ds of Digital Transformation Strategy
The era that is majorly driven by digitization, an organization cannot hope to remain at the top without adopting digital transformation. With that being said, the process of adopting digital transformation is not a one-step solution. It includes certain important steps and strategies to complete the process. Here they are:
1. Digital-Savvy Leaders
To inculcate digital transformation into your company’s veins, the process has to be adopted by all the sectors of your company. Taking such a big step entails acceptance from not only the employees and team members but also the leaders of the organization and those in the highest of positions: the stakeholders.
AT&T spends $250 million on training, and the CEO is directly involved in curriculum development so that the business is aligned from top to bottom.
A successfully implemented strategy is one where there is planning, and clarity in that planning. You must be able to foresee the outcome of the changes you are trying to bring. Your ideas should be so clear that everyone — from stakeholders to your employees — can see the results.
2. Digital Security
Cyber Security is a dynamic aspect of digitization. Perfectly secure services of today may be compromised tomorrow. This makes digital security highly complex and fast-changing.
Today’s hackers are so ruthless that they can bring down giant conglomerates with the click of a button. Companies must stay cautious, to keep their data safe. Lagging behind can be a disastrous feat causing loss of revenue, profit, and customers. You should keep yourself updated on the latest security (DevSecOps) reports and protocols.
3. Data Silos: Unlocked
Companies that interact with their customers have mountainous data with them. Having so much data that you cannot change into meaningful information makes the data useless. When you use data analytics strategically, you can give meaning to the numbers.
In 2018, 98.6% of firms aspired to a data-driven culture— a 15.3% increase from 2017.
You can use the information you get when your customers use your product or services and analyze it to give out personalized experience to your customers. This could be as simple as sending out personalized emails to creating customer-specific recommendations in product choice.
4. Digital Culture
Traditional companies focus on the improvement of their product rather than enhancing customer service. This has led to the downfall of the prehistoric titans. Digital culture focuses on customer care and therefore bumps sales of the organization. Digital transformation, or any change for that matter, will most likely not succeed if the people working in the organization are not open to change or risk-taking.
A survey by Microsoft reveals that a strong digital culture helps increase productivity, employee innovation, and employee empowerment from 7to 15 percent, 19 to 25 percent, and 20 to 36 percent respectively.
The adoption of digital transformation strategy brings about acceptance of a dynamic digital environment, openness to new methods of problem-solving, and autonomy amongst the employees. When bringing about this change, ensure that your employees are equipped for an overall transformation.
5. Digital Twins
Digital twins refer to the digital copy or a replica of a real-world entity or system. Many-a-times in manufacturing, you are required to create replicas of the finished product for closer analysis. This technology has been coupled with Artificial Intelligence and Data Analytics to create Digital Twins.
Digital twins allow you to create a computerized simulation of your company. This gives you an insight into how your customers view your business.
Success Stories: Companies That Cracked The Digital Code
Digital transformation is quite a big gamble. It requires a detailed analysis of sales trends, customer behavior and lots and lots of data. The ever-changing market makes it quite difficult to collect accurate data. This makes it a challenge to find the right digitization techniques to use.
Companies also often mistake the use of more technologies as proper digitization. When in fact, correct digitization relies on using technology to appeal to your customers and increase sales.
Here are some companies that did it the right way:
- General Electric: Taking inspiration from others around, GE hired experts from various departments for its own digital transformation. With the help of the experts, GE was able to build a platform through which it monitored the progress of industrial machines. This gave GE an added advantage from its competitors.
- Saudi Telecom Company: When STC felt they needed a change in how they were reaching the young customers, they hired researchers to find what the youth needed. With the help of the newly collected data, they designed an app that provided a one-stop solution for all the people’s needs.
Conclusion
If you already have not made up your mind, here is the gist of why you should go digital. Digital transformation brings you a new way to collect user data, to understand your customers’ needs and their behavior.
With digital transformation strategies efficiently implemented, you could improve learning, monitor the execution of plans, and improve communication and empower employees. It is the bridge between your present and the future of your company.
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