How to Successfully Implement Digital Transformation for Your Business

As cloud-based technology becomes more and more popular, many businesses are moving their operations to the digital world or offering digital versions of their services. However, this is not a simple process, so we thought we’d offer some tips on how to successfully implement digital transformation for your business.

What is digital transformation?

Whilst there are multiple definitions of digital transformation, they all boil down to adopting digital technologies and solutions within your business to keep up with evolving business and market needs. Digital transformation can mean different things for different companies. For some, it might mean building a website to promote their online presence. For others, it might mean moving their services and products to cloud-based storage for ease of use, or moving their operations online to reduce physical interactions. As part of this transformation, you might also find that you could offer customers a digital way of conducting transactions or offer technology-led solutions rather than manual service. An example of this is Netflix offering video streaming services instead of renting out DVDs. As with any business transformation, it’s not simply about deciding to follow the herd and adopting digital solutions. There are factors you need to consider before you can implement digital transformation successfully. These include:

Problem Solving

Whilst you may want to ‘go digital’ just because everyone else is, the first thing you need to consider is how this transformation is going to benefit your business. Does it allow you to give customers a better service or experience? Does it make working with you easier for them? Instead of jumping in at the deep end and trying to move your entire operation to a digital format, identify which areas would benefit from digital transformation and focus your efforts there.

Technologies

As a business, you have a wide variety of technologies available to you. However, not all are equal and you will need to determine which ones would help solve the problems of your business most effectively and efficiently. For example, do you need a website or will developing a mobile app be a better solution? Should you invest in an off-the-shelf software product or do you need bespoke development?

Input from Different Departments

With businesses often divided into departments and hierarchies, decision makers may not always be aware of the needs of customers. Whilst you may think a particular technology or solution is the best way forward, employees in relevant departments might be aware of different problems and opportunities. Instead of making the decision to implement digital transformation for your business at the top level, get feedback from all departments. This will give you a clearer idea of what your business needs and how technology can solve that requirement.

Needs of the Customer

As exciting as digital transformation may be for you, it is important to understand the needs of your customer. Figuring out what they want could help you not only design a better product for them but also save you from spending too much on a transition plan that’s over-engineered and needlessly expensive.

Technology Basics

Again, the novelty of moving to a digital future might mean you get carried away with big ideas. However, before tackling larger, business-wide changes, the key to a successful digital transformation implementation might be to first start with simpler problems with less-complex solutions. There are two main benefits of doing this: By optimising everyday aspects of your business, you can lay a more stable foundation for your digital transformation. After having fixed these, you may find that you’ve fixed most of your procedural roadblocks, making your digital transformation simpler.

Roadmap

At DCSL Software, we advocate the Agile way of working where a project has multiple milestones instead of being a large chunk of work. This methodology is also a good way to successfully implement digital transformation for your business. Instead of trying to make a large change in one go, it might be better to break it down into phases. This way, you can plan which projects need to be prioritised, which ones can be implemented simultaneously and which should be brought in later.

Measure Success

You might think implementing digital transformation for your business is the best way forward. However, you need to have a system to measure success. Do the new processes bring down costs or make systems more efficient? Do they result in more conversions? Instead of charging ahead, define your KPIs so you can measure how the transformation has affected your business.

Conclusion

As you can see, implementing digital transformation can be an excellent way of making your business more efficient and productive. However, it is important to plan ahead and choose the right technologies that complement your processes.