Business leaders are coming to grips with a powerful new force in the economy: digitization. The term refers to the use of digital technologies and innovations to drive change. Digital transformation is driving a fundamental shift in how businesses operate. From market research to operations, from sales to finance — in every function of a business, executives are implementing digital tools and processes as an integral part of running their organizations. It’s no longer an add-on that helps with report generation; it’s now core operating procedure for all functions. However, there is more to transform your business than just digital technology alone. Here are four key ways you can transform your business through digital transformation with positive results…
What Is Digital Transformation?
Digital transformation is a process through which an organization moves from a focus on its own operations to a focus on providing value to customers and other stakeholders through digital technology. At its core, digital transformation is about transforming the way an organization does business, not just using digital tools. Digital transformation has become a buzzword in recent years. It’s become popular because it’s a relatively new way of looking at business operations and because it’s imperative for today’s competitive business world. Today’s businesses need to become increasingly agile, process-centric and information-driven in order to compete effectively.
Use Data to Seize Opportunities
One of the best ways to transform your business is by using data to seize opportunities. When you focus on what data tells you about current and future business opportunities, you can take advantage of digital transformation to transform your business. But be careful — it’s easy to get caught with your pants down, and that can be costly. For example, a retailer might rely heavily on its sales forecasts and historical data to determine how much inventory to order and how to allocate resources such as employees, trucks and stores. But, like the weather, sales are notoriously unpredictable and can change very quickly. If a retailer relies too heavily on historical data, it might underreact and end up with too much inventory at the end of the month, resulting in empty shelves, unhappy customers and lost sales.
Manage Employees With Automation
Automation can help manage your workforce, reduce costs and seize opportunities by automating a number of business functions, including operations, marketing and sales, and finance. By automating processes, you can free up internal resources to focus on strategy, innovation or customer engagement. Automating business functions can also boost productivity and reduce costs. By automating some basic tasks, you can free up employees to do more complex work, like solving complex problems or developing innovative solutions. In addition, automating processes can help you manage your inventory levels, respond quickly to customer requests and avoid costly mistakes. Automation can also help you manage your workforce. For example, make it easier to hire new employees by automating hiring processes, such as posting job ads and tracking applicants through the hiring process. You can even automate the onboarding process, so new employees are immediately productive on the job. Automate recurring tasks, like sending reports and emails, so your employees don’t have to spend their time performing tasks that could be handled automatically.
Improve Operations With AI and Robotics
Another way to transform your business is by using AI and robotics to improve operations. AI can help you analyze your data and spot patterns that help you make more informed decisions. For example, AI can inform your company’s digital strategy, or roadmap, by identifying customer needs and helping you prioritize work. Robotics can help reduce costs by automating repetitive tasks. For example, a robotic stock clerk cans help you reduce staffing costs. By freeing up employees to focus on higher value tasks, robotics can reduce costs and help your organization seize opportunities. Robotics can also help you improve service quality and customer engagement. For example, a robotic retail employee can help you reduce the number of human errors that occur during service delivery and help you serve customers better. A robotic store clerk can help you avoid employee time theft, such as clocking in only to get a break before clocking back in, which can lead to inaccurate data and even fraud.
Final Thoughts
Digital transformation is on the rise. Business leaders are seeing the benefits of this type of transformation: more efficient operations, greater customer engagement, reduced costs and more balanced teams. And as digital transformation becomes more prevalent, it will become an even more important part of running an effective business. By taking advantage of the many new ways to transform your business, you can make your organization more agile, process-centric and information-driven. With these changes, you can better seize opportunities, manage your workforce and reduce costs, and improve operations with AI and robotics. With digital transformation, you can be more successful in a competitive marketplace.
