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There was a joke doing the rounds in WhatsApp - who led the Digital Transformation in your company - CEO, CTO, agile squads or Covid-19? No prizes for the right answer...COVID 19!
On a serious note, a huge amount of digital transformation is happening around us. Here is what Kate Smaje, senior partner, McKinsey & Company says, “I have clients saying that they’ve accomplished in 10 days what used to take them 10 months!”
Kate probably echoes the industry’s sentiment & reaction to digital transformation(DX) in the volatile times that we are in. Hundreds of American SMBs also are jumping into the DX fray which was hitherto considered only for large enterprises.
Digital transformation(DX) is the integration of fast-changing digital tech. into the business to solve problems right from changing processes to delivering value to customers.
What is prompting American SMBs to finally take the plunge into DX?
For American SMBs, Covid-19 has become the final straw that broke the camel’s back to hasten their Digital Transformation initiatives.
Keeping customer experience & intimacy strong when you are not able to meet your customers physically while your staff is working from home; need for nimbler business models, and need to change the business pace while keeping fixed costs low are driving the new push to DX.
SMBs are realizing the wider scope of technology from being a mere support function to it being a core driver of value based on data and analytics and empowering flexibility, cybersecurity, and resilience.
Read More on Top 5 Digital Business Transformation Strategies for SMB’s to Gain Success
The top 4 reasons why organizations are fast-tracking DX:
While companies have various reasons from cost to operations to innovation to business growth to productivity, here are some of the top reasons why they are adopting DX.
1. Cost reduction
With the current uncertainty and the financial crunch in the market, there is a lack of capital and fewer revenue streams, companies want to move to a more conservative cost approach to sustain the business. In a survey by Techaisle, 46% of SMBs already doing DX saw a 2.1x reduction in cost.2. Necessity in the era of remote work:
COVID-19 has ushered an era of remote working and SMBs want to maximize employee productivity. Giving digital access to tools & technology - to recreate a physical office milieu & ensure adequate cybersecurity is a necessity brought in by remote work.3. Customer collaboration & experience:
SMBs are realizing the advantages of DX right from connecting virtually with customers to collaborating to having seamless access to customer data to enhancing CX. CX needs a reset digitally, socially, over the cloud as customer interactions right now are being redefined and interfaces are happening more digitally than ever before.4. Agility & Business model innovation:
SMBs need to innovate constantly and must be ready to invent at a supersonic speed- for competitive advantage and may need to modernize legacy systems, microservice-architecture development, or build a new tech stack totally
How should SMBs approach DX?
A successful DX involves people, processes & systems. The most important thing is to have a clear business-led technology roadmap - supported by appropriate resourcing & skilling - keeping in mind the last-mile behavior changes to make the transformation program stick. There are some essential questions you need to ask / that determine the success of the DX:
Externally:
- How do you want to align your digital strategy with the external industry?
- What are the supplier & customer ecosystem dynamics?
- How to build digital with your end-customer in mind - which social media/digital platforms/ medium they use? How does it help improve the customer experience?
Internally:
- What is the value that will be derived out of the transformation?
- What business milestones do you want to achieve - which business processes are getting reinvented?
- What is the cultural & behavioural change needed for the transformation?
Also, you can check out a list of the most promising Digital Transformation companies that are making a difference.
Digital transformation is making its mark even in unexpected quarters.
Take the case of RXR Realty, a New York based commercial and residential real estate developer. It began investing in digital early and has more than 100 data scientists, designers, and engineers today! Its platform—RxWell—includes a mobile app that provides information to its commercial clients right from air quality to the level of occupancy, to cleaning status, options for food delivery, and shift times for workers to track their arrivals. This led to them managing thermal scanning & making heat maps available on the number of people in real time in restrooms/conference rooms.
“The investments we made in our digital capabilities before the pandemic are why we’re able to give people peace of mind now as they begin to return to work,” Scott Rechler, CEO of RXR.
When done well, Digital Transformation catapults SMBs into a different league! Want to do Digital Transformation in your organization through an agile model - reach out to us - info@clariontech.com
