How does your business keep up in an era dominated by digital technologies?

One of the effective strategies to ensure your business doesn’t fall behind is through digital transformation. It’s the process of replacing your manual or outdated systems with newer digital technologies to improve business performance and increase its competency. 

However, not all technologies are created equal. Just because a tool is in-demand doesn’t mean it will also work well for you. Your business has unique needs, processes, and competencies that require customised solutions.

To give your digital transformation journey a good start, consider these tips:

Thorough assessment of your business

Lack of knowledge often leads to project failure. Before going all-in with digital transformation, make sure to have a clear understanding of your business. You can use strategic planning tools to figure out areas requiring immediate digitalisation which include:

  • SWOT (Strength, Weakness, Opportunity, and Threat) Analysis: A technique for identifying your organisation’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. It is often conducted prior to starting a new project.
  • PEST (Political, Economic, Socio-cultural, and Technological) Analysis: Used for discovering external factors that could affect your business when a change is made. It is usually used with SWOT Analysis.
  • Gap Planning: A tool for identifying the “gap” between the current state of your business versus its future state (goals) and determine the ways to close the gap.

Meanwhile, here is a list of key areas you must look into when evaluating your business:

  • Processes you need to take digital as soon as possible
  • Areas with immediate payback
  • Project funds
  • Existing technology, platform, and software utilised by each department
  • Specific ways that digital transformation could enhance the overall business
  • Needs of your existing and target market

Learning the ins and outs of your organisation helps you set clear objectives. When you don’t have a concrete plan, you will be less likely to achieve the results you expect.

Choose the appropriate tools 

Once done identifying your objectives, you can start looking for technologies that align with your business priorities.

You can begin by figuring out how your employees and customers will react to this digital transformation. Will it give them a good user experience and help them resolve their concerns quickly?

Some of the best practices you can follow when choosing new technologies are:

  • Considering how it will fit your culture.
  • Reading reviews, feedback, and testimonies.
  • Assessing usability – is it easy to learn and use? Will it meet your needs and goals?
  • Asking for recommendations with trusted contacts. 
  • Consulting with the experts in digital transformation.

Develop a culture of adaptability

Digital transformation is an ongoing process. You can guarantee its success by using the right technology, implement efficient digital transformation processes, encourage your employees to embrace the transformation, and deliver a user-friendly service to customers.

Make sure that everyone in your organisation is on the same page through employee training, performance measurement, system activities, documentation, data analysis, management support, and emergency response activities. It is also critical to prepare an emergency and disaster recovery plan to ensure business continuity.

Conclusion 

Digital transformation taps into the power of technology to optimise your business – it should help everyone to work smarter while giving the best service possible to customers.

Let Us Help

If your business has a turnover of over $1 million, ABJ Solutions is offering a complimentary one-hour meeting to help answer questions and model critical decisions with you. Get in touch with us today so that we can help guide you through these challenging times.

 

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