With the world that we live in, going digital is no longer negotiable. As a business, if you want to remain competitive, you need to have a certain degree of digitalization across your processes. This digital transformation has been a long time coming, being built over the last few decades. It all started when the first computers came out. As computers began to evolve, we began leveraging their processing power for our benefit. When the internet came around, it was initially laughed out of the room as some sort of fad. This was very quickly proven wrong and in today’s day and age, we cannot imagine a world without it. While digital transformation has revolutionized different areas of our lives, we will talk about how it can be used for organizations at different levels. Simply with high-speed internet connectivity thanks to offerings from Xfinity, this entire process becomes effortless and a breeze. 

Assess Current Standing

In order for change to come around, an audit is needed. This audit highlights the need for change, what needs to be changed, where the company stands, and how much change is needed. For someone, it could be a bit of automation here or some digitization there. In order to accurately assess where you stand, we must keep the following in mind:

• The business goals 
• The quality of the existing technical infrastructure 
• The existing system for data management 
• The workforce skill set and need for training 
• The organization’s readiness for change and capacity to adapt
• The budget to work with 
• Long-term sustainability of the plan in mind.

Define Your Goals

In order for you to create an effective strategy, an organization must have goals in mind. These goals act as the guidance system that allows an organization to move in a certain direction. For an effective digitization strategy, it is important the goals we set are measurable, to begin with. A vague goal like ‘use more technology’ can mean any number of things and offers little clarity. A measurable goal like ‘expand current output by 3x in the next 6 months’ makes more sense. This way, if you were producing 100 units a month as things stand, you will now work to expand this to 300 a month. With a target and time frame, you know what to work towards and optimize your plan accordingly. 

These goals will vary based on the nature of the business, revenue expectations, scale of the business, and capacity to deliver. Digital transformation does not need to be immediate or abrupt. Seeing as it is a transformation, it must be gradual. It makes more sense to find the right fit instead of trying to make the wrong thing fit for the sake of it. A rule of thumb when creating goals is to use the tried-and-tested SMART system. SMART is an acronym that stands for Specific goals, Measurable goals, Attainable goals, Relevant goals, and Time-bound goals.

Beyond this, it is important that the goals being set are factoring in the different opportunities and challenges that the company comes across. They should consider the different processes that need to be implemented or abandoned. By setting goals, an organization gives itself the direction it needs to deploy effective digital transformation strategies. 

Process Automation

The concept of process automation sometimes seems too good to be true. The idea of having processes work on their own, as instructed when instructed, and as you want them to is a profound feat that humans have managed to achieve. Automation is everything from data being auto-saved in a Google Doc or a fleet of robots working in a factory and everything in between. One of the key areas for digital transformation to flourish is when it comes to automation of different processes. The advantages of this include, but are not limited to: 

• Cost savings 
• Higher efficiency
• Higher productivity
• More efficient data tracking
• Reduction in the risk of fraud 
• More consistency and reliability 
• Reduction in the manual effort made
• An increase in marketplace competitiveness.

Having these different advantages working in an organization’s favor will immediately set them apart from the rest. By having automation in place, we can have work done all day, every day, for as long as we want. A computer program doesn’t need breaks, it doesn’t get tired, it doesn’t feel hunger or thirst, and its productivity doesn’t drop with time. This allows for you to be more efficient, productive, consistent, and competent. As a business, there is nothing more that you can ask for.  

Monitor Progress

A key component of any transformation strategy is the process of reflecting back on the progress made. You can make multiple strides, efforts, and changes across the board. These changes will have different outcomes and for an organization to understand the scale of its impact, it must monitor the progress being made. 

Making regularly scheduled assessments based on clearly defined KPIs can offer a clear picture of how things are going. By collecting real-world data that includes primary and secondary data, an organization can study the impact of different changes and how situations are responding to different variables. Based on these observations, changes can be made – positive or negative.  If a certain strategy is yielding results, it makes sense to keep to it. When a certain strategy isn’t working out, the organization needs to know why this is happening and how to fix the problem. 

As a business, you must leverage the different stakeholders involved in your business. These are the different entities and individuals that directly or indirectly influence the organization. Stakeholders include suppliers, banks, customers, shareholders, and others. These stakeholders must be incorporated in any form of progress assessment over time. For example, customers must be asked how they feel when a product range is expanded or diversified. Their feedback is important if you want to know what the product is faring like. Banks are pivotal in issuing letters of credit for organizations to pay suppliers and logistics companies. 

When a digital transformation strategy is deployed, continually analyze how it is going. Take feedback from all important sources, and continue to adapt to the needs of the time. 

Conclusion

For a business to remain competent, relevant, and profitable, it needs to undergo a certain degree of digital transformation. Seeing as technology has evolved exponentially in recent times, this has never been easier and more accessible to everyone. An organization of any size needs a certain amount of it in its tool kit to stay at par with the rest of the market. 

As is the case with any sort of change, it needs a plan. You cannot just tear out the old and bring in the new. It starts with identifying the need for a change, auditing the existing system, finding the right solutions, and effectively deploying them. Once done, the systems need to be monitored to see how well they are performing. If changes are important, they must be made and continue to be made as long as the right mix isn’t found. With the world we live in, all you need to get started is an updated computer and a high-speed like the one from Spectrum!