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The Importance of Digital Transformation in Business

A good digital transformation roadmap is important for business

If you own or run a business, you have probably heard of digital transformation. If you haven’t, then it’s especially important that you keep reading, but even those who are already aware of the idea may be wrestling with big questions about why digital transformation may be important for their business. Digital transformation is vital for you to modernize and stay nimble In this ever-changing, fast-moving business world.

Whether your business is big or small, whether you are public-facing or not, there are digital transformation solutions and services that can help you grow, and make you better at what you do.  In fact, Forbes declared that “the era of digital transformation is here for companies of all sizes and types, from Fortune 500s to startups.” 

Let’s take a look at some of the benefits of digital transformation. But first a quick overview.

What is Digital Transformation?

One of the things that makes digital transformation feel so alien is that it’s a little hard to define. The Harvard Business Review says, 

“Despite years of discussion, understanding what digital transformation means for established companies remains a daunting challenge. Leaders put in charge of a digital transformation feel pulled in many different directions, with competing demands from IT, marketing, sales, and operations. Without a clear understanding, the wrong people are often put in charge, with the wrong resources, and the wrong KPIs, setting the digital transformation project up for failure.”

They go on to explain that it’s best to see digital transformation as a “multi-faceted journey with differing goals depending on your industry and digital maturity,” and not just one single monolithic thing. 

 Forbes gets a little more concise, saying that digital transformation “refers to companies leveraging enhanced technology to improve their business capabilities, operational efficiencies and ultimately, their customers’ experiences.”

Because every business is different, the roadmap to a digital transformation will be unique to each operation. The Harvard Business Review provides a framework that can be helpful to guide a digital transformation roadmap. They refer to the “four pillars of digital transformation:”

  • IT Uplift: modernizing existing IT
  • Digitizing operations: optimizing existing business processes
  • Digital Marketing: implementing digital tools for marketing, e-commerce, customer acquisition
  • New Ventures: exploring new business models and products

Clearly, these will not all be equally valuable for all businesses, and so variability in terms of where to start and spend time and money is key in a digital transformation strategy. 

The Importance of Digital Transformation for Large Businesses

At the enterprise level, digital transformation can make a huge impact on your operation. Here are just a few examples of how digital transformation can help your business:

Manage remote workers

If your business is like many others, you may have remote workers. Short-term or long-term, those remote employees need access to the same systems that your office-bound staff has access to. A digital transformation, then, can:

  • Help move your data storage to the cloud
  • Implement software that is app-based, cloud-based, or otherwise remotely accessible
  • Provide mechanisms to onboard and train your team remotely
  • And more

If your enterprise operates in a hybrid environment, each of these can help keep everyone on the same page as well.

Improve workflow

A digital transformation can be a great solution for improving workflow. If you are in a sales-driven or product-implementation industry, there are a number of digital tools to help you track orders from the order phase to fulfillment. If you are in the business of invention or innovation, then digital solutions exist to help you reduce time to market. As Forbes puts it, if a company “invests resources to streamline its operational and deployment deficiencies by leveraging a digital transformation” then it can get products out more quickly, and can “minimize costs and time by getting customers to use their solution in a quicker, more efficient manner.”

Modernize technology and security

With ever-improving technology, it can be hard to get ahead of the curve in terms of your tech, your software, and your IT security. A digital transformation may be the perfect solution. The process of reconfiguring your operational strategy to put technology to use for you can help you to identify weaknesses and opportunities within your current systems, and to see ways in which new technologies can help you be more secure and more compliant.

The Importance of Digital Transformation for Small Businesses

Since digital transformation is a customizable process, especially with the guidance of a skilled digital transformation service. For small and medium-sized businesses, your digital transformation may accomplish many of the same things that it does for larger businesses, but here are a few more examples of digital transformation outcomes for you:

Expand (or establish) an online presence

Most consumers expect businesses to have an online presence. A website and social media are standard points of contact with new and existing clientele. A digital transformation can help you to strategize that presence and to put it to good use through digital marketing, curated social media presence, and e-commerce. Selling products or promoting your business online can generate new business and even allow you to expand into markets that you weren’t touching before.

Streamline communication

Whether it’s communication between your staff members or communication between you and your customers, a digital transformation can provide a roadmap for making communication easier, more reactive, and faster. From advanced customer relationship managing software solutions to internal communication solutions, a digital transformation can make everything work more efficiently. 

Modernize systems

When was the last time you updated your computer operating system? When did you last update your customer database software? Your accounting system? Your data storage system? A digital transformation process can help you to address all of these issues and more. 

Don’t be concerned if you don’t have the expertise to do all of this. Few people do. This is exactly why Forbes recommends enlisting the services of a digital transformation services vendor, saying “Digital transformation for small businesses starts with a strategy and a clear road map, but success comes with having the right vendor(s) to drive the transformation.”

The right vendor makes all the difference– iTransform is ready to help!

Start your digital transformation today!

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