Digital Transformation was probably a hot topic and a buzzword a couple of years back, but said that, even now, not all enterprises fully understand the concept, and many have failed to embrace the necessary change. It has now become a matter of survival to undertake digital transformation to keep up with the competition and the changing demands of the market. A survey by Computerworld – Tech Forecast 2017 discovered that only 11% of companies had achieved total digitization, with 40% feeling they had covered half the ground and 49% saying that they are not even close to the half way mark.
What could be the reason for this lagging behind of companies is likely the lack of a futuristic vision of the road map to digitization. Mistakes in judgment are more than often caused by what looks like the right path of action for a set time and need. These judgments frequently lack the forethought and might destroy a project. On the other side, there are a number of companies that have perfected the code and the path to a successful digital transformation. Based on their experience, here are 5 misconceptions exposed that will help you clear the cloud and design a smarter roadmap to success
Misconception 1 – Still have time to do it
Many organizations believe that digital transformation is really meant for technology companies or B2C companies and not for them, which really makes them sceptical and not be forward thinking. The reality is that the core of digitization is all about improving the output and the efficiency of processes, which is common to any company irrespective of the size of the organization.
Now that you understand Digitization is for all, lets look at the other misconception – you have enough time to approach and implement Digital Transformation. Companies misjudge the pace at which such an initiative can be implemented. The process involves a lot of learning and evolving along the way, a company simply cannot be passive and underestimate the risk involved. Digital Transformation is disruptive, and a company must be prepared to take calculated and data driven risks when needed.
Misconception 2 – It’s an outright IT function
Though digitization is about implementing technology solutions, it doesn’t mean it is totally an IT responsibility. Real Digitization can only be achieved because of extensive collaboration between the different business units and the IT function. This requires a very fresh mindset as a company and involves having the right organizational structure that can support what is required for digitization. Digitization is a company-wide transformation process that needs the full buy-in at multiple levels and business units, and cuts through hierarchy.
Misconception 3 – Digital Transformation means going online
Digital has a number of connotations that people usually associate it with, the major one being online presence. So it is only normal that people automatically associate digitization with the capability to take the business online. Well, web presence might be one of the components of the digitization road-map, but it isn’t the primary purpose of Digital Transformation. Digital Transformation is essentially a journey of weaving technology intricately within the processes to achieve better efficiency across the organization as well as uncovering new business opportunities.
Misconception 4 – Employees would lose their job
Digital Transformation might eventually involve the use of progressive and upcoming technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), Robotic Process Automation (RPA). This is often misconstrued to the fear of downsizing, assuming there would be a lot of automation reducing the need for manpower. Companies tend to put digitization for too long on the back burner, fearing the panic it might cause within the workforce and the cascading effects of the same. But the truth is that people cannot be separated from a business process and without the human input long term Digital Transformation would fail. There is usually a restructuring that happens when it comes to employee profiles to further enrich employee functions and transform them into cross functional resources.
Misconception 5 – Delivers instant results
From the above points it is very clear that Digital Transformation is not a short-term process but is really a long-term journey. This requires a synchronized implementation of properly planned and phased micro solutions that eventually become one unified system delivering optimum results. Hence, it might take some time before you start seeing tangible results from your implementation and a while to meet your expectations. Hence it is very important to not only set the benchmark to evaluate longer-term results but also to plan the short-term pointers towards the long-term goals.
Digital Transformation can practically be applied to all kinds of organisations without an exclusion. Like mentioned in the earlier part of the blog, now it’s not really a choice but a necessity to embrace Digitization so you still stay in the game and are not left behind. Ensuring that you understand these 5 misconceptions and keep them out of your mind when coining your strategy would set you in the right direction for Digital Transformation.
To learn more about digital transformation, write to us at info@bizmindz.com or drop us a message using our Contact form