The current digital era is transforming everything into an all-digital domain. All sectors of the economy from healthcare to manufacturing and banking are recognizing that digitizing their operations is the way to go. Enterprises have not been left behind in the digitization process. They are quickly acknowledging the enormous benefits that enterprise digitization brings to the table and embracing it. However, some organizations have yet to embrace digitization mainly because they are uncertain of its benefits and fear the overwhelming process it entails. This article is an eye-opener to the pros of enterprise digitization and how companies can go about it.
Although enterprise digitization has numerous benefits for organizations, many businesses struggle with it. They are overwhelmed by the entire digitization process and do not know where to start. This article comes in handy to offer actionable tips to guide your digitization process.
Enterprise digitization must be guided by a clear vision that is tied to the business objectives. The vision outlines what the company intends to achieve with digitization. Maybe you want to shed analog processes, develop efficient workflows or increase employee productivity. The vision statement helps to sell digitization as desirable to all stakeholders.
For any change to take place in an organization whether digital-related or not, you need the support of top management from the CEO, CIO or VP. Buy-in from the management authorizes the change process.
In the change process, there are three groups of people. There are people who want change, those who oppose it, and those who are on the fence. It is best practice to show early success so that you create buy-in from the different groups of people. By showing early success, the people who are at the fence jump to the change side.
If you work in the hospitality industry, you can start your digital journey by simply creating a mobile app that allows people to make room reservations through their phones. If the app becomes successful, it sets the pace for greater changes in the future.
Enterprise digitization cannot be successful without communication. Communicate effectively with everyone in your organization, not just the digital team. Let everyone understand what you are trying to do, its implications, and benefits for employees, customers, and organization as a whole. Clear communication ensures complete buy-in from all employees; a necessity for all technological overhauls.
When digitization is done all at once, it can overwhelm everyone involved. It is advisable to embrace digitization slowly and scale with time. This way, you give executives and IT teams time to adjust to change and learn the process. However, as you adopt the slow but sure slogan, you should ensure that digitization ideas do not scare you to inaction.
Enterprise digitization has a people component that needs to be addressed. It does not have to be many people, but the right mix of talent to steer the digitization process. Also, it is essential to boost employees' technological literacy. Employees must be given adequate training on new systems and how to use them so that they benefit from the agility digital transformation offers.
In most organizations, technology teams work separately from the business talent. In other cases, there is a physical separation between these teams. In enterprise digitization, you have to challenge the status quo and enhance collaboration with technology teams. When all employees in an organization collaborate, productivity and efficiency thrive. As you improve collaboration between employees, it is fundamental to create a digital-first culture.
In 2019, enterprise digitization and digital transformation are hot topics. A Forrester Research paper revealed that in the next five years, digitization will account for more than half of sales in organizations. Below are the common digitization trends in 2019.
For many organizations, digital transformation will remain a priority this year. They will invest in leadership, structures and operating models that facilitate digitization.
Virtual assistants like Apple's Siri and Amazon's Alexa have set the pace in AI. In 2019, more organizations will embrace AI. More companies will use chatbots as virtual agents to address customer issues across different digital media ranging from social media to websites.
Organizations will use blockchain technologies to increase operational efficiency by automating business processes. Blockchain will offer the ability to securely share information as well as tracking physical and digital assets.
More businesses will ditch on-site servers for cloud-based servers. The number of cloud providers will increase and offer a wide range of cloud options; private, public, hybrid, and connected clouds.
As more organizations and governments embrace digitization, a concern on the privacy and security of personal information has emerged. In 2019, digital ethics will be a hot topic as organizations devise ways to ensure information privacy and security.
Businesses must adapt to the realities of doing business in the 21st century. They must embrace digitization to ensure their success and survival. Digitization encompasses revamping operations and business models to embrace digital technologies with the intent of optimizing customer experience and increasing efficiency. Enterprise digitization is not a goal but a means to improve organizational operations and business management, reduce costs, increase productivity, and attain competitiveness.