Continuous innovation and development improves business results. One of the go to areas for innovation in businesses is Digital Transformation. Most businesses may think of digital transformation as a disruption, but it is a golden opportunity to add value to a business.
The result of implementing digital transformation in your companies can be fruitful, but the implementation of this transformation is quite challenging. Digital transformation is one of the complex changes that need a clear vision with an elaborate strategy.
According to Gartner, more than 125,000 companies initiated to implement digital transformation in 2016 in order to increase their revenue by more than 80% by 2020. However, the Forrester study shows that only 27% of companies have a coherent digital strategy.
Creating an effective digital transformation strategy requires an in-depth analysis and clear structure. The following 5 steps will help you lay the foundation for developing digitalization.
#1 Create a Vision
First of all, you should determine your vision for implementing digital transformation. Rather than looking at the problems that you’re trying to solve with digitization, focus on the end goal or what you want to achieve. Consider long-term goals and focus more on the customers’ and employees’ experience that you want to create.
It is important to identify a global vision that addresses the current and future problems. But at the same time, it should deal with reality. One important tip to do so is to build your strategic vision for short-term objectives and resources while keeping your end goal or vision in mind.
#2 Analyze Market
Another important step you should do before developing digital transformation is to carry out a profound analysis of the market dynamics. Due to rapid industry changes and technological advancement, this step is necessary for creating the latest strategy that is up-to-date and relevant as well.
Analyzing market trends in your industry as well as exploring success stories of other verticals will help you easily understand and implement the innovation.
#3 Design the Experience
After creating a vision and analyzing the market, it’s time for you to focus on creating the desired experience for your customers and employees. According to the estimation for actual experience, 93% of employers or business leaders believe that the success of a business directly depends on customers’ digital experience. And, 88% have the same belief concerning their employees’ experience.
You should always pay attention to the experiences you are creating for your customers and employees. Know what you want to deliver them? What values are you providing to your customers? Is it convenient for them to interact with your company? And, how does digital innovation change employee engagement in business processes?
The primary goal is to build an environment where employees’ tasks can be done quickly and easily and customers can have a better purchasing experience.
#4 Assess a Current Standing
While the above three steps focus on how your business achieves digital transformation in the future, the fourth step is understanding your current state. To begin the journey of digitization, you first need take a moment and determine whether your business is ready for achieving digital transformation or not.
At this stage, examine your digital infrastructure and analyze how well your software, tools, and apps are able to address the current and future needs. Make a strategic plan to develop new functionality and integration and how you can bring these two together to achieve success.
This helps you discover which current technology or tools need to be updated, which processes should be or can be optimized or automated, and what digital tools you should opt for to take steps towards digitization.
#5 Adjust Infrastructure
Once you are aware of your current business state, market trends and are ready with your future vision, you are all set to take the last step on the way to digital transformation i.e., adjusting your infrastructure. For this, you need qualified experts and specialists who will implement the digital strategy for your company effectively. After that, help your employees or team members to develop or learn skills needed for future changes.
Conclusion
Digital transformation is the future of business. The implementation of digital transformation should be carried out with a reliable strategy, to make the journey smooth. So, develop and implement digital transformation for your business by using these steps.
