Why digital business transformation is necessary
Digital business transformation is no longer something outlandish and expensive. The pandemic has opened the eyes of many companies to the need for such a step, but some still think that implementing a single digital tool will take the business to the next level and carry out a comprehensive reorganization. Unfortunately, there is no universal recipe for success.
Before embarking on a business transformation, you need to understand what this concept encompasses. First of all, it implies changing the structure and form of activity. In the process of implementing this strategy, it is necessary to go through several stages – such as the rejection of old software and the transition to new programs, the introduction of modern technology, and changes in business processes. At the same time, each step separately is not a transformation, only a complex work can bring the expected result – without consistency, it will not be effective. In simple words, by installing a single chatbot, you should not expect major changes in the functioning of the business. It is only a small cog in a huge mechanism.
The transformation should start with a thorough study of the company’s business, analyzing its mission and principles. This will allow you to form the value of the business and its product for customers and understand whether you are using the right tools for doing business and communicating with customers. After the analysis, you should move on to fixing the identified problems, rethink your attitude toward cooperation, and pay attention to the customer experience.
To understand the importance of innovation and the real assessment of potential, we should remember the example of the Japanese corporation Kodak. For a long time, it was the market leader in the consumer niche of cameras, but its main income came from the sale of photographic film. When a Kodak specialist developed a digital camera, management did not appreciate the potential of this device. After a while, the market for this type of camera began to grow strongly, but Kodak was 18 years too late to produce them. Ultimately, in 2012, the company went bankrupt. The reason was that the manufacturer did not analyze and assess the potential of the market in time, did not consider the needs of customers, and did not respond to them by launching a new product.
The opposite example was Uber, which studied and understood the needs of passengers in time. People did not want to hail a cab, they wanted to get around comfortably without worrying about how to call a car. Uber simplified and automated the process of interaction between the aggregator and the customer – and dramatically changed the market.
These two cases demonstrate that transformation cannot be separate from changing the way we do business. In addition, when transforming processes, it is important to consider the customer experience, otherwise, the introduction of new technologies will not work. And the use of modern programs and systems based on artificial intelligence and machine learning will be most effective only when other company services follow a comprehensive transformation strategy.
