What is Digital Transformation and why is it important for small businesses?
Digital transformation means that your business or organization is moving away from traditional methods of doing things to digital ones. Is about evolving your bricks-and-mortar business by making everything digital. Increasing efficiencies in how you do business while reducing costs.
Digital transformation is underway across all industries. The digital revolution, which started years ago with the birth of the Internet, has grown exponentially in scope and complexity.
The concept of Digital Transformation is often associated with trends such as cloud computing, big data, IoT, mobility and social media that have emerged during the last 10-15 years. However, the transformation within the digital world has been happening for over 20 years and can be traced to:
The emergence of e-commerce due to the wider adoption of internet and payment gateways;
Evolution of smart mobile devices where we have moved from basic telephony to advanced messaging services;
The expansion of the digital world through the availability of the Internet across the globe.
Digital Transformation Today
Today, not only are businesses in different sectors undergoing digital transformation, but they are also beginning to recognize that wider societal changes are being caused by this phenomenon.
Digital transformation is not just about technology anymore - it is about how business processes need to be disrupted and driven by emerging technologies such as mobile computing, social media, cloud computing and the Internet of Things.
It is about how businesses must adapt to these technologies or risk being abandoned by digitally savvy customers.
The good news is that digital transformation can bring new opportunities for continued innovation in business processes, increased collaboration with customers and partners, accelerated growth, reduced costs and improved competitiveness.
On the other hand, digital transformation can also bring increased competition and disrupt traditional business models.
As such, the management of digital disruption is one of the top corporate concerns.
Take advantage of digital transformation while managing its risks;
Below are some key recommendations:
Build a solid foundation for your business by identifying what you do best, and then determine where and how you can exploit digital assets and capabilities to enhance your business value proposition.
Put in place a strong governance structure to address the risks associated with disruption, take full advantage of digital resources to innovate new products and services for customers, and take steps to protect existing revenue streams.
Incorporate organizational aspects into the digital transformation process, such as adopting new tools for collaboration with employees and customers.
Keep an eye on what's next in order to maintain a leadership position.
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