Digital Transformation

Digital Transformation takes advantage of new technologies to increase employee safety, working conditions, operational efficiency, and flexibility.

Digital transformation expertise in UppLabs

What is Digital Transformation?

Digital Transformation (DT) is the use of modern technologies in business processes. This approach involves not only the installation of modern hardware or software but also fundamental changes in approaches to management, corporate culture, external communications. As a result, the productivity of each employee and the level of customer satisfaction increase and there appear a new level of strategy, possibilities, methods and solutions to support and strengthen the business operations.

The key features of digital transformation are:

1. This is a continuous process.
2. DT always brings innovation and breakthrough technologies.
3. DT aims to increase productivity and competitiveness in the digital economy, where technology is only part of the success.
4. It brings new business and operating models that are based on customer requests and expectations.

Five reasons your business needs a digital transformation

The goal of DT is to take advantage of new technologies to increase employee safety and working conditions, operational efficiency, flexibility, and manageability. Digital transformation is needed to optimize operations and maintain our competitiveness, in a global and open market.

Main reasons why your business needs a digital transformation:

1. Access to new markets requires a different approach – open innovation and involvement of a broad ecosystem of partners. It also requires a willingness to abandon old business models in favor of new ways of consuming the product.
2. Digital technologies can dramatically increase productivity and optimize company costs by automating routine work and reducing human resources.
3. Digital record-keeping systems reduce decision-making time and increase the relevance of employees’ work actions.
4. Cloud solutions allow unlimited and lightning-fast scaling as well as remote work. Data analytics and the Internet of Things create highly efficient and autonomous companies.
5. Digital communication channels and Augmented Reality open up new opportunities for employee and customer engagement.

What DT does bring to your business? 

Especially after COVID-19 outbreak

The new reality caused by many challenges of today’s world, including the COVID-19 outbreak that forced to reinvent new models of work and find new ways including using digital transformation solutions. In order to meet high customer expectations, companies found the need to accelerate the digitization of their business processes. For this purpose businesses automated all possible existing business solutions. 

IT technologies will drive people to the online environment. It is predicted that 1 billion new users will come to online services. DT brought changes to such spheres as:

• online education;
• online shopping;
• online tourism;
• online leisure;
• cyber industry, etc.

All this possible now because of the DT. Businesses that welcome changes and are ready for them, as well as able to adapt to more flexible work models, have more potential for success than ever before. 

Except for saving time and money, Digital Transformation aiming to save your business by moving it online if it was only offline before. 

Famous examples of Digital Transformation

Innovation in the current business is a clear way of improving existing processes and products. We have many examples of famous and world-leading companies:

• Microsoft is a good example of the epic transformation from box-to-box sales to a performance solution provider with fundamentally new business models. At the same time, their financial situation has improved significantly despite short-term losses at the beginning of the transition.
• Zara is the most successful clothing brand thanks to a deeply reformed supply chain with new technologies. Trending and responsive strategy are lightning-fast: new clothing samples appear on shelves in 2-3 weeks.
• Financial Times has started developing digital communication channels and working on the new website. The new site takes 1.5 seconds to download on a computer and 2.1 seconds on a mobile phone.
• A few years ago, Disney World Amusement Park experienced a decline in customer satisfaction. After that, the management developed MyMagic +, which integrates the website, mobile app, and bracelet into a single system for customer analysis. MyMagic + included training of more than 70,000 employees on new technologies, installing RF readers for 28,000 hotel rooms, and adding scanners to hotels, shops and other attractions in the park. That was a completely new way to understand the needs of their customers and provide them with a better experience. 

What to do to support DT?

To stay modern and perform up-to-date products and services, your DT should  involve:

• Constant innovations
• Change management strategy
• Use of different technological stack (AI, VR, Big Data, Cloud, Mobile, IoT, and blockchain)
• AI analysis and data analysis tools to create a data-driven business and streamline operations
• Applying a new digital transformation roadmap that describes how new technologies will adjust with your business objectives

Modern innovations you should consider

Here are some digital transformation’ trends that can shape your business landscape:

• 5G and Edge Computing. It works perfectly for remote areas with poor connections and can process data by the device itself without any latency. The edge computing is critical for software development technologies and brings many significant benefits for companies. One more advantage is that you don’t need to use a public cloud to process data; it means more security and elimination of costs.
• AI and Machine Learning. These include a variety of tools for processes automatization to reduce human efforts and bring the software model at a high-developed level as NLP, Automating the code generation and Testing services.
• The Internet of Things. It is going to shape the new model that will consist of Networks, Sensors, Cloud, and Applications. The system was invented to easily connect any device to the Internet. It is a vast network that connects things and data and makes it possible to share them:
  — Devices with more Human-Device Interaction;
  — Voice-User Interface;
  — Expansions of smart IoT;
  — Industrial and Digital Twin Technology;
  — Increasing AI capabilities;
  — Standardization challenges;
  — Use of blockchain for security reasons;
  — Unified Framework for Integration;
  — Better Data Analytics

Digital Transformation process

The understanding of strategy is important because strategies without actions are worthless. 

Digital transformation and innovation should be started gradually and moderately:

1. Open attitude and perception of new information. Get credibility from the board, dive into the DT, be open to the new and experiment. 
2. Understanding of digital transformation. What is digitalization, success stories, major buzzwords (platforms, ecosystems, GAFA…).
3. Understanding your position. The needs of the company, the direction of changing the industry, what digital brings and what will be the landscape of new business segments.
4. Lighthouse projects. Launch a few small lighthouse projects to gain confidence within the company, start collecting issues and gain skills and confidence.
5. Creating a Digital Transformation strategy. Including operational drawing and the ability to adapt to change.
6. Implementation. Team building and development, launching and scaling projects.

All these actions are hard to provide on your own. So ask an experienced team of Digital Transformation professionals for help!

If you have any questions on Digital Transformation – UppLabs is always here for you!