It’s been a phrase on everyone’s lips since the COVID-19 pandemic made us all quickly re-evaluate many of the ways we work.
But even though 80% of organisations in a recent study said they were more profitable after their digital transformation, many businesses still haven’t quite gotten around to theirs.
If you’re still on the fence about whether digital technology would benefit your business, here are a few things to think about.
What does digital transformation mean?
“Digital transformation” essentially means integrating digital technologies into the way your business operates.
It might mean giving your team capabilities they didn’t use to have. It might mean making your operations more efficient or cost-effective by automating certain processes. Or being able to deliver a better customer experience.
Done the right way, a digital transformation can make your business more competitive and more profitable. As huge numbers of organisations are currently in the process of finding out.
Why digital transformation is profitable
1) Help your team be more productive wherever they are
The buzzword that normally gets thrown about here is “collaboration”. Certainly, tools like Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace will help your team communicate in a remote working setup.
But it’s not just for enabling remote and hybrid working that digital tools like this are proving such a boon for businesses across industries. These tools also boost your team’s efficiency and productivity even if everyone is back in the office every day.
- You can use digital tools to automate processes in departments as diverse as finance, HR, and marketing, freeing up staff time for other things.
- You can access centralised information and institute easier project and process progress tracking.
- You can even use digital tools to improve customer retention levels.
It’s a smarter way of working. There’s a reason why so many businesses are getting more profitable by implementing digital technologies in the way they work.
2) Maximise your security
The rushed remote working setups that so many businesses introduced by necessity when faced with the COVID-19 pandemic left many organisations hugely vulnerable to modern cyber threats.
There have been massive increases in the last couple of years in the rate of things like:
- Phishing attacks – where well-meaning staff are tricked by very realistic fraudulent emails into everything from allowing unauthorised access to data to paying funds into hacker accounts.
- Ransomware – where a company’s computer systems are blocked off and “held to ransom” by a hacker, leaving many businesses unable to function until they pay.
Most legacy systems aren’t up to the challenge of protecting an organisation from this ramp-up in threat levels. Many organisations are still effectively carrying on with their fingers crossed that nothing will go wrong.
Instituting cybersecurity practices like MFA or 2FA (Multi-Factor Authentication and 2-Factor Authentication) should be the highest priority for every business and are usually a key part of any digital transformation.
3) Grow more partnerships
The increasingly interconnected way that many organisations work today means we are all reliant on each other for things like cyber security.
For example, if one of your suppliers suffers a cyber-attack and gives away data that makes your accounts vulnerable to fraud (this is still a depressingly common scenario), that’s a big problem.
For this reason, more and more businesses – and certainly all government-related contracts – demand certain standards from their partners and contributors.
Achieving standards like Cyber Essentials and Cyber Essentials Plus is the easiest way to make sure you’ve got all your bases covered. Many organisations, especially larger businesses, are starting to demand this of their suppliers and partners as a matter of course.
If you want to partner with these brands or secure those contracts, digital transformation is the only way to do it.
Overcoming resistance to change
In many organisations, there’s a tendency for some people to like “the way things have always been done”. Or for there to be some other kind of resistance to change.
This means even if you, as a leader, see the value of digital transformation, the biggest obstacle in the way of extracting the value you can get from yours is usually institutional.
Once the changes that digital technologies can involve are in place, it’s unusual for people not to adapt and quickly come to enjoy how much smoother and easier their working life can be.
But to get there, perhaps the most important aspect of any digital transformation is clear communication and collaboration with every member of your team. Only by accepting different viewpoints and experiences can you bring everyone with you as you embark on your digital transformation.
Want to find out more about digital transformation without committing to anything?
Let’s talk. Dial A Geek helped almost 1000 companies in Bristol and beyond get the best from their use of technology.
Set up a cost and commitment-free consultation with Chief Geek Gildas Jones today and talk through what digital tools could do for your business.