Digital transformation is known to deliver many benefits for various organizations. Those advantages are the result of fundamental changes in how a business operates.
Due to its significant benefits, many organizations all over the world are adopting digital transformation to achieve their business goals. With digital transformation, businesses can enjoy improved productivity and efficiency, increased resilience, and business continuity.
What is digital transformation?
Digital transformation leverages digital transformation technologies in all areas of a business to radically change the way the organization operates. Digital transformation is a journey that will gradually change every aspect of the business, it’s not just an IT department project.
Digital transformation is a crucial component of industry 4.0, the last of the 4 industrial revolutions. Its implementation is very important to reach the UN sustainable development goals and help humankind to achieve improvements on all three pillars of sustainability.
Having an excellent digital transformation strategy and framework is the key to success. For this reason, it is fundamental for corporate leaders to prepare the organization beforehand and leverage experienced professionals or digital transformation consultants.
Business benefits of digital transformation
Most businesses that are going through digital transformation have benefited, while some others achieved big wins. However, the return on investments varies among the different types of businesses out on the market and it is highly dependent on the adopted digital transformation framework and strategy.
Here are the most important digital transformation benefits enjoyed by organizations going through this process!
1. Improve productivity, efficiency, and sustainability
The human hand and brain can get tired at some point when working. Sometimes, employees will need a break to recover their energy. During those times there will be no production going on.
The use of technology can help in such a situation. This is because the use of robots and software can assist in production as they will be able to outperform human labor in several areas: no need to rest, faster work execution, no human errors, and much more.
Some machines can assist in collecting data and analyzing them with artificial intelligence faster and better than any human would. The workers can then use the information or data collected to make better and faster decisions.
This boosts the company’s productivity, allowing it to make more products or increase profits thanks to the efficiency gained with digital transformation.
A lot of human time is saved through digital and technological advancement. This is because the inconveniences such as getting to print notes and manually updating data are eliminated through the introduction of new digital technologies.
Finally, the improved efficiency will also improve the sustainability of the business, because there will be less waste of resources. Given the importance of sustainable development for our common future, this is certainly a great achievement.
2. improved resource management
Digital transformation helps resource management in two ways:
- Transformational benefits – Including streamlined operations and production line, better engineering design workflow, improved talent management and retention, better business intelligence, and more data-driven decisions. Decision-making is improved as one can get accurate information and data. This will also highlight different individuals’ productivity, effectiveness, and efficiency.
- Transactional benefits – They include several processes such as accounting, leave, and payroll management.
With digital transformation technologies, it’s possible to integrate all the applications used in the business, streamlining processes and improving resource management.
3. Increased resilience
Some external factors may always occur and shake some companies and businesses in general. Some of these forces may include COVID 19 and even political instability.
Digital transformation allows organizations to withstand those external forces and adapt to the required changes. For example, some businesses may introduce working from home through virtual means.
Digitally transformed businesses are more resilient to socio-economic and political instability. Which are usually one-time events that can cause significant disruptions.
In the past, resiliency was never seen as a big deal, instead, right now it is one of the most important things for the company’s operations. Because companies need to be able to still be productive and offer their services even with many external factors playing against them.
4. Improved Agility and flexibility
Agility means being able to test something completely new, getting to know how it works, and how it will meet the desired results. Most companies seek to develop new ways to test their new products before starting mass production and digital transformation is an enable for this flexibility.
According to recent reports, digital transformation could not only help to react to the changes but also be able to capitalize on those changes. Every company aims at gaining an advantage to be competitive in the market, that’s why digital transformation is so important.
The competitiveness gained thanks to this improved agility helps to keep the businesses relevant. Because they can easily adapt to the required changes.
The services of digitally transformed companies will greatly improve in the eyes of the customers, and they will be able to make more profits.
5. Data-driven Customer Engagement & Insights
Digital transformation allows businesses to be closer to their customers. Allowing improved two-way communication and delivering an enhanced customer experience.
Moreover, digital transformation technologies help to store customers’ data and analyze them. This makes it easier for businesses to learn more about their customers.
Some companies use the data collected to gain information about their customer’s preferences and needs and hence be able to serve them according to their needs and desires. This means that the customers’ satisfaction could improve significantly.
For example, digital transformation in P&C insurance can allow personalized, usage-based pricing, like the drive safe and save car insurance. This allows customers to save significant money on their car insurance.
6. Improved responsiveness
Market dynamics are influencing every business. But what makes the difference is the company’s ability to anticipate those dynamics as well as new customer requirements.
Digital transformation has helped many companies in increasing their responsiveness to different market conditions and dynamics.
The improved customer communication achieved thanks to digital technologies helps to improve the company’s growth. Because they will be able to adapt to changing customer’s requirements and new evolutions in the marketplace.
Finally, once the employees will be accustomed to the new digital tools, they will be able to collaborate and develop more services and products. Further improving the business competitivity.
7. Greater innovations
Digital transformation helps to generate more innovation. This would not have been possible using only human labor. A lot of new products and services can be developed and quickly marketed.
Many new businesses are starting and flourishing thanks to digital technologies. Some companies have also started to offer 100% online services, meaning that their services and products can be able to reach anyone regardless of their geographic location.
8. Increased revenue & Profit
When the business efficiency is improved, new products or services are introduced into the market, and the customer’s experience is improved, it is inevitable that also the company’s revenue will grow.
Several factors can influence the revenue increase through digital transformation.
Factors that influence the growth in revenue
Efficiency
The corporation’s efficiency will grow by leveraging the different technological advancements adopted during the digital transformation process. This will greatly improve the revenue and profitability of the organization.
Some machines will be able to replace human labor and use more efficient production methods, thus dramatically increasing the company’s profit compared to when they were using human labor.
Quality of the service or product offered
According to a recent analysis, digital transformation helps companies develop better products and offer enhanced services.
If the products and services offered are able to better please the customers, then they can increase their market share. This can happen through referrals and other avenues.
Finally, the business may reinvest the additional revenue to create more products and further increase its revenue.
Employee engagement and motivation
Many new job opportunities can be created through digital transformation. Because digital technologies will enable new product enhancements or even offer the possibility to create brand new services.
Digital technology can also help in reskilling the employees to learn how to use the new tech. This creates new career opportunities, helping in talent retention and development.
Some programs can be created where the employees will be engaged to explore the different career paths and the roles they may offer. This will boost employee engagement and help further improve the revenue for the firm.
Customers satisfaction
When the customers are satisfied with the products or services offered, they are more likely to refer the company’s service to others. Further helping the organization to grow.
This will be a win-win situation for both sides because the sales will greatly increase.
9. Improved time to market
One of the main concerns for companies is how fast they can deliver their products and services to the market.
A digitally transformed business is much more flexible and efficient, and this is also reflected in the time to market a new product or service. The time required for this will be significantly reduced, allowing the company to arrive early in the market and gain a great competitive advantage.
For example, thanks to digital technology the corporation will be able to:
- For services – Quickly offer new remote services.
- For products – Thanks to the benefits of industry 4.0, a digitalized production line can easily be reprogrammed to get a quick production run to test the market.
10. Continual Market Relevancy
Every company wants to remain relevant in the market. Through digital transformation, the business can adapt to the evolving market requirements and be able to deliver more relevant products.
This will also help to build the company’s reputation for its innovation and the ability to get to market the desired products at the right time.
11. Business continuity
Several factors may affect companies and force them to close for some time. Sometimes those disruptions can’t be avoided.
Digital transformation technologies will assist the business to get over difficult periods.
Make sure that the services offered by the company are still running and can still be delivered under a wider variety of circumstances.
Conclusion
The main Digital transformation business benefits include:
- Improve productivity and efficiency
- improved resource management
- Increased resilience
- Improved agility and flexibility
- Data-driven customer engagement & insights
- Improved responsiveness
- Greater innovations
- Increased revenue & profit
- Improved time to market
- Continual market relevancy
- Business continuity
Those benefits of digital transformation for employees and organizations are helping to drive the change and achieve the digitalization of businesses.
To make sure that the company can reap those advantages of digital transformation it’s fundamental to have a comprehensive digital transformation framework and great internal communications. Because you don’t want to risk failing such an important journey for your business.
For this reason, digital transformation requires first of all a cultural and mindset change in the company. Because digital transformation will completely change the way people work by replacing old manual methods with modern digital and automated ones.
Some employees may feel threatened by the technology and fear that automation could lead to their redundancy. Generally, this is not the case for a business undergoing a properly planned digital transformation. However, many employees will have to be trained to use the new tech and in some cases moved to different tasks.
For those reasons, there is always some internal resistance to such changes. So it is very important for the business leaders and all the key stakeholders in the company to fully understand the coming transformation.
Then they will be able to prepare the ground to get the necessary cultural change in the company before actually starting the digital transformation journey.
Given the benefits, no business can afford to be left behind on this and the best time to start a digital transformation is always now!