More and more businesses are recognizing the significant benefits of digital transformation. In a recent survey, 60 percent of business leaders believe digital transformation is the most crucial aspect of growth.

If you need help developing a digital transformation strategy for your organization, this guide can help. Read on and discover crucial pointers about this trend and how it can provide new opportunities for your company.

Key Takeaways:

• Digital transformation refers to adopting digital technology to boost business performance and customer experience.
• Using effective technologies people want is an excellent example of an effective digital transformation strategy. Allocating more to research and development can help your organization’s digital transformation efforts.
• There are many steps involved in digital transformation. These steps include funding acquisition, evaluation of business operations, and creation of an execution team.

What is digital transformation?

Digital transformation can take different forms depending on the needs of an organization. However, in general terms, the term refers to implementing various digital technologies into all business areas. Digital transformation aims to change how businesses operate to improve processes and deliver more value to customers.

Digital transformation requires businesses to continually experiment with new technologies, improve current processes, and get comfortable with failure. It encourages entrepreneurs to abandon long-standing business methods in favor of new technology-based approaches.

Today, digital transformation is necessary for all businesses, from startups to enterprise-level companies. Successful transformation means firms can remain competitive in the digital age.

It differs from digital strategy, which focuses on changing technology, not business culture. Culture is one of the most crucial elements of a successful digital transformation.

Automating operations and developing new business models will not be enough to ensure success. It fails if leadership and culture are not at the center of an organization’s digital transformation. All key players in a company should understand what digital transformation means for the business.

Examples of Digital Transformation Strategies

Adopting digital transformation strategies can be challenging if you do not know where to begin. This section provides examples of effective strategies that you can try within your organization. These examples should help you develop creative solutions to ensure your business stays relevant today.

Use effective tech that people want

Use effective and efficient digital solutions that people wish to use. Doing so can help bring your entire business closer to people.

Using the right technology is crucial since it will pave the way for you to get the attention of potential customers. It will also attract clients willing to rely on your company’s improved digital technology.

Relying on effective technologies helps build value and boost efficiency. You need to prioritize strategies that empower efficient digital technologies. You must understand their functions, study their applications, and take advantage of the big data you can collect. These steps not only boost product and service quality but also work productivity.

For example, you should use social media management tools to maximize the benefits of your digital marketing efforts. Using automated digital tools can help you save more time. These solutions allow you to create content in advance and schedule posts.

Train employees

Training employees on how new technologies work is crucial to digital transformation. You will need to provide proper education and training to see real efficiency.

After investing in new solutions, you must prioritize teaching people how to use the latest tools. New technology, such as artificial intelligence (AI), robots, and data clouds, is practically worthless without this step.

Training ensures your employees can effectively use the new technologies implemented during digital transformation. It also promotes personal growth and job satisfaction for your workers as they learn and develop new skills.

Allocate more budget to research and development

If you want a successful digital transformation, you should not hold back on research and development (R&D) expenses. It is wise to allocate more funds to maintaining and upgrading systems that can drive growth.

Remember that technology will only be effective if it contributes to the company's well-being. You can maximize and optimize your information technology (IT) systems through R&D.

If you have an R&D team, you should allow them to make decisions alone. Encourage them to take advantage of potential opportunities. Doing so can encourage them to do better and help them become more motivated.

Chief information officers (CIOs) must ensure that all team members are involved and engaged. They must encourage them to work closely with other tech teams to foster a culture of collaboration.

Join digital transformation seminars

Listening to the experiences of other CIOs can help you become a better leader. You should attend seminars and conferences that focus on digital transformation initiatives.

These events can help you learn new insights and valuable strategies in practical situations. Moreover, seminars and conferences help with network building. You can meet talented people you can recruit or other leaders who can provide solid advice.

If there are no events to attend, you can still do your own research. Check out the experts on digital transformation and the companies that specialize in digital processes. Look at their websites and LinkedIn profiles. Read what they publish, and you may get new insights about digital business transformation.

Encourage change through policies

One way to make culture change easier is by implementing policies that encourage digital transformation. Create corporate policies that involve and motivate every employee of the company. This way, embracing digital innovation can be more manageable.

For example, set a rule that employees must record transactions on computer systems. While the practice is simple, it will compel those involved to use digital technology. Some employees and customers may struggle to adapt, but policies can urge them to get used to the change in no time.

Leave legacy technologies behind

A crucial mistake that companies make is relying too heavily on old technology. Instead of investing in legacy technology, businesses should focus on other solutions that can drive growth.

Entrepreneurs should use their resources to choose appropriate databases and use them to their maximum potential. This way, they get more value with their money by using tech that delivers the best results possible.

You do not want outdated technology if you want to stay competitive. Using new technology serves many uses. You only have to know, understand, and use them wisely.

Hire top tech talents

If you are a business executive or a CIO, you must combine competitive skills and talents throughout the organization. Often, the right competent IT talents are hard to find. You must conduct webcam interviews and post job ads on social media. You may even need to learn how to mine LinkedIn connections to find the best tech talents.

Fortunately, the digital revolution has enabled a flexible digital vision, which you need to use. You will need this vision to hire employees for all other departments. It will allow you to find suitable people for the right jobs.

Another way to find tech talents is by sponsoring a small contest. Candidates need to develop innovative solutions for anticipated problems in the firm. Challenge applicants to present their ideas by defending them in convincing ways. This tip will provide valuable answers and identify the best candidates to hire.

How To Develop a Digital Transformation Strategy

Without the right plan, your digital transformation strategy may fall apart. A digital transformation roadmap can help you effectively harness the capabilities of new technologies. Read the steps below to learn how to create a good digital transformation strategy.

Get funding

Before you can start building your digital transformation framework, you will need funding. Ask yourself how much you can allocate to this effort.

When thinking of an answer, remember that digital transformation is not a one-time investment. It is an ongoing initiative. It may even affect all parts of an organization, including employees, departments, and customers.

Having a budget can help you structure your final business strategy going forward. You can identify priorities, determine the scope, and allocate resources faster with a budget.

Evaluate your business needs

Once you have an estimated budget, you can begin laying the groundwork for your digital transformation plan. The first step is to evaluate and assess your business state.

An evaluation can help you do the following:

• Assess the company’s culture
• Determine the skill set of current employees
• Map out current operations, processes, organizational structure, and roles
• Find new opportunities and identify pain points you need to address

One crucial mistake organizations make is assuming that they can migrate to a new system without a current state assessment. The process is vital since it gives you the information you need to make data-driven decisions about your digital resources.

Prepare for change

Once you have conducted a current state assessment, you must prepare your organization for the transformation. Talk to everyone in your company and get them on board with the idea. Remember that one of the key contributors to a successful digital business transformation is company culture.

You will need to overcome culture change if you want a successful transformation. Ensure that everyone knows the reasons behind the change and must be open to it. A brand that can embrace these changes, motivate employees about digital transformation, and inspire collaboration is destined for success.

Build a team

You will need an execution team for your digital transformation strategy. The team members will be responsible for executing your digital transformation plans.

The team implementing the changes should help your staff feel secure during the transition. Team leads can be your CIO or chief digital officer (CDO). Another option is to hire an external team to handle all digital transformation tasks.

As part of the execution team, members must be willing to adapt and learn new technologies as the business evolves. Remember that the transformation journey is a continuous process. Your team will need to have the expertise to keep everything on track.

Develop a digital transformation roadmap

Once you have a team and your organization is ready, you can develop a strategic roadmap. This plan will help you achieve your digital transformation goals.

Think about how you will get your company from Point A to Point B. This step might include the following processes:

• Reskilling employees
• Reframing infrastructure
• Hiring new talent
• Updating your tech stack
• Transitioning to a more agile development process

Remember that your roadmap should highlight your key goals, priorities, and intermediate objectives. You should also create a timeline with milestones and benchmarks. Take note of all the key players and roles for each part of the plan.

Your roadmap should be adaptable and change with your business. It should reflect the evolving priorities of your organization’s digital landscape.

Start investing

In this step, you must evaluate your current infrastructure and tech systems. This will make it easier for your organization to adjust them according to the upcoming changes.

You must prioritize investing in various solutions to assist you with your transformation process. Although this step may sound easy, it requires a lot of decision-making. Take your time when buying new technology and choose the one that best suits your plan to avoid wasting money.

The solutions and tools that will drive your digitalization efforts will depend on your business. For modern companies, these can be the following technologies:

• 5G-powered smartphones
• Collaborative software
• AI
• Augmented reality (AR)
• Cloud computing
• Automation
• Internet of things (IOT)
• Machine learning
• Data analytics
• Blockchain

Before you invest in new technology, check if doing so aligns with your goals. The tech you are buying should fill a gap in your company.

Monitor and adjust

Once you have implemented the right technologies in your operations, it is time to look at the results. Take a step back, check the key performance indicators (KPIs), and see the impact. The different metrics will let you know if you need to make more changes or if your current infrastructure is effective.

Pro Tip

Remember that a company’s culture is one of the critical factors to a successful transformation. All key players in the business must contribute to the effort to ensure successful digital transformation.

Develop Effective Digital Transformation Strategies With Brain Box Labs

Adopting new digital technologies can help your business improve processes and understand customer experience trends. However, you will undoubtedly face challenges during the transformation journey. You will need an expert IT team to execute your digital transformation plans.

If you need help with digital change management, call Brain Box Labs today. With our services, you can get the most out of new technologies that give you a competitive advantage. We can help improve your business value and address unique customer needs through digital solutions.

There are many benefits to digital transformation, including revenue growth and improved business workflow. Visit Brain Box Labs and discover how we can support your company’s digital transformation efforts.