The phrase ‘digital transformation’ has been bandied around so much, that for many businesses the phrase has become practically meaningless – a word the Board use to beat the IT team with but not having any basis in the practicalities of what this type of change actually means.
Such is its bad reputation, that many businesses think it can be put off and that they don’t need to change. To counter this, it’s important to bust the buzzword and be clear on what ‘digital transformation’ actually means. Well, put simply, it’s the process of creating a work environment that is flexible, interconnected and seamless.
From many conversations with customers of every kind, we know that the majority of organisations are somewhere along their digital transformation journey, without even realising it. The Economist Intelligence Unit puts it at 83 percent, with the remainder having arrived at their destination (10 percent) or not yet departed (7 percent). What’s clear is that digital transformation offers tremendous opportunities, provided that you’re prepared for it.
Digital transformation is changing the way we communicate and work together. In recent years, cloud services have laid the foundation for new digital applications that make day-to-day collaboration easy-peasy. The digitisation of business processes has proven to bring competitive advantage to the organisations who use them.
Significant productivity gains arise when users can seamlessly communicate with colleagues, customers and business partners anytime, via multiple channels, from anywhere in the world. What was once considered futuristic thinking is part of the mainstream today.
Whilst it is quite undisputed that digital transformation leads to a change in our communication behaviour, traditional and human communication channels such as voice becomes yet another application in the IP world. The key is getting the most out of the benefits, which means embracing new and different work methods. A pro-flexible working culture needs to be led from the top to be successful – it’s not enough to simply talk the talk.
The new world of work is changing fast, driven on by the millions of millennial and Gen Z professionals entering the workplace. Our colleagues of tomorrow will be the first generation to have grown up in a fully-connected world, raising expectations for a high level of digitisation at work. Their outlook demands a step away from legacy and a step toward the next wave of technology, and the wave after that.
According to a study by PwC, 86 percent of the millennials sampled would consider leaving an employer whose values no longer match their expectations. The difference between successful and unsuccessful digital transformation often lies in the finer details of human adoption rather than technical implementation.
Is your business on a digital transformation journey? Speak to us about our range of solutions on 020 3740 7640.
