Digital Transformation Speedway

 

It is apparent that we have entered a new phase of development in digital solutions. The past 10 years could very well be termed as the digitization era, however, 2021 just propelled it by several years faster than the projected trajectory. And industries have also responded and adopted/ realized that if they do not transform into a digital savvy/ first organization, it is quite likely that they would not survive the pandemic (economically).  The fig. below shows clearly the acceleration of post COVID acceleration across the globe and more specifically in the US.

 

© Mckinsey

Being involved in large corporate digital initiatives as well as start-up/ small businesses leveraging digital medium to expand their reach, I had a unique perspective of reviewing digital transformation both from the top-down as well as the bottom-up approach. The biggest awakening for me was when I realized that Digital transformation was much, much more than digital transactions. Very often businesses enable digital transactions and presume that we have enabled digital transformations.

 

In the 20 year of my career in digital analytics and marketing, it was my good fortune to witness the growth of this industry. I have at remarkably close quarters witnessed and helped large, medium, and even small companies completely transform their business when the digital wave hit them. In some industries like retail the digital wave hit much earlier than industries like pharmaceuticals and manufacturing. In this attempt of a few articles, I will try to portray my understanding digital transformations that are continuing to happen all around us (at a much faster pace) and how we can embrace them, adapt, and leverage it to our benefit.

 

Start with the last mile and work backwards:

The best success stories I have witnessed typically started with the end customer challenges and questions. If we have an idea or solution, it works very well if we are the customer ourselves and have experienced the problem firsthand. It becomes easier to work backwards from the problem or the question that needs solution. To stay close to problem assures solution that will be valuable.

 

Technology rearrangement:

Some technologies are becoming more important than others that have risen to prominence in this period. Migration to cloud is no longer viewed as a choice but as a norm, video conferencing and meetings are essential tools, Customer data platforms become a key enabler, emergence of quantum computing, etc. Though these are technologies that already existed, how the get rearranged, rearchitected and leveraged will determine better return on investment in Technology for enterprises.

 

Intelligent Automation:

My knowledge of Intelligent automation is from the book with the same title co-authored by “Pascal Bornet”. It is application of low-code platforms, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, and robotic process automation that is used to create smart business processes and solutions that are self-learning, governing, and optimizing.

 

 

Intelligent & Connected Devices:

Customer experience management and personalized experiences go beyond the web and mobile. IOT, Driverless vehicles, Drones, connected devices helps us to take the digital transformation scope to beyond the digital mainstream channels. Voice based delivery solutions get more sophisticated and can do more. This not only changes the customer/ user behavior but will change their expectations of brands and services that they use.

 

 Unlocking Data and Analytics

Data and analytics have been important for businesses, from time immemorial. However, data has been growing at an exponential pace, and the competitive advantage of companies will be determined by how quickly and intuitively they are able to get value out of data through analytics. Data processing speeds, advanced and AI driven algorithms are propelling the business transformations lead by Digital.

In future articles, I will attempt at going deeper into every aspect that aids digital transformations and leading us on the superhighway of change.