THE CHANGING SPEED OF DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

“Corporate risk avoidance can be the greatest impediment to digital transformation and today’s rapidly shifting world renders this extremely counter-productive”

Digital transformation is expanding among all industry sectors but its rate of growth has not been consistent. The pace of technology change is escalating steadily and explosively, with new technologies being brought out more rapidly each year. Businesses previously had time to track trends, observe the development of new applications built over time in different settings, and assess whether or not to implement them. (The turnaround window for 3D printing is a continuing example to grow from nonessential innovation into numerous, now-essential applications).

Today, though, new innovations and technical mashups are appearing almost every week, and companies need to make choices over whether to invest in new technologies that didn’t exist a year ago or even just six months ago. As technology can make its way from notion to popular application ever faster, it’s necessary to consider how digital transformation advisory services can help businesses respond to an array of choices.

THE “STEEPENING TRAJECTORY” MEASUREMENT

A global study of Harvard Business Review (HBR) Analytic Services characterizes the rate of digital transition as a “steepening trajectory,” and states a “tightening digital race across all industries” as companies increasingly perceive the digital ecosystem as the dominant competitive field. Each year, due to the incorporation of emerging digital technologies, more businesses expect major output improvements. In two years, 65 percent of business leaders will expect to see significant effects from their digital technologies, according to the study’s forecast, while as of November 2016, only 21 percent made that claim. The nature of the effects these corporate leaders anticipate will include rises in revenue and profit, along with better customer satisfaction and customer loyalty.

NEW MEASURING METHODS Digital transformation

When the data analytics technology matures — or at least evolves from its infant stages — more historically qualitative fields turn to automated analysis systems. Also, content can now be assessed against rival companies algorithmically, exposing the flaws and prospects in content that a business shares online. An excellent example of service is provided by 8 Point Arc, which supplies software for the analysis, measurement, and score of the content of a company. Comparative evaluation tools accelerate the transition, as measurable feedback can appear almost immediately, instead of relying on the sluggish compilation of input from customer responses.

NEW INSTRUCTIONS FOR TALENT

Although HR systems are gradually becoming automatic, the increase in technology has, ironically, contributed to the rising demand for non-tech-centered workers. HBR researchers report that “business focuses on strategic and cultural capabilities like customer problem-solving skills, change management, and the ability to interact and collaborate.” As digital becomes the setting within which the entire business runs, fewer people with devoted technical capabilities are preferred. This evolution in skill sets solidifies the truth that digital transformation can not be limited to mere technology.

A FACTORING COMBINATION

Obviously suffering within this occurrence of shifting skill sets are legacy retailers, facing tougher threats than ever before, with many collapsing by the wayside. Mainstream discussion may imply that ecommerce alone is liable for this shrinkage, but the actual response is much more nuanced. Ecommerce has been present for some time in fact, but these iconic stores didn’t really sink underwater until they were influenced by a mix of digital solutions.

Because the very environment of shopping around has shifted to become more private, legacy retailers have difficulty trying to keep pace with. Customers are ever more expecting a highly personalized, enjoyable shopping experience and this is a much easier accomplishment for new brands than for those with legacy innovation assessing protocols. Business in the new digital ecosystem involves much more than a patch of technology or a separated update. It requires acknowledgment that the entire marketplace background scenario has been shifted. This cultural shift can be a massive issue: while businesses may have once taken a prudent stay-and-see strategy, they are now compelled to follow the increasing pace of digital revolution, or risk being wiped out by the next technological wave as it comes.

RISK-AVERSION-BALANCE TECHNOLOGY

Risk aversion can be the greatest barrier to digital innovation, and the rapidly changing world today makes it an intensely counter-productive factor. This attitude may be typical of the financial industry in particular, which is one explanation of why the sector was so fertile for fintech startups. Thankfully, qualitative data will mitigate the worries of risk managers and finance officers about whom they have the most confidence in. Quantitative benchmarking and real-time input are highly successful in overcoming conventional agility challenges, and financial institutions leaders may develop credibility from the analysis by digital strategy consulting.

CONTEXTUAL PROCESS Digital transformation

The sustainable way forward demands consistency across all six digital layers: humans, processes, platforms, products, channels, and experience. Habits developed during the early phases of digital transformation can cause older brands to neglect one aspect or another of their business operation, and even only a factor ignored means that a whole digital transformation campaign will collapse. A company can implement an excellent customer experience; it can incorporate a flagship native app as well as amazing “mini-apps”; it can have high-quality products, great marketing and develop it all on an ideal platform; but if the process is corrupted their campaign will not succeed. Similarly, if all layers are integrated except for the humans, the corporate culture can oppose the new approach and condemn it to failure. Only by aligning all six layers that companies will make their digital ecosystem sustain

INSTANT CUSTOMER INSIGHTS Digital transformation

Although an environment shift can be perceived in all aspects of a business, the aspect of customer experience is still foremost. Apps are rapidly showing importance in the combination of customer experience. To provide insights for this key channel, processes for obtaining and evaluating mobile customer data are boosting. A fascinating set of data points stems from measuring how many customers keep downloading apps. Users generally download lots of apps but uninstall most. The explanation for such deletions is because the app does not have the smooth customer experience the individual wished for or does not allow them to do what they desired. EMarketer reported that 70 to 75 percent of installed apps remained for less than one day, while only 3 percent of installed apps were still used at the end of 1 month on average. 

Another fascinating user statistic is that apps downloaded for organic purposes are 156 percent more likely than apps unintentionally downloaded by clicking on paid ads to be kept after 30 days. The reference to organic factors indicates an omnichannel user experience in which the consumer has learned about the product whether they are already a business customer or because they have a current interest in the brand.

TECHNOLOGY IS THE CAUSE AS WELL AS SOLUTION

Technology drives the rise in change speed, but it also generates the base of a solution to the issue of how businesses can stay (or become) agile. Benchmarking and rating software ensures that determining the current state of a company with comparison to its rivals and its own capacity can be done in only a couple of days, instead of the long-term assessment used to describe these reorganizations.