Why digital transformation? There are challenges, but says\u00a0Dr Joanne Phoenix, from Sensor City, those who fail to adapt and become digitally-driven will simply fall behind.<\/p>\n
The term \u2018digital transformation\u2019 has become somewhat of a buzzword in recent years and, as with many other technical buzzwords, few know or understand what it means for them. That\u2019s a problem in itself \u2014 if a business leader doesn\u2019t fully understand something, or if the benefits aren\u2019t clear, the road to adoption is unlikely to run smoothly.<\/p>\n
Despite this, in 2018\u00a0Gartner<\/a>\u00a0found that all industries ranked \u2018becoming a digital business\u2019 as one of their top 10 objectives, while IDG found that\u00a089% of companies plan to adopt a digital-first strategy<\/a>.<\/p>\n So, what constitutes \u2018digital transformation\u2019 and how does a company become fully digitally transformed? Put simply, it is the integration of new advanced technologies, such as Internet of Things (IoT) or cloud computing, into business to increase efficiency, productivity, and ultimately improve a business\u2019 bottom line. As for the latter point, it could be argued that no business will ever complete a journey of digital transformation. It is a perpetual journey, influenced by the fast-paced world we live in today and driven by constant innovation and radical ideas.<\/p>\n Air Malta competes in a cutthroat business, where economies of scale are massive. So how does this tiny airline stay competitive? Alan Talbot tells Information Age how Air Malta\u2019s digital transformation programme gave it an edge. But first, it needed a success.<\/a><\/p>\n While the benefits of becoming a digital business are clear,\u00a0two thirds of companies are yet to make the change<\/a>. Here are the leading challenges in digital transformation:<\/p>\n Implementing any new system or process into a business often has some element of investment, and the same is true of digital technologies. In fact, it\u2019s predicted that spending will reach\u00a0$1.7 trillion by the end of 2019<\/a>. But with\u00a050% of senior executives citing insufficient budget as a leading issue<\/a>, businesses need to think laterally about the return on investment that follows digital technology implementation.<\/p>\n Dubbed as the biggest barrier to digital transformation, legacy systems are holding businesses back as many are reluctant to adopt new technologies over old operating systems, methods and computing programmes. While there are more subtle changes that can be made internally without extending as far as a company\u2019s IT department, making the leap and doing away with legacy IT systems is where significant return will be seen.<\/p>\n Globant\u2019s Rachel Armstrong tells Information Age how digital transformation needs sprints, and how this global company helps organisations work with customers to digitally transform.<\/a><\/p>\n With\u00a0two-thirds of IT decision makers unable to deliver digital projects as a result of a skills gap<\/a>, investment in digital skills is also a must. Whether it\u2019s investing in existing teams to evolve the skill set or bringing new people on board, without the right skills at the right time, digital transformation projects won\u2019t be successful. Some companies, for example, will find that digital change has led to the creation of specialist roles that weren\u2019t needed before, such as robotics technicians or big data analysts. If this is the case, businesses need to thoroughly understand what skills they are lacking, and then recruit to plug the gap.<\/p>\n The digitisation of the global economy has had many effects on global enterprises but few are more significant than the overwhelming desire to undergo digital transformation. Modern companies are under tremendous pressure to undergo this process lest they be left in the past, but digital transformation failure rates have become a major problem.<\/a><\/p>\n Risk-averse culture is an immediate barrier to digital adoption, with a recent\u00a0Harvard Business Review<\/a>\u00a0survey revealing that 49% have experienced collaboration as a challenge to digital transformation. Implementation in one department or silos across a business won\u2019t work \u2013 change needs to reflect the entire organisation.<\/p>\n Marco Ryan, a veteran in digital business transformation, likens this process to a digital onion, and compares the old way of doing things to the Parthenon. His ideas shed light on the true purpose and meaning of digital transformation<\/a><\/p>\n If we look at the world\u2019s leading businesses today \u2013 think Amazon, Netflix and Apple \u2013 they all have one thing in common \u2013 they are entirely digital, and they didn\u2019t get where they are today from playing it safe. They have made the investment in people and technology, while allowing to thrive.<\/p>\n Many make the mistake of thinking that digital transformation is just for the large customer-facing corporates, when in reality, it is quickly becoming a sink or swim situation for start-ups and SMEs, too. Whether it\u2019s streamlining processes, improving customer satisfaction or flexibility \u2014 all of which lead to heavy cost savings \u2014 the benefits significantly outweigh the risks if implemented in the right way.<\/p>\n The opportunity for businesses moving to a digital way of working is undeniable. What can begin as a small introduction of advanced technologies can quickly roll out into the entire organisation.<\/p>\n With spending estimated to reach\u00a0$2 trillion by 2022,<\/a>\u00a0the time for businesses of all sizes to act is now and those that fail to get on board will risk missing out on the significant growth pot that\u2019s up for grabs. For many sectors, the story will be that those who fail to adapt and become digitally-driven will simply fall behind.<\/p>\n Dr Joanne Phoenix is interim executive director at\u00a0Sensor City<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" What constitutes ‘digital transformation’ and how does a company become fully digitally transformed? Put simply, it is the integration of new advanced technologies, such as Internet of Things (IoT) or cloud computing, into business to increase efficiency, productivity, and ultimately improve a business’ bottom line. As for the latter point, it could be argued that no business will ever complete a journey of digital transformation. It is a perpetual journey, influenced by the fast-paced world we live in today and driven by constant innovation and radical ideas.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":442,"featured_media":3978,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[187],"tags":[95],"ppma_author":[2975],"class_list":["post-1541","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bigdata-cloud","tag-big-data-amp-technology"],"authors":[{"term_id":2975,"user_id":442,"is_guest":0,"slug":"michael-baxter","display_name":"Michael Baxter","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g","user_url":"","last_name":"Baxter","first_name":"Michael","job_title":"","description":"Michael Baxter is Editor of Information Age<\/a>, Author, and economics and technology writer. He is also an accomplished public speaker, has spoken on disruptive technology, the economy, and Brexit at various locations in the UK and the US and facilitated conferences on GDPR and digital marketing."}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1541","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/442"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1541"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1541\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29251,"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1541\/revisions\/29251"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3978"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1541"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1541"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1541"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=1541"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n<\/h5>\n
\nThe challenge<\/h2>\n
Budget<\/h2>\n
Legacy systems<\/h2>\n
\n<\/h5>\n
\nTalent<\/h2>\n
\n<\/h5>\n
\nCulture<\/h2>\n
\n
\nThe opportunity<\/h2>\n