RSMUS.comWhat is digital transformation?
Talk to anyone about digital transformation, and you’ll find that it means different things to different people. A vast, complicated software vendor market adds to the confusion about what business technology innovation actually means for midmarket businesses.
One core dimension of digital transformation is the use of technology to solve business problems that get in the way of growth and profitability goals. Contrary to one myth, digital transformation doesn’t require replacing all of your systems at once. Many companies start with their most pressing need and expand from there.
The key to this approach is having a clear strategy and road map to guide your efforts and keep you aligned with your business goals.
Examples of digital transformation
Any of these could be the basis of a digital transformation project:
- Customer engagement: Leveraging technology to create highly engaging experiences
- Business operations: Optimizing business processes and applying the right technology to create agile operations
- People enablement: Giving teams the processes, tools and capabilities they need to increase their value contribution
- Data and integration: Capturing and using data across multiple sources for insights and improved decision-making
- Technology stabilization: Creating a stable and secure foundation of capabilities to effectively enable business functions
The elements of digital transformation
Modern applications: Modern enterprise applications, including integrated platforms such as Microsoft Dynamics, are at the heart of digital transformation. Outdated legacy applications can add complexity and limit scalability, particularly as companies grow organically or via mergers and acquisitions. Modern, cloud-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions are built to handle complexity and scale—and to bridge the gap between people and technology, for instance via AI-powered bots, and across channels, from web to mobile to bricks-and-mortar.
Data analytics: Sophisticated analytics provide business insights to improve efficiency and control and to enhance the customer experience. Control spend with risk analytics and risk scoring to detect areas for improvement. Create a 360-degree view of your customer by leveraging an advanced analytics platform to unify data from multiple systems and disparate sources.
Process automation: Software-driven automation reduces manual tasks for improved productivity, efficiency and customer experience, and frees employees for more strategic business efforts. Implement robotic process automation (RPA) to streamline key AP, purchasing and GL functions. Enhance customer experience with an e-commerce platform that automates content management for a seamless omnichannel experience. Manage multiple brands or lines of business with one platform.
Managed IT services: Accelerate technology delivery with a fully managed infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) solution to provide robust technology for future growth. Gain scalable technology resources quickly even in complex regulatory environments.
Cloud-delivered services: Eliminate large capital expenditures on hardware and upgrades, reduce internal maintenance requirements, and increase availability by migrating key IT infrastructure to the cloud. Using a hybrid approach, your organization can implement cloud services for specific functions at your own pace.
Digital transformation is within reach
Successful digital transformation is within reach of any midmarket company, but the complexity of a rapidly changing business market makes it challenging to successfully plan, execute and support.
One solution is to work with a partner that understands leading business practices as well as the enabling technologies to leverage for your unique business needs. Follow this formula to achieve results:
- Identify your most urgent challenges. For midmarket companies, these typically involve customer engagement, business operations, employee enablement, effective use of data and stable technology capabilities.
- Select a strategic partner that understands your challenges and works collaboratively to help solve them.
- Leverage technology solutions that meet today’s challenges and can scale with your business.
RSM can be your trusted consultant for digital transformation, providing the business and technology insight and guidance you need to leverage technology for growth and business health.
For more, visit our Technology and Transformation Hub.
