Organisations today face increasing customer expectations and more opportunity than ever before to deliver an exceptional experience. Resolution IT Chief Executive Olly Duquemin shares his insights into leveraging the enormous potential offered by digital transformation.
Increasing budget restrictions and ever-growing customer expectations: this is the reality faced by organisations across both public and private sectors alike. In this highly competitive environment, businesses are continually seeking to improve and expand, while also dramatically enhancing experiences for their customers.
When financial limitations contend with these high ambitions, organisations quite rightly need every investment to count. But how? Could embracing the power of digital transformation help meet both your customers' experiences and your financial objectives?
So, what is digital transformation? Simply put, it’s the use of digital technology in all areas of your organisation to fundamentally improve the way you interact with your customers and suppliers – as well as how your staff interact with each other.
Digital transformation is not about making one or two separate changes and thinking the digital box has been ticked. It hasn’t. This merely reinforces an environment of individual silos where work is unwittingly duplicated, and organisations continue with many deeply entrenched inefficiencies.
Digital transformation involves taking a strategic view of the whole organisation and literally transforming the way it is run, from bottom to top.
Whether big or small, there are many organisations that have operated brilliantly thus far and believe they can ride out the fluctuating economy. What can they gain from undergoing digital transformation? In short: everything.
The potential of digital connectivity means that Guernsey-based businesses are no longer bound to the island. There is a world of global opportunities out there for those willing to divert from the status quo and embrace new ways of working.
All statistics indicate the pressing importance of digital transformation. A recent Microsoft report revealed that 53% of UK businesses and IT leaders believe their industries will face significant digital disruption within the next two years, yet 47% have no formal digital transformation strategy in place.
Yet implementing modern technological infrastructure and processes are worthless without a cultural change that is driven from the top and integrated throughout the entirety of an organisation.
Successful transformation begins by embedding the right culture. According to Jia Wertz, writing for Forbes: “Digital transformation is the vehicle, strategy is the fuel.”
Embedding the right culture can encounter trouble when many leaders have little understanding of office technology beyond knowing they need a computer with an email and, preferably, a smartphone. Meanwhile, the digital-native Generation Z are now the workforce beginning to enter the market, and expect to work for organisations that are modern, tech-savvy and empowered by digital. And they’re not afraid to move around if their expectations aren’t met.
We’ve been advising businesses for many years on how they can digitally transform and recently we’ve noticed an increasing understanding of the incredibly exciting and powerful technologies available – from data modelling, business intelligence, client portals and automation.
More so than ever before, organisations are recognising the opportunity to save time and money as well as dramatically improve the customer experience. In short, a truly compelling case for digital transformation.
Olly is Chief Executive of Resolution IT, one of Guernsey's leading providers of innovative IT solutions.