The act of employing digital technology to build new business processes, cultures, and customer experiences—or adapt current ones—in order to satisfy shifting business and market requirements is known as digital transformation. Digital transformation refers to this reinvention of the company in the digital age.
It goes beyond conventional job functions like sales, marketing, and customer service. Instead, how you think about and interact with customers is where digital transformation starts and ends. With digital technology on our side, we have the ability to rethink how we conduct business and interact with our customers as we go from paper to spreadsheets to smart applications for managing our business.
There is no need to build up your business processes and then modify them for small enterprises that are just getting started. Your company may be future-proofed right away. It’s simply unsustainable to run a 21st-century company on sticky notes and handwritten ledgers. Being nimble, adaptable, and growth-ready are all benefits of thinking, planning, and constructing digitally.
What distinguishes digital transformation from other forms of digitalization?
Digitization is the move from analog to digital:
Businesses used to keep records on paper in the past. Business data was analog, whether it was handwritten in ledgers or typed into documents. You had to work with actual documents like papers and binders, xeroxes, and faxes if you wanted to collect or communicate information.
When computers became widely used, most companies began converting all of the records created with ink on paper into digital computer files. The process of transferring information from analog to digital is known as digitization.
Finding and sharing information became considerably easier, but the ways in which firms used their new digital records essentially resembled the previous analog ones. Even the icons for file folders in computer operating systems were created to make them seem familiar and less daunting to new users. Business systems and processes were still mainly built around assumptions from the analog age about how to access, distribute, and use information, despite the fact that digital data was exponentially more efficient for businesses than analog had been.
Digitalization is using digital data to simplify how you work:
Digitalization is the process of utilizing information that has been digitized to make established working practices easier and more effective. In that definition, take note of the phrase “established”: Digitalization does not involve developing new business models or ways to do business. It’s about continuing to do what you’re doing, but more quickly and effectively now that your data is instantaneously available rather than being locked away in a file cabinet somewhere in a stale archive.
Consider customer service, whether it be in a call center, retail setting, or the field. By enabling rapid and simple computer access to customer records, digitization revolutionized the service industry. Although the fundamental principles of customer service remained the same, the time it took to field a question, find the pertinent information, and provide a solution was greatly reduced when computer screens and mobile devices took the role of paper ledgers.
As digital technology advanced, people began coming up with ideas for new ways to use business technology, rather than just to complete the same tasks more quickly. The concept of digital transformation started to take shape at this time. New things — and new ways of doing them — were suddenly made possible by new technologies.
The digital transformation adds value to every customer interaction:
The implementation of digital transformation is altering business processes and, in some circumstances, introducing completely new business classes. With the advent of digital transformation, businesses are pausing to review everything they do, from internal operations to in-person and online customer encounters. Big questions like, “Can we transform our processes in a way that will enable improved decision-making, game-changing efficiencies, or a better customer experience with more personalization?” are being posed by these individuals.
Now that the digital revolution is well underway, businesses of all stripes are developing innovative, efficient, and disruptive methods to use technology. Netflix is a good illustration. It began as a mail order service and impacted the physical video rental industry. Then, advances in technology allowed for widespread video streaming. These days, Netflix competes with traditional broadcast and cable television networks, as well as production studios, by providing an expanding selection of on-demand content at incredibly low pricing.
Netflix was able to broadcast video content directly to users thanks to digitization, as well as get unmatched insight into viewers’ viewing patterns and tastes. It employs that data to guide the creation of original television programs and motion pictures at its internal studios, as well as the design of its user interface. This is an example of digital transformation in action: utilizing current technologies to influence how a firm operates.
Adapt your business to leverage digital transformation:
Similar to how businesses now approach customer service, digital transformations have changed this approach. The previous business strategy involved waiting for clients to contact you, either directly or by dialing an 800 number. However, the emergence of social media has altered customer service in a manner similar to how it has altered marketing, sales, and even customer service. Progressive businesses see social media as an opportunity to broaden their service offerings by connecting with clients on their preferred platforms.
Digital technology can certainly improve the efficiency of contact centers and in-store service desks. But real change happens when you examine all of the technologies on offer and determine how transforming your company to take advantage of them might improve client experiences. The purpose of social media was not to replace call centers, but rather to provide an extra channel (and opportunity) for better customer service. An additional fantastic example of a digital transformation is adjusting your service offerings to include social networking.
Digital Transformation: What Is It
The act of employing digital technology to build new business processes, cultures, and customer experiences—or adapt current ones—in order to satisfy shifting business and market requirements is known as digital transformation. Digital transformation refers to this reinvention of the company in the digital age.
It goes beyond conventional job functions like sales, marketing, and customer service. Instead, how you think about and interact with customers is where digital transformation starts and ends. With digital technology on our side, we have the ability to rethink how we conduct business and interact with our customers as we go from paper to spreadsheets to smart applications for managing our business.
There is no need to build up your business processes and then modify them for small enterprises that are just getting started. Your company may be future-proofed right away. It’s simply unsustainable to run a 21st-century company on sticky notes and handwritten ledgers. Being nimble, adaptable, and growth-ready are all benefits of thinking, planning, and constructing digitally.
What distinguishes digital transformation from other forms of digitalization?
Digitization is the move from analog to digital:
Businesses used to keep records on paper in the past. Business data was analog, whether it was handwritten in ledgers or typed into documents. You had to work with actual documents like papers and binders, xeroxes, and faxes if you wanted to collect or communicate information.
When computers became widely used, most companies began converting all of the records created with ink on paper into digital computer files. The process of transferring information from analog to digital is known as digitization.
Finding and sharing information became considerably easier, but the ways in which firms used their new digital records essentially resembled the previous analog ones. Even the icons for file folders in computer operating systems were created to make them seem familiar and less daunting to new users. Business systems and processes were still mainly built around assumptions from the analog age about how to access, distribute, and use information, despite the fact that digital data was exponentially more efficient for businesses than analog had been.
Digitalization is using digital data to simplify how you work:
Digitalization is the process of utilizing information that has been digitized to make established working practices easier and more effective. In that definition, take note of the phrase “established”: Digitalization does not involve developing new business models or ways to do business. It’s about continuing to do what you’re doing, but more quickly and effectively now that your data is instantaneously available rather than being locked away in a file cabinet somewhere in a stale archive.
Consider customer service, whether it be in a call center, retail setting, or the field. By enabling rapid and simple computer access to customer records, digitization revolutionized the service industry. Although the fundamental principles of customer service remained the same, the time it took to field a question, find the pertinent information, and provide a solution was greatly reduced when computer screens and mobile devices took the role of paper ledgers.
As digital technology advanced, people began coming up with ideas for new ways to use business technology, rather than just to complete the same tasks more quickly. The concept of digital transformation started to take shape at this time. New things — and new ways of doing them — were suddenly made possible by new technologies.
The digital transformation adds value to every customer interaction:
The implementation of digital transformation is altering business processes and, in some circumstances, introducing completely new business classes. With the advent of digital transformation, businesses are pausing to review everything they do, from internal operations to in-person and online customer encounters. Big questions like, “Can we transform our processes in a way that will enable improved decision-making, game-changing efficiencies, or a better customer experience with more personalization?” are being posed by these individuals.
Now that the digital revolution is well underway, businesses of all stripes are developing innovative, efficient, and disruptive methods to use technology. Netflix is a good illustration. It began as a mail order service and impacted the physical video rental industry. Then, advances in technology allowed for widespread video streaming. These days, Netflix competes with traditional broadcast and cable television networks, as well as production studios, by providing an expanding selection of on-demand content at incredibly low pricing.
Netflix was able to broadcast video content directly to users thanks to digitization, as well as get unmatched insight into viewers’ viewing patterns and tastes. It employs that data to guide the creation of original television programs and motion pictures at its internal studios, as well as the design of its user interface. This is an example of digital transformation in action: utilizing current technologies to influence how a firm operates.
Adapt your business to leverage digital transformation:
Similar to how businesses now approach customer service, digital transformations have changed this approach. The previous business strategy involved waiting for clients to contact you, either directly or by dialing an 800 number. However, the emergence of social media has altered customer service in a manner similar to how it has altered marketing, sales, and even customer service. Progressive businesses see social media as an opportunity to broaden their service offerings by connecting with clients on their preferred platforms.
Digital technology can certainly improve the efficiency of contact centers and in-store service desks. But real change happens when you examine all of the technologies on offer and determine how transforming your company to take advantage of them might improve client experiences. The purpose of social media was not to replace call centers, but rather to provide an extra channel (and opportunity) for better customer service. An additional fantastic example of a digital transformation is adjusting your service offerings to include social networking.
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