Today every part of the business is subject to new expectations, competitors, channels, threats and opportunities. Every business has the potential to be a digital business. As the numbers of smart, connected devices from phones to cars to wearables are growing, companies that quickly deliver digitally instrumented products or services, those who reap data from market interactions, and use insights to rapidly optimize their value chain are gaining competitive advantage.

Businesses that digitally transform will be able to connect more closely with customers, speed up the pace of innovation and, as a result, claim a greater share of profit in their sectors. Today digitally transformed companies have an edge; tomorrow, only digital businesses will succeed.

what is digital transformation

Digital transformation is the process of using up and coming digital technologies to either modify or create new business processes. While many businesses view the concept of digital transformation as a disruption, there’s no doubt that they add incredible value to the organization and bring multi-faceted benefits to any business.

1 .Digital transformation is changing the business world

Digital transformation transcends traditional roles like sales, marketing, or even customer service. It goes beyond businesses trying to meet the changing needs of the market and stay ahead of the competition. Digital transformation begins and ends with only one factor — customer engagement.

Digital transformation is creating an unprecedented opportunity for innovation across all industries, and is seeing a total reinvention of products, services and experiences being delivered to the market.

Social media, Internet of Things, mobile – all these technologies are disrupting markets, and changing the way we connect, communicate and discover forever.

And to succeed in the digital era, organisations will need to become digital enterprises themselves, and rethink all aspects of their operations. Many have already embarked on this digital journey, and have begun automating and streamlining, investing in machine learning and artificial intelligence.

Some are concerned that technology and society are evolving faster than businesses are able to, and this ‘adapt or die’ fear is ushering in a new era of leadership, and new, innovative business models.

Others, are embracing this change, and investing heavily in digital transformation to adapt and outperform the competition.But “digital” means many things to different organisations and in many cases, is being confused with the technologies that enable it, or the “digitization”.

There is no ‘one size fits all’ approach to digital transformation, but there is a serious risk to businesses that do not have a digital strategy. Organisations need to transform and innovate, and reinvent and disrupt themselves, before they are disrupted and wiped off the map by new incumbents. The digital age is one of speed, and cycles are much shorter, meaning once you have fallen behind, you might not ever catch up.

2. Essential digital transformation roles

While emerging tech and revamped processes are crucial, having the right skills on staff is essential to any digital transformation.

Software engineers, cloud computing specialists and product managers remain key roles for companies seeking to roll out new products and services. DevOps leaders galvanize software development by merging development with operations, enabling companies to continuously iterate software to speed delivery.

Data scientists and data architects are also in high demand, as companies seek to glean insights out of vast troves of data, and transformations lean increasingly on machine learning and artificial intelligence.

Digital transformation involves using digital technologies to remake a process to become more efficient or effective. The idea is to use technology not just to replicate an existing service in a digital form, but to use technology to transform that service into something significantly better.

"digital transformation"

Digital transformation

3. Trends in digital transformation in 2020

Digital transformation accelerated across many industries in 2019. 2020 will also see the rapid scaling of digital initiatives across different industries globally. Here are some digital trends that you should be on the lookout for this year:

AI and Machine Learning will take centre stage.

Newer digital transformation success metrics will be created.

Businesses will pay more attention to the long-term value of digital initiatives.

Adoption of different digital operating models, such as integrated cross-functional teams.

An expansion of public cloud adoption.