The digital transformation of companies is currently an ongoing process. The crisis caused by COVID-19 has forced SMEs to accelerate their digitization process overnight. As a result, Technologies play a relevant role soon and play a significant role in the company’s growth and development.
The truth is that there is still an ongoing misunderstanding as to what digital transformation of companies means since many entrepreneurs think that it consists of having a profile on social networks or developing a website, but it is much more a process that radically changes the way of working in any business. Ask yourself one question: If your consumers are no longer buying and dealing with companies in traditional methods, why is your company sticking to the same old ways?
Main hurdles for the implementation of digital transformation of companies
According to the Study on the State of Digitalization of Spanish Companies and Public Administrations 2020 conducted by Vodafone, the high implementation cost is the major problem to digitalization according to 21% of micro-companies, and the lack of training would be the second problem, for 19%. The same goes for large companies, as they identify lack of understanding, cost and lack of qualified personnel as the main barriers to digitization.
In general, some of the obstacles that prevent companies from fully embracing digitization are worth mentioning:
- Fear of change It is the old saying “better the devil you know…”. Long-standing companies are often reluctant to change because they do not know what will happen with the change, and therefore they are afraid of it being ineffective.
- Digital transformation sounds expensive. However, the truth is that many technological solutions are not costly and those that have a higher cost are an investment that will pay off in a short period.
- Lack of training. We have already mentioned that the lack of skills in new technologies is one of the most frequent bottlenecks for digital transformation. It is easily fixed by providing training from experts.
- Lack of confidence. Due to the unfamiliarity regarding how new technologies work, some entrepreneurs believe they are not reliable, and, in practice, these technologies have contributed significantly to generate trust and reliability in users.
For companies, how can digital transformation be a success?
Starting a digital transformation process for companies is an important decision that must be made with a thorough understanding of what the process will mean for the company’s future.
These are the keys that can be applied to ensure a successful process:
- First of all, plan. It is critical planning before acting in any business, and the same applies to digital business transformation. You should have a thorough understanding of your organization, analyze the changes that the digital transformation of companies will cause, define the goals you would like to achieve and the deadlines for completing them, and appoint the people who will implement the change.
- Analyze your prospects and customers. Ask yourself a question: What’s the point of opening up social media profiles if your customers are not there? They are worth little or nothing. To ensure that you are not working with no results, you need to analyze the channels that your customers use to communicate with you or buy your products or services; these will be the channels you will have to promote in your digital transformation.
- Inform, train and engage your staff. The most common challenge in digital transformation processes is the reluctance to change among the company’s personnel. To prevent this from happening, it is essential that you inform your staff about the process, encourage them to acquire digital skills and involve all staff in the process so that everyone has a role to play. As a result, implementation will be much faster.
- Select the most suitable technologies. Not all technologies will suit your needs; for example, electronic signatures can be a cross-cutting technology for any company since it is applied to a wide range of documents that are signed daily in companies: letters, communications, contracts, invoices, budgets, payrolls, etc.
- Measure the results. Once the deadline you set for each action of the digital transformation plan has expired, you should measure the results obtained and compare them with your initial goals. Your goals may need to be fine-tuned, or you may need to set new goals to keep moving forward.
Therefore, the digital transformation of companies takes time and effort to work, but the benefits will be seen in a short period, and the expense will be transformed into a profitable investment.