6 Digital Transformation Mistakes to Avoid in 2021
Digital transformation is the ongoing process of changing company culture, business processes, and how a company delivers value to its customers with digital tools and technologies.
It replaces offline and manual business processes with digital/automation technologies and incorporates new digital tools to address the market requirements appropriately. The main goal of digital transformation is to transform an organisation and introduce a new business model in-line with the online marketplace.
If anything, 2020 has taught businesses is the importance of digital transformation and adapting to the changing needs of the consumers. Companies that took the digital transformation path could succeed and appeal to a digital audience, whereas businesses that failed to leverage the digital space ended up becoming irrelevant for users. Digital transformation is not an option – it is mandatory if you want to expand and sustain your business.
Digital transformation affects all aspects of your business, whether it is finance, HR, sales, or marketing. It is about adapting to a new and better culture. Business owners must ensure that they avoid the below digital transformation mistakes in 2021:
Hiring Skilled Professionals Before Strategising
Hiring skilled professionals will add to your digital transformation journey, enriching your organisation in the long run.
Though a professional may have many skills, it does not mean they can single-handedly bring in innovative ways to drive your digital campaign. Technical professionals can get caught up in perfecting each software product and may introduce new complexities into your digital transformation plan. It is important to build a diverse workforce and involve all levels of your company employees in this digital process, creating a strategy based on their ideas.
Skills can be developed over time, yet strategising is crucial to go ahead with digital transformation. The main purpose of your campaign must be optimising customer experience not just developing flawless and feature-rich websites and applications.
Getting too Ambitious
Companies often end up getting too ambitious with their digital transformation efforts and attempt to adopt every new technology in the market.
It is important to work on transformation projects carefully, going step-by-step before committing to one decision. Develop a Minimum Viable Product first to check how your potential customers interact with your product and what can be improved in the final application or website. This will help you cut costs, and come with a strategic roadmap before launching your product into the digital space.
Digital transformation is a slow process – if you try to speed it up, you will end up creating more chaos within your organisation. Keep in mind that your core business process and critical systems need to be sustained while you make a shift to the digital world. Digital transformation is an endless process; it must cater to the requirements of the organisation and the customers, or else it will fail.
Not Taking the Data-Driven Approach
Companies aggressively collect data and metrics regularly but fail to include these metrics in their digital transformation strategy. A data-driven approach will help you turn raw data into useful insights that lead to an improvement in your business model and process.
You can mix up insights from the data collected offline and online to support your decision making. You can get a competitive edge by creating products, following certain marketing processes, and modifying your customer service based on the indicative metrics. A digital transformation strategy that relies on metrics will help you innovate, become aware of your company’s challenges, and find the right solutions.
Fixating on the Past
Digital transformation is characterised by the breakdown of traditional approaches and preparing organisations to thrive in the digital culture. However, there will be resistance within your team towards the efforts required for digital transformation.
The company leaders need to step up and explain the importance of digital transformation clearly to the employees. Fixating on the past will lead to more digital transformation mistakes, as this process is about organisational change and not just a few individuals trying to shift the company towards the digital space. Involve all your employees and encourage them to accept these changes. Come up with clear objectives for them and define their roles within your strategy.
Neglecting Customers
Most of the time, companies are so focused on integrating new technologies into their business model that they end up neglecting the needs of their customers. It is important to note that digital transformation is about improving customer service and providing value to your customers.
Customers are as important as adopting new technologies for the success of your digital transformation strategy. Studying how the customer changes are rapidly changing is required to take a customer-centric approach to digital transformation. Companies should think about the customer journey while formulating a digital transformation plan.
Depending too Much on your Internal Teams
Digital transformation is a critical process that most companies want to handle internally. Relying on external sources or third party providers can seem intimidating and risky. However, businesses often do not have employees with the right kind of expertise or skill set available to them.
Hiring in-house experts is a lengthy process that can lead to delays in the digital transformation plan. Organisations need to seriously consider outsourcing certain tasks instead of assigning new roles and responsibilities to the existing employees and executives. There are many reputed digital transformation/software development companies that can help scale up your digital transformation efforts faster and in a cost-efficient manner. You can go with an on-shore development company or an off-shore one, depending on your budget and requirements.
Going through digital transformation the right way is essential in 2021, as many companies trying to adapt to the digital space are not meeting their objectives. This is either because of a lack of technical know-how or a failure in strategising.
The above pointers indicate common digital transformation mistakes made by organisations and how you can combat them effectively. Planning and being realistic about your goals will help you go a long way with the digital transformation process.