There’s been an endless dialogue around digital transformation for years, but now it’s so much bigger than just hype. With the move to the cloud and digital technologies we’ve reached a tipping point forward. It’s a mandatory departure from business as usual that has changed the foundations of business.
There’s no going back. That’s why understanding what this evolution means for your organization and having a strategy is mission critical.
This blog explores what digital transformation is and why it’s important.
What is digital transformation?
The term digital transformation has been over-used by industry thought leaders and technology organizations to the point of losing its meaning. It’s becoming open ended, nebulous, annoyingly vague, and is usually found in close-proximity of a sales pitch. Sound familiar?
So, first let’s talk about exactly what digital transformation is and what it isn’t.
Let’s break it down with a basic definition:
Digital transformation is the ongoing act of using digital technologies to reinvent processes in a way that’s intuitive, efficient and ridiculously robust. The basic gist is using technology to transform services into something radically more effective versus replacing them altogether.
Digital transformation spans a broad variety of technologies across industries, including the Internet of Things (IoT), cloud computing, big data, machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI). But it doesn’t end there.
That’s because digital transformation isn’t just about technology. It’s centered around transforming business processes and organizational culture initiatives in a way that positions your organization for faster, bolder action and growth.
So distilling it into one sentence:
Digital transformation is reimagining business processes with new technologies to drive a competitive edge and a more positive customer experience.
Why does digital transformation matter?
The entire premise for digital transformation is about rethinking your organizational approach in ways that allows you to move faster and stay ahead of—or at least keep pace—with your competition. It’s more important than ever before because it’s all about fueling and maintaining momentum. And whatever the industry, in today’s modern business market, every organization is a technology company.
And by the numbers, more organizations are investing in digital transformation. According to CIO.com, this year, 40% of all tech spending is going towards digital transformation with enterprises eclipsing $2 trillion through the end of 2019.
In fact, in Forrester’s 2019 CIO predictions, they stated that “2019 is the year that transformation goes pragmatic” with 20% of organizations looking for new CIOs and 5% rethinking even their back-office technologies to drive smarter outcomes.
According to IDC, global spending on digital transformation technologies including infrastructure and services surpassed $1.3 trillion in 2017 and is set to double by 2021.
What makes all this so significant? No matter who you are, your competition is investing in digital transformation whether they realize it or not.
Are you on the right path?
Let’s talk
Stay tuned for our next blog and learn how to stay on course for digital transformation. Can’t wait? Contact your Account Executive, or email our Solutions desk to learn more.
