Change is often uncomfortable, but it can feel much worse if you are forced to undergo it without having much of a say in it.
A survey found out that 49% of the UK businesses were not prepared to embrace remote working when the Covid-19 wave swept the country. 39% didn’t have the technology platforms to support remote working operations when the lockdown was implemented. 48% of the companies had to invest in new software, and 72% had to buy new hardware.
Businesses that were probably thinking of a digital transformation strategy or had already experimented with remote working culture were better positioned than the companies that thought remote working could never be a part of the office equation.
What is digitization?
When you process information from its physical format to a digital format, it is called digitization.
The purpose of doing this is to convert a non-digital asset into a digital asset to be used by computers and help in automating processes and workflows. This results in creating business value in terms of data, which serves as a foundation for future business models. Some common examples of digitization that we already engage with on a day to basis are:
- Capturing data on MS Excel or Google spreadsheet from a handwritten note
- Scanning a newspaper cutout and converting it into a pdf file
What is digitalization?
It is getting the most out of the digitization process to achieve digital business transformation objectives. Digitalization is often used synonymously with digitization, but at the core the concepts do differ. Unless the digitized outcome contributes positively towards the result, we should refrain from calling it a digitalization effort. No matter how closely related, they may sound.
While increased revenue, efficient business transactions, improved digital culture, increased employee productivity, etc. are some of the positive outcomes of digitalization, here are two of its most common examples:
- Uploading the employee feedback form on HRMS for assessment purpose
- Scanning and storing travel vouchers on the cloud and retrieving them in the future for audit purposes.
What is digital transformation?
Digital Transformation is when you are trying to solve a business problem with the best possible technical means. For this, you must have a thorough understanding of the problem. The importance of digital transformation lies in the fact that it enables you to address issues using technical means and new technologies.
A word of caution here, digital technologies and their implementation are just one aspect of the entire digital transformation journey. Other notable elements are transforming people’s mindset and the company’s culture that needs to adopt the digital-new attitude. We also need to look at the business areas and the processes that govern them.
In a nutshell, digital transformation is adopting the mindset to solve problems using the best available technological solutions.
Why know the difference?
Since digitization and digitalization are often confused with one another, it is quite apparent that one must be mindful about their usage in communication. If business leaders think just by digitizing or digitalizing processes, they can achieve digital transformation, they are wrong. You must understand that digital transformation is the universal set that encompasses digitization and digitalization subsets.
Digitization, Digitalization, and Digital Transformation: What is the difference?
Digitization is the conversion of analog assets and processes to digital. Digitalization is all about converting business processes using digital technologies to increase the business’s efficiency and revenue.
A digital transformation is an approach to problem-solving through technology. It is more about people and their mindset than it is about technology.
Radixweb can assist you in realizing a digitally transformed tomorrow with light-speed acceleration for your business. Get in touch with us now to start your digital transformation journey.
Reality Check!
Despite having a lot of awareness about the subject, many businesses are yet to undertake their digital transformation journey. In a study, it was discovered that only 25% of companies had embraced digital transformation. 41% were on their way to attain digital transformation, and 34% talked about the digital transformation trend instead of taking any action towards it. Remarkably 85% of the respondents agreed that digital transformation is necessary for their company’s growth.
The big gap between the companies who have implemented digital transformation as part of their competitive strategy and those who are still speculating about leveraging it shows the lack of awareness and confidence in business leaders. Despite watching their competitors go ahead with the change, those still stalling the inevitable digital transformation are fighting a losing battle.
This brings us to the question why transform your business? Is it really worth all the hassle?
Digital transformation: What are the benefits?
There are many areas where digital transformation can play a decisive role in your company. However, the following are some of the most crucial changes that digital transformation can bring about.
Robust Operations
By infusing your legacy systems with artificial intelligence, machine learning, and predictive analytics, you increase your business processes’ accuracy and fidelity. It also makes your business more resilient and mitigates any risk in the future.
Happy Customers
With digital transformation, you can deliver an exceptional customer experience by building a more user-friendly interaction platform for users. This leads to strong customer engagement and increases the probability of conversions.
Business Edge
En-route on your digital transformation journey, you automatically become a more dynamic and agile business entity than your competitors. You can explore markets that were not accessible earlier, and you can unlock new revenue streams that can further strengthen your brand’s position.
Digital Culture
Digital transformation instills digital culture in your team members by encouraging them to learn and practice new advanced skills. They become more aware of the digital world around them and contribute more productively.
Data-Driven
If you want your organization to become more data-savvy, digital transformation is the way. It helps you optimize data collection, processing, and analysis for better decision-making. You are in a position to better understand market signals and get insights about changing customer preferences, and measure how your strategies work in real-time.
Read More : Watershed Decisions CEOs Take to Drive Digital Transformation Maturity
Conclusion
Digital transformation is no longer the latest fad to follow but a necessity for business continuity. You risk losing the market to your competition and fall behind by choosing to ignore this emerging trend. A quick way to scale your learning curve is by partnering with an expert agency that offers digital transformation consulting services. Their experience can help you pick up a suitable starting point in your existing legacy systems and chalk up a quick execution plan..
