The benefits of digital transformation are many, but it’s also important to consider the potentially negative impact of such a change on a company, as well. Below, you can learn about the five biggest pain points businesses face as a result of digital transformation as well as five pain points that a well-executed digital transformation can resolve.
5 Pain Points a Business Goes Through
#1 – Failure to Plan and Implement the Digital Transformation Strategically
Of all the many pain points a company can experience during a digital transformation, failure to plan and implement in a strategic and beneficial way hurts the most. In fact, the lack of a strategic plan can lead to every other pain point on this list and beyond. If you want a digital transformation and implementation that is smooth and relatively pain-free, it’s important to work with an experienced professional who can help you navigate the process from start to finish
#2 – Executive and Management Disord
Discord among managers and executives can occur during any stage of the digital transformation process. There are many reasons for this, including disagreements with budgeting, different opinions on prioritization, and more. The best way to avoid such discord involves meeting with stakeholders and managers during the planning phase regularly to discuss their opinions and views. With that information in mind, it becomes easier to create a plan that alleviates some of the managers’ and stakeholders’ concerns and shines a bright light on the benefits associated with the transformation at the same time.
#3 – Business Culture Disruptions
Every place of business has a culture, even in today’s work-from-home environment. Digital transformation brings change, and change often brings trepidation and fear that can turn even the brightest and friendliest business into one steeped with apprehension. In the workplace, even the smallest changes can be highly disruptive without careful planning and preparation. You can ease the transition a great deal by working with a professional to put together a clearly-defined change management plan. It addresses changes to both the work culture and the business process, which can make the transition period far less intimidating.
#4 – Business Process Disruptions
#5 – Downtime that Affects Your Clients and Customers
There’s a lot that goes into integrating new systems and technologies into your daily workflow, and without meticulous planning, there is a significant risk of downtime that negatively affects your clients and customers. Downtime is avoidable, but it involves creating an integration and implementation plan that is as seamless as possible. Integration plans will vary from one business and industry to another, so it’s important to consider your company’s unique needs, systems, programs, and projects well ahead of time.
5 Pain Points a Well-Executed Digital Transformation Can Resolve
#1 – Everyday Human Error
Image Source: https://blogs.keysight.com
If there’s one thing that your company will benefit from as the result of your digital transformation, it’s a significant reduction in human error. One of the brightest stars in the digital sky is automation, which allows you to improve your company’s overall productivity and efficiency in myriad ways. Though the main goal of automation is to reduce the number of time-consuming repetitive tasks that your employees carry out each day, there are other benefits, as well – and minimizing human error is a big one.
#2 – Overspending in Human Resources
When many of your company’s tasks are still being carried out manually, and when your data is still centralized to your on-site location, you might be surprised at the amount of overstaffing, redundant staffing, and overspending it can create. Once the digital transformation is complete, it will be much simpler to point out which departments are overstaffed, and many companies find that some departments are completely unnecessary.
#3 – Lack of Network Security
The technologies used to breach security walls – even in some of the world’s most well-known enterprises and corporations – continue to become more sophisticated every single day. In fact, dated and ineffective network security is what leads many companies to begin the digital transformation process in the first place. The truth is that if you aren’t using the latest technologies and platforms available to you, then you’re putting your company at risk for potentially devastating network breaches. Going digital can provide many new layers of protection and security that you simply can’t obtain in any other way.
#4 – Lack of Agility and Flexibility
Making sure that your company can roll with the punches of some sort of unexpected external issue is important to your overall success. The term “flexibility” refers to your ability to make changes within your organizational systems, but ideally, you’ll want to make sure your company is agile. Beyond flexibility, agility ensures that you can change an entire system quickly and efficiently in the event of some unexpected outside issue, which includes things like severe weather, fire, or network interruptions.
#5 – Too Little Data and Too Few Assessments
If you think of managing a company like cooking a meal, you can think of regular assessments like taste tests. Ultimately, your goal is to serve the best, most delicious dish you can muster to the hungry people out in the dining room. However, no matter how amazing your ingredients might be, and no matter how much experience you have, if you aren’t taste-testing your dish regularly, how do you know if there’s enough salt or too much spice? Assessments work the same way. If you aren’t getting quality project assessments built on solid data, there’s just no way to know how you’re really performing.
Digital transformation can save your company time and effort, and ultimately, by reaping all the benefits the digital realm has to offer, it can significantly boost your revenue, too. At the end of the day, though, going into a digital transformation without a well-laid plan can lead to trouble. It’s always in your company’s best interest to hire a professional who can help you navigate the entire process from start to finish – and everything in between.
