The ever-increasing developments in technology have resulted in businesses constantly trying to adapt to the continuous technological changes in order to have better operation and efficiency. The so-called digital transformation is observed more and more often in the changing business environment. However, digital transformation requires computers for its implementation, while its cost can be quite high. Although in the past this term was associated with subsequent radical changes, things now seem to have changed.
Σύμφωνα με τον Ian Cohen, επικεφαλής στον τομέα προιόντων και τεχνολογίας της εταιρείας μεταφορών Addison Lee Group, ο ψηφιακός μετασχηματισμός εξελίσσεται σε έναν όλο και πιο άχρηστο όρο, τον οποίο χρησιμοποιούν οι αναλυτές και οι σύμβουλοι για να περιγράψουν σχεδόν οτιδήποτε σκέφτεται ότι μια εταιρεία κάνει ή πρέπει να κάνει με υπάρχουσες ή αναδυόμενες τεχνολογίες.
Both consumers and workers are becoming increasingly disappointed by the excessive use of technology as well as its exaggerated promises that it will always deliver better results. Many businesses continue to make the mistake of buying technology without truly understanding what problem they are trying to solve, because they worry that their operations might be disrupted.
According to Frost & Sullivan, digital transformation is one of the main reasons why businesses are looking to replace the technologies they use today. The Cloud Industry Forum (CIF) says that it has been many years since organizations began to embrace digital transformation. At the same time, the CIF notes that development is slow and incomplete. For example, only a quarter, or about 28% of UK businesses now have a fully formed digital transformation strategy.
This number is quite low, even though digital transformation is constantly evolving. There is a lack of resources, skills and budget, as the biggest challenges hinder further digitalization. However, it is still not clear why companies are pursuing a digital transformation strategy.
Digital transformation often becomes an end in itself rather than a road to a defined business goal. In other words, many executives continue to believe that digital transformation is a way to address the threat of disruption that may arise, while in reality digital transformation is nothing more than a means to get there. Even worse, digital transformation projects have been blamed for increasing system outages, as they create problems in the existing technological infrastructure of organizations.
Cohen says that business leaders need to stop getting caught up in the hype. They also need to focus on how technology could change their businesses for the better, rather than just the technologies their businesses should buy. Businesses need to start their change agenda with what they want to happen at the end of each change. Sure, some businesses might want to transform processes or even the way they work with their customers by removing what they consider unnecessary or outdated. But that’s not business transformation either. This change agenda involves using digital systems and services, such as the cloud, analytics, artificial intelligence (AI), and more, to achieve clear business goals, which usually means enhancing customer experience, improving revenue, and satisfying shareholders.
In his own company, Cohen now has responsibility for all product and technology activities, in order to ensure that everything his company does is directly linked to creating better experiences for customers. Cohen's goal is to use technology to provide services to customers, whether they are passengers, bookings, or the company's drivers. The projects may include using technology to automate vehicle allocation and dispatch or to develop high-level services, but technology is simply a conduit to help the business develop products and services for its customers.
Notably, 65% of European CEOs are under significant pressure to deliver results from digital transformation. Furthermore, only 20% of European organizations believe they are delivering consistent and good customer experiences, and only 23% of them have smart processes that work and deliver.
According to Neil Ward-Dutton, digital transformation in the digital age is driven by technology, but it also needs the help of people; it cannot focus solely on technology. Digital transformation must be guided by a clear business vision, because only then can the organization truly benefit from the change. Also, it should be noted that each person perceives a term like digital transformation differently.
The technology can be used to change businesses for the better, but we should not merely make assumptions about what will happen. Proper digital change requires clear goals, strong actions and then the implementation of existing and emerging technologies. And while the concept of digital transformation can be destroyed, it is worth mentioning what digital transformation means for Cohen: There is an industrial and cultural revolution that is underway, but it is about the nature of “connected things”, the resulting abundance of data and intelligence – artificial or other – that is applied to data for social and commercial benefit. Then we would truly be talking about a transformation.
