What is digital transformation?

Digital transformation is a well-planned strategy to overhaul an organization through

information technology. The aim is most often to create new lines of businessor new business
models for existing lines of business. A digital transformation strategy also moves your
company away from time-consuming analog processes to lightning-fast digital ones. From
sales and marketing to logistics and human resources, every part of the organization feels
these changes and sees processes improve — from product development to employee
onboarding.
The technology involved in digital transformation centers on information. It includes
processes related to collecting, cleansing, cataloging, and storing data. These processes allow
companies to better govern, retrieve, analyze, and integrate data in business processes. Digital
transformation boosts efficiency and productivity, freeing employees up so they can work on
higher-value tasks.
Digital transformation is sometimes driven by IT leaders, sometimes by business leaders, and
sometimes by a combination of the two working together. 
 
 

Why digital transformation matters

The potential for digital transformation to improve business processes makes it essential for
any company wanting to stay ahead in its industry. As your industry evolves, you need to
evolve with it, or you'll be left behind. There are a few primary benefits to digital
transformation that make it crucial to your future success:
 
1. Improves customer experience
Digital transformation allows you to deliver a better experience to your tech-savvy
customers, as it gives them more ways to interact with your company. Since digital
technology allows you to communicate with customers in more ways, you can better meet
them where they're most comfortable, improving their experiences as a result. Popular
methods for customer communication with digital technology include live chat, email, mobile
apps, and social media.
 
2. Increases your competitiveness
Companies in your industry aren't waiting around to digitally transform their processes. You
shouldn't wait either if you want to stay as competitive as possible. Implementing a digital
transformation strategy can help you pull ahead of other companies that are slow to adapt to
new technology.
 
3. Reduces labor costs and raises productivity 
Digital business transformation can significantly raise your employees' productivity. Many
digital tools allow you to automate key processes and keep your information updated in a
central location, allowing employees to work faster. Automating processes can also help you
lower the labor costs related to certain tasks and devote staff to more profitable work.

 
 

Examples of digital transformation in

various departments and industries
For many companies, success depends on digital transformation. Learn more about the
primary ways digital transformation is benefitting various departments below:
 
Sales
Sales teams continuously improve their ability to sell to customers by relying on digital
transformation. Many digital technologies enable sales to collect and analyze more data about
consumer behavior, making it possible for sales reps to better target consumers and meet their
needs. Digital transformation can give reps more information to see their consumers as
individuals, reviewing their behavior and using it to make the buyers journey more enjoyable
and personalized.
 
Customer service
Today's customers expect to receive top-quality customer service on their phone or device
with a single click or swipe. Many customer service departments utilize smartphones, apps,
and electronic payment services to better (and more quickly) help their customers.
Companies can use digital transformation to automate many of their customer service
department's tasks and provide more channels for customer engagement. Digital
transformation is crucial in the social media space, as it helps companies meet customers
where they are and identify their needs.
 
Marketing
The marketing department also benefits greatly from digital transformation, as it can help
companies reach more customers at a lower cost. Instead of relying on the costly print
marketing materials of the past, marketing companies can use digital materials to better reach
customers on social media, email, or online ads. Digital transformation can also assist
marketing companies, as it gives them more analytics tracking and marketing automation
abilities.
In addition to departments, digital transformation also helps many industries, including:
 
Retail
The digital era has opened up new channels for retailers to sell their products to more
customers. Digital technologies allow companies to sell their goods online, provide e-
coupons and loyalty cards, and personalize a customer's in-store or online experience. Digital
transformation in retail also involves using digital systems that are designed to send
individualized alerts to customers, better track customer behavior trends, and get more value
out of purchasing and inventory systems.
 
Banking
The banking and financial services industry has also benefited from digital transformation.
For example, digital transformation has reduced the need for people to handle transactions in
person. Instead, customers and clients can take care of their finances via online and mobile
banking. People can also utilize new payment systems to pay for items with their phones,
whether in a retail store or online, leading to less reliance on plastic cards and cash.
 
 

How to implement successful digital

transformation strategies
While digital transformation is a key to success in most industries, not every company knows
how to pull it off. Technology can improve your security and compliance posture, boost
productivity, and reduce costs when applied correctly. A good set of tools applied in the right
places can also upgrade your processes, reduce cycle times, and improve both employee and
customer experience.
You'll want to apply digital transformation strategies at the right time. Those who wait too
long often fall behind and fail. Those who are too quick to innovate face a different set of
challenges, which could just as easily result in failure.
If you're interested in implementing digital transformation at your company, you'll often need
both IT leaders and business leaders on board. Each of the two types of leaders has a different
perspective they can bring to the digital transformation process. Using both of these
perspectives at your company can ensure your whole team gets on board and sees the benefits
of transforming your business with information technology.