Digital Transformation: What Does it Look Like for Businesses?

Smart organizations are always looking for ways to improve how they do business. Digital transformation is a way for businesses to get the most out of their technology by improving workflows and overall efficiency. What does digital transformation look like and how can you implement it in your business?

Digital Transformation Real World Example
A perfect example of digital transformation that anyone can relate with is seen with McDonald\'s. The fast food chain has been working towards streamlining the ordering process, utilizing kiosks in some locations to reduce the time it takes to order and serve food. The kiosks allow customers to pay with Apple pay, which adds convenience while decreasing the time it takes to go through the order process. Other food chains are going in different directions, like adding online ordering to their offering. Both serve as examples of adopting modern technologies to improve operations, which is essential for digital transformation.

Digital transformation is implemented in a way which allows your organization to build out a unified technology platform that changes, or reimagines, the way that operations work. In short, it’s a method of improving your company’s operations through the use of data, analytics, and various other digital tools. One of the most incredible benefits presented by digital transformation is the ability to adapt and seize new opportunities. While this might seem simple, it’s hardly a matter of simply implementing new technology.

To help your business implement digital transformation, we’ll walk you through the best way to get started.

Consider the Scope
Many organizations don’t understand just how much work is involved in implementing digital transformation. If you underestimate this important factor, you can potentially be left in a situation where you’re in over your head and don’t know what to do next. You can’t leave anything out in terms of digital transformation--you want end-to-end implementation of solutions that allow for efficient digital business practices. You will be relying on your department managers for much of this decision making, as they will best understand how technology affects their specific part of your business. Once the processes have been outlined, you can move toward creating a unified platform for your technology solutions.

Start at the Beginning
It might be tempting to consider only what it would take to digitize your business’s current infrastructure. However, more often than not, your operational infrastructure will be outdated in at least some sort of capacity. In this case, it’s best to just invest in new solutions that allow you to recreate your business processes in even better ways than before. This allows you to identify the strengths and weaknesses of your current processes, and it also provides a valuable opportunity to improve them.

Build Your Transformation Process Alongside Production
Chances are that the solutions and processes you implement will disrupt the way that your current operations work. Therefore, it’s logical to make sure that digital transformation is built alongside your current organization in a way which allows for proactive migration, while also focusing on thorough testing throughout the implementation process. Solutions like virtualization and cloud computing make this process easier through the use of isolated containers for specified, isolated testing.

Plan for the Future
Since we’re discussing changing your infrastructure for the purposes of improving operations, there is an implication that you want to make sure any changes performed to your infrastructure are for the sake of future flexibility and efficiency. Your goal throughout the digital transformation process should be to improve processes, but you need to remain cognizant of unforeseen changes that could derail your plans. Keep in mind that, once your assets have been digitized, you’ll need to consider any new addition to your infrastructure from a technical standpoint.

To this end, Washington Works can help. We can assist your organization with its digital transformation process from start to finish. For more information, reach out to us at 301-571-5040.