Digital transformation has been a critical priority for most businesses operating in today’s volatile environment. However, post-pandemic, the pace and scale of transformations have sky-rocketed as most businesses have realized that the only way to survive and thrive in an uncertain world is by using technology as a catalyst to drive growth.
Although most organizations have been quick in embracing remote collaboration tools and modernizing their legacy systems, the focus has still been on how to emerge victorious from the pandemic – in the short-term. Many are still looking at digital transformation as a quick workaround for immediate results, not realizing that the long-term success of their business depends on sustained transformation efforts.
Here’s how you can sustain your digital transformation traction post Covid-19:
1. Ensure Business Continuity Planning is Top of the Agenda
If there is one thing organizations have realized post-pandemic, it is that disasters don’t strike with warning. To ensure the business operates as usual, organizations must ensure business continuity planning is top of their agenda: right from building a robust DR strategy to periodically backing up critical data – proactively planning for business continuity can go a long way in ensuring the business is resilient to disruptions and can adapt to new ways of working that fits the new environmental condition.
2. Continue to Enable Work from Anywhere
As soon as the pandemic struck, almost every organization had remote working as a top priority in their digital transformation checklist. Although the remote working model enabled the global workforce to work from anywhere, many organizations intend to have employees shift back to their desk-based job – as soon as things get back to normal. However, continuing to enable work from anywhere can lead to several long-term benefits including increased employee engagement and better productivity gains, as well as the flexibility to deliver value from the place of their choice.
3. Make Security a Constant Priority
Security constitutes a large and integral portion of any digital transformation initiative. However, in a bid to keep up with the pace of unexpected changes and embrace new technologies, many organizations have been incapable of dealing with evolving threats. To ensure security continues to take precedence in transformation efforts, CISOs need to disperse security responsibilities across the organization and establish policies that strike the right balance between protecting assets, detecting anomalies, and responding to cybersecurity incidents.
4. Put Customers at the Center of Everything You Do
The impact of the pandemic on employees has been just as intense as it has been on customers. Sustaining transformation efforts requires organizations to rethink how they serve customers and take into account a much broader set of behaviors. They need to revamp their business models and embrace principles that put customers at the center of everything they do, so more relevant, tailored, and consistent products, services, and experiences can be delivered to customers – irrespective of the business landscape.
5. Unearth Insights from Data
In today’s uncertain business environment, change is the only constant. To ensure your digital transformation efforts are aligned with current trends and challenges, you need to constantly unearth insights from data and take steps to enable greater value. Your ability to understand and analyze data is critical for effective decision-making. It also ensures you’re solving the right problems at the right time and the right place – and in a quick, effective, and unbiased manner.
6. Become Agile and Stay Agile
Sustaining digital transformation also requires organizations to embrace agile ways of working. Compared to traditional models with fixed timelines, costs, and resources, they must embrace cloud and associated services and pave the way for increased flexibility. Agile methods not only allow organizations to easily respond to changes in the environment, they can also help them learn, iterate, and improve upon the products and services they offer to customers.
Technology advancement and adoption is happening faster than ever as a result of the pandemic. A recent study by McKinsey states that we have vaulted five years forward in consumer and business digital adoption in a matter of around eight weeks. Although this is a clear indication of the pace of digital transformation, sustaining this transformation speed requires organizations to work on ensuring business continuity, enabling work from anywhere, making security a priority, putting customers at the center of everything, unearthing insights from data, and driving agility.