Four Realistic Digital Transformation trends for 2019
Four Realistic Digital Transformation trends for 2019
What is Digital Transformation?
One can see Digital Transformation as a business evolution, in which marketing, sales, and customer service departments will evolve into a connected digital working environment in pursuit of improving operational efficiencies, higher profits, increased customer loyalty, and satisfaction.
What type of technology digitally transforms a business?
The discussion of what technology is responsible for digital transformation is open for debate. But if we look at market trends, analyst reports, and technology adoption, there are a few obvious standouts in digital transformation. Cloud-based operations, led mostly by the CRM industry, are rapidly subverting on-premises business models. This, followed by AI-powered contact center solutions and other SaaS technologies, has significantly improved enterprise agility.
Companies that have shifted to cloud platforms can leverage a large array of tools that work together. The synergy between CRM and other SaaS applications in the cloud, enable companies to create an intuitive and efficient digital work environment. From a unified cloud platform of connected tools, companies can build greater reports, break down silos and advance operational automation.
Today, the majority of companies have embraced the idea of digital transformation and are getting ready to move forward and face the challenges it brings. To help prepare for change and uncertainty, we present 4 realistic digital transformation trends that companies should keep in mind as they try to chart a clear path to 2019 and beyond.
1. Reducing technical debt will be a priority in 2019
• Over 70% of technical debt is due to an organization’s architecture choice
• The cost of managing technical debt in large software organizations is estimated to be about 25% of the whole development time
• Nine out of 10 IT pros struggle with technical debt, causing delay in software delivery
Recently, the accumulation of technical debt, or the cost of additional rework by using an easy solution rather than a better one, is the cause of the delay of an organization’s digital transformation. The organizations that will move forward in 2019 are those who will be prioritizing and investing in reducing this debt to avoid more serious problems along the way. These problems cost money, make things more difficult and take up valuable time. Although it takes a lot of work, two major strategies organizations can take include not taking shortcuts and identifying the sources of the debt and its cause. Properly addressing technical debt is possible if you have a viable strategy to manage it.
2. Large enterprises will start updating and refining their cloud strategy more aggressively
The annual State of the Cloud Survey in 2018 found that:
• 85% of enterprises used a multi-cloud strategy.
• Of 997 respondents, 96% are using cloud.
• 57%of enterprises have a central cloud team with another 24% planning for one.
In 2019, the majority of large enterprises will be moving to multicloud environments, but to do so, the cloud strategy must be updated and refined. The best environment for digital transformation to do well will be in a combination of cloud services. To accomplish diverse goals, organizations will have to analyze options and eliminate outdated programs or systems in 2019. This most likely means working with a multicloud management software. However, the cloud enterprise is a competitive one, making the transformation more complex and challenging. Therefore, choosing the best cloud adoption strategy is of utmost importance.
3. Customer experience will overtake price and product as the key brand differentiator by 2020
Over 50% of organizations will redirect their investments to customer experience innovations by 2019. Improving customer service has been the top priority for most organizations working on transforming digitally. Doing this faster and better in 2019 will help organizations get a step up in customer experience efforts.
Making this possible includes the process of retooling and restructuring to include digital adoption. To succeed, organizations must deliver personalized service, provide a seamless customer experience to provide customer satisfaction and prepare for the next generation of customers who expect digitally-driven experiences. There is no doubt that in 2019 digital customer experience will become faster and better.
4. Companies will be more open to systematic experimentation and adoption of disruptive emerging tech
Due to the major buzz around digital transformation, in 2019, organizations will be more likely to integrate their products and/or services with emerging technologies. Organizations will quickly adopt these new trends and technologies and use them in their business strategies.
Effectively experimenting with emerging tech as alternatives to current technology, realizing the value of emerging tech, and having a systematic approach to analyze the business potential of these trends is crucial.
Final Thoughts
One thing is for sure, digital transformation is no longer a simple buzzword, its the way to the future and it will change the face of business forever. Organizations need to stay on top of digital transformation trends in order to adapt to technological changes and fight for growth and opportunity. With 2018 almost gone, this is the time when businesses must examine their readiness for 2019.
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This post was written by Brian J Friedman, SoftClouds’ VP Global Strategic Sales, has a background in technology, business development, corporate management and sales. Brian has been responsible for the creation and growth of numerous companies developing successful long-term relationships that have resulted in double-digit sales growth and continuing business expansion.