How Digitally Transformed Is Your Business? Assess your company's digital transformation using these four indicators
By Aniruddh M V
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There is hardly an industry which has not been affected by the inflow of digital technologies, from being a buzzword digital transformation is becoming a norm. There's is a substantial amount of information online about how large companies and enterprises can digitally transform, we want to focus on small and medium businesses, and give them a quick reference guide.
To start, what is digital transformation? One good way to define a digitally transformed business, is how it has integrated digital technologies in all aspects of its operations.
Chances are your business is already in the process of digital transformation. Digital technologies encompass everything from your website or mobile phone to complex applications that execute tasks.
What follows are digital transformation indicators or DT Indicators.
Also Read: Does Your Business Need a Digital Transformation?
DT Indicator 1: Active Online Presence
Any company's digital profile starts with a website. This is essentially your storefront in the virtual world. Building stunning websites used to be a demanding task and required constant iterations with website developers and designers.
Today, website builder tools on the cloud can help anyone create a website through a simple drag-and-drop interface. Additionally, most website builder platforms include hosting services and extensions to turn it into an e-commerce site as well.
Also Read: The How-To: Digital Transformation In Action
DT Indicator 2: Coordinated Sales
While websites act as the front-end of your business, sales presents your offering as value to your customers. For years, sales teams have been manually finding leads, nurturing them and closing deals. Today, these same actions are carried out by intelligent tools that set up customized processes for your sales team.
DT Indicator 3: Collaborative Workplace
In a digital first workplace, your employees are no longer working in silos. Instead they create, communicate and collaborate. These tools include chat, email, an office suite and Web conferencing tools to stay in touch with remote employees. Some organizations even require an internal social network.
DT Indicator 4: Streamlined Operations
The advent of digital technology—whether on-cloud or on-premise—has reduced manual time and effort in operations. Applications now accurately track orders and supplies, complete a demand forecast, automate invoicing, maintain books and even pay taxes.
DT Indicator 5: Data-driven Decision Making
Data is the building block of digital systems. As you move forward, every business process that you configure will produce additional data which acts as points of reference for future decision making. As businesses scale, these systems need to be extendable and allow for custom applications that meet specific needs.
Also Read: Should your Business Opt for an Integrated System or a Multi-vendor Solution?
Conclusion
Only when an organization can completely integrate all aspects of the business with digital technology can say that it has undergone a successful digital transformation.
The indicators are not concrete but should act as reference points for a firm to consider when beginning its digital transformation.
These indicators are not concrete but should act as reference points for a small business firms to consider when beginning its digital transformation journey.
Did you do a quick assessment? A score of over 3 out of 5 digital transformation indicators, would denote that you are on the right track.
If you are looking to completely transform your business digitally, consider Zoho One, an all-in-one suite of applications that will help you run different aspects of business like sales, marketing, human resource management, finance, email, collaboration tools and more.
