It should not come as any great surprise that digital transformation projects are now being fast tracked as business-critical departments seek a technology solution that will allow them to continue to deliver crucial business services while also facilitating the need to deliver everything in a remote environment.
Last year, out of nowhere a global pandemic swept the world and multinational organizations everywhere entered crisis mode. 2020 was really about figuring out how to keep their heads above water -how to physically deliver the services in a non-office-based environment and create a process that would allow this to visibly continue over a period of months.
Now that the dust has settled on last year and it is clear that we will be living with the restrictions of the global pandemic for the bulk of 2021, thoughts are now shifting from delivery in the present to considerations around long-term plans. If remote working is here to stay, what are the implications of this when it comes to the roadmap for business models and long-term planning?
This is one of the major questions that key technology leaders, C-Suite teams and board members are having conversations about. It makes sense to be talking about this - in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, many organizations took stock and readjusted their business strategy in response to what was a world defining event. Now that we have another such event, it is reasonable to expect that organizations are having similar conversations about the future.
In this article, we will examine some of the topics that might come up in these conversations as leadership teams look to prioritize digital transformation projects in an effort to both survive and gain a competitive advantage in a post pandemic business environment.
Accelerate digital transformation
In the past, a digital transformation officer or digital transformation project manager hire may have struggled to receive key stakeholder support or project priority. The global pandemic and a swift move to a remote working environment means that this person has now become a crucial hire and many organizations will already have accelerated their plans to seek out and recruit individuals with experience of helping organizations transition from legacy technology to a digitally innovative environment.
The acceleration of digital transformation is likely to be supported by leadership teams and the CIO. Simply put, organizations lacking sufficient digital technologies and cloud platform infrastructure are struggling to meet critical business targets in the current environment, So what chance have they in a post pandemic world? CIOs will be in regular contact with their digital transformation project leads (if they are lucky enough to have them -they are a rare breed in the talent market) and senior technology leaders, as they look to support digital transformation projects and prioritize transformation efforts across their tech ecosystem and business critical services.
The next couple of years are likely to be demanding for technology and digital transformation leaders. Everybody will want their opinion and support when it comes to creating digital improvements in their departments- these individuals can expect cries for help from human resources, finance and global payroll to name just a few. Their concerns will be around long-term remote access the key data along with using innovative tools for process improvement and efficient service delivery.
Prioritize funding of digital projects
CFOs will also be feeling the pressure as a range of different stakeholders will likely be approaching this person to ask or demand that their individual department receive prompt funding for what they perceive to be long overdue digital transformation.
There will likely be very few areas of a business that do not require some form of digital transformation in terms of an adequate response to a global pandemic. Business leaders such as the CIO and the CFO will have to work closely with digital transformation managers to prioritize the distribution of resources to fund this level of digital transformation. This will likely be a long-term plan stretching over the next four years at least. Organizations cannot respond overnight to request for digitization, nor can they simply open up the book and sink vast amounts of cash into digital initiatives without considering long term viability and sustainability.
So, the next few years will be a somewhat delicate balancing act between prioritizing the needs of the wider business with digital capabilities and controlling cash spends in what is still a very precarious business environment.
Automate for speed and efficiency
One thing that all digital transformation strategy project leads will be keen to accelerate is the use of automation and machine learning tools in core business service areas. They will look to immediately replace any repeatable and recurring process with alternative technology such as robotic process automation or artificial intelligence. This is digital transformation in action where the business outcomes and benefits can be realized relatively quickly- vast amounts of time can be saved as automated functions take over from humans and potentially replace days of work with minutes of work.
Automation and hyper automation is one area where the hype around digital transformation really delivers-the benefits are highly visible, costs can be saved and there is a clear path to return on investment. Hyper automation combines machine learning with automation tools and can be hugely effective when organizations wish to clear backlogs of repeatable tasks (held in legacy systems) in a digital first style.
Professionals within the organization have more time to focus on priority tasks and potential human error is reduced or even eliminated from recurring tasks. Automation has the added value of being a process that can be duplicated across several business functions -as soon as the need is identified, and the technology is put in place- it can then be duplicated and applied to other business functions which contain similar recurring processes as part of their service delivery. Adoption rates of hyper automation technology across key business functions like human resources and global payroll is expected to rise significantly in the next two to three years as companies prepare for life and business in a post pandemic environment.
A digital first organization
Many companies, if they have not already done so, will likely accelerate their digital transformation in a bid to become a digital first organization. In such an organization, digital processes such as automation do the heavy lifting while also being the key driver for business growth, scaling and new operating models.
Investment in digital transformation is likely to mirror what is happening in the wider economy where IT and technology spends will continue to increase as companies everywhere look to introduce greater levels of digitization across their core business functions.
Digital first is about preparing for a longer than anticipated period of remote service delivery while also putting in place is the foundations and digital platforms needed to thrive in a post pandemic world where digital technology is likely to be the dominant force.