The main goal of every company is to satisfy consumers and increase its bottom line through innovation. As such, many businesses are undergoing a digital transformation—a large-scale revolution within a company towards a modern and digitized system. 7T President Shane Long defines digital transformation this way: “digital transformation is bringing together people, data, and the IoT in a real-time, always available fashion through mobile apps, custom software development and other technologies.” This is accomplished by replacing outdated legacy systems with cutting-edge technology to increase operational efficiency, improve worker productivity and deliver a seamless user experience while boosting revenue.
According to Business 2 Community, 85% of decision-makers feel they only have two years to fully execute their digital transformation before the pack pulls ahead of them, while only 10% of companies describe themselves as fully digital. However, 32% say their digital transformation has improved the efficiency of their operations, while 28% report it has helped them garner new customers. These figures suggest that undergoing a digital transformation cuts costs within the company, inspires workers and allows them to deliver products and services that cast a wider net. But what exactly does a digital transformation entail?
Enhancing the Role of Each Worker
A digital transformation is about so much more than devices and technology; it’s also about the people involved. To implement such a revolution within a company, senior executives need to bring in skilled digital workers, create a forward-thinking culture and foster an environment that brings the best out of each worker.
Developing enterprise apps with smart business solutions that target common problems and improve daily workflow within the company is key to ensuring each employee is contributing to your digital transformation strategy. The goal is to create an enterprise app that streamlines work processes, automates time-consuming tasks and motivates employees to increase their output. By understanding your employee’s needs and challenges, you can develop tools that set them up for success.
Collaboration is also critical when undergoing a big company change. Unite the talents of members within the company with those of a skilled developer or consultant who can help you define a clear digital strategy. By having many sets of focused eyes on a particular project, businesses can better develop tools and products designed to serve their customers.
The Power of Data
Big data—vast data sets that can be combined with smart algorithms to identify patterns, trends and connections between human behaviors and interactions—is a critical part of any digital transformation. With this technology, businesses can develop a comprehensive picture of customers’ interests. This data can then be leveraged to develop tools that will optimize a business’ ROI in the form of product recommendation engines, among other tools. These engines examine customers using data that informs companies about user behavior and offers personalized recommendations based on their sales history, product affinity statistics and more.
Predictive analytics goes hand-in-hand with big data. With PA, you can unearth insights from existing datasets to predict future patterns and trends. By getting an idea of future trends, you can drive sales with product recommendations and establish effective plans to meet certain goals. Big data and predictive analytics can be used either separately or in tandem to achieve detailed business insights.
A successful digital transformation requires the use of data to create software, hardware and other products and services to optimize the user experience. Data allows a company to understand every piece of information relating to a customer’s needs and interactions in order to create satisfying solutions.
The Importance of IoT for Digital Transformation
We live in a connected world thanks to the explosion of the Internet of Things (IoT) in the last 10 years. There are more connected devices than ever in 2018, and IDC predicts that the number of these devices will reach 80 billion by 2025. In fact, 451 Research projects that IoT applications are the next frontier for enterprises, noting that 65% of IT and IoT leaders plan on increasing their IoT spending over the next 12 months. As such, this is a prime time to take advantage of this technology.
Here are some ways IoT can benefit a digital transformation strategy:
- Cloud Computing: More devices are connected to the cloud than ever before, allowing businesses to easily store and share data between devices and cloud computing data centers.
- Improved Communication: IoT devices can connect millions of users around the world to a single product or service. Within a company, an IoT network paves the way for easier communication and data transmission among workers, both inside and outside the office.
- Data Gathering: With IoT, companies can amass data generated by smart devices in order to garner a more comprehensive idea of what consumers are expecting and how to meet their desires. These insights can be used to improve current products and services or create new ones that provide innovative solutions.
- Streamline Workflow Processes: IoT also helps with operational inefficiencies by using data to streamline workflow processes, identify any bugs or bottlenecks within the company and tackle pressing issues in real-time. You can even automate processes, thereby slashing costs while allowing employees to focus on other tasks.
By replacing lingering IT systems with IoT, you can increase the agility of your business’ operations. A personalized customer experience is everything these days, and big data analysis powered by IoT is an effective way of optimizing a company’s digital strategy.
Mobile Apps and Digital Transformation
Mobile apps are an essential part of a successful digital transformation strategy. After all, a vast number of people use smartphones and tablets as their preferred mode of communication, making a well-developed app the perfect tool to reach your target audience. Learn about your users first, then develop an app tailored to suit their needs.
- Convenience: Users love it when everything they need is right at their fingertips—literally. Even if you have a stellar website, many users are more likely to download an app than visit a website and prefer the one-touch convenience of mobile.
- Engagement: Features such as tutorials, instructions, mobile alerts, and push notifications keep users engaged while continuously reminding them about your company.
- Brand Recognition and Loyalty: In-app incentives are a powerful way to get users hooked. For example, McDonald’s app not only creates added convenience for users, but it also lets you earn loyalty points that can net you free food when you use the app.
To get the most out of your mobile app, make sure you have a well-crafted user interface and gather data regarding user experience to ensure your app is pleasing the intended audience. If you really want to stand out from the pack, you can even consider integrating cutting-edge technology such as augmented reality or natural language processing into your app.
Undergoing a Digital Transformation in 2018-2019
A digital transformation is a must for companies wanting to stay competitive in 2018-2019. You’ll have more data regarding your customers, market trends and bottlenecks. Plus, IoT’s ability to combine data with smart devices adds value to your operational efficiency by demonstrating problem areas within your business and providing data-informed solutions, while a mobile app can help attract and retain customers. The end result will be increased customer satisfaction and an improved bottom line.
If you’re hoping to push your company to the digital age, you will need a developer with the talent and experience to help you achieve your goals. The team at 7T offers smart solutions that aid companies looking to undergo a digital transformation while also bolstering the efficiency of your operations with mobile cloud services solutions and digital strategy consultants. In addition, we have extensive experience with emerging technologies, including virtual reality, blockchain, augmented reality, virtual reality, artificial intelligence and natural language processing.
Although 7T is headquartered in Dallas, we also work with clients in Austin, Houston, and across the United States. If you’re ready to discuss your project, contact us today.
