Even if you would really strive for it, your chances to shirk the buzzwords of today’s IT and business world and society are approaching zero. ‘Digitalisation’ is one of them. And in my humble opinion, it is great that no business seems to be able to behave recalcitrant. Let’s be honest, escaping digitalisation is no option anymore, otherwise your business will most probably suffer significant market share loss in the foreseeable future. Thus, face the truth and confront digitalisation, take off to the future!
Digitalisation begins in mind!
Congratulations! By getting to this page – you will most probably be here for a reason – you already mastered the first step in the right direction. Digitalisation begins in the mind, it is based on rethinking old schemes and requires open-mindedness and an awareness of the digitalisation’s chances and opportunities. So, why is digitalisation beneficial? Well, digital data enable you to use, share and work on them from everywhere at any time. They can be processed automatically and therefor speed up your processes. Digital documents are easy to duplicate and to share, and may be searched through in seconds. In addition, your business will require significantly less space for storing and archiving data. All in all, you stay competitive. Isn’t that what you are looking for?
Paper staples, shelves full of folders, rooms full of archive material. Does it sound like a great deal to trade all that for more office space combined with a greater overview and unlimited access to your data? Digitalisation of data, data storage and backup in a cloud are the key to advanced data analysis.
Implement your own digital environment in order to have your data ready to use from everywhere at any time. A network facilitates employee collaboration and centralized administration. Since access can be granted to or limited for everyone, your data can be easier protected. Last but not least, the network will contribute to an effective use of your business’s resources and could help to increase your employees’ level of satisfaction.
Digitalisation goes hand in hand with rethinking your communication strategy. Designing a website and creating social media pages do not necessarily contribute to your business’s digitalisation development, but since they can be easily connected to your data bases you should consider these channels not only for sharing information, but also – and especially – for gathering data.
As outlined in the first paragraphs of this blog entry, a change of mind is a basis for successfully and sustainably implementing digitalisation measures. Be aware that this change of mind has to happen throughout your business, tearing each single employee. Don’t ignore but try overcome the peoples’ worries coming up, spread emphasis for change, underline the opportunities of moving ahead, motivate each person contributing to your business’ success. And finally train them how to use new devices, tools and features and make sure they clearly see advantages and constantly benefit from process changes.
Following a red thread is crucial!
In case you don’t clearly define your direction, you will lose track due to today’s endless opportunities. Your main goal should definitely be process optimization, improving your business’s efficiency and effectiveness. Further goals should also be on your list, putting your greatest hopes and an optimistic target status in words.
Although you might feel vulnerable when disclosing and analysing your business’s weaknesses and occurring problems, do not hesitate to clearly name them. A fault confessed is half redressed. Digitalisation measures are often key to considerable solutions, both in short-term and in long-term view.
Be aware of steps you already mastered, of digitalisation measures you already implemented successfully. They possibly mean already being a step ahead of your competitors – a competitive advantage you should better not give away frivolously. Take them with you and use them as a basis for further development.
Do also consider your customers’ wishes and needs. Remember, your customer should always come first. Communication is key: Contact your customers, ask for feedback. Which digitalisation measures could they benefit from?
Based on your goals and measures listed, don’t forget so set priorities. Trying to implement everything at once will end up in chaos. Instead of going only half the way, focus on a single step’s completion before you take the next. Which measures are most important to your business and your customers, which are the least? Which steps build on others and therefor have to be deferred? Which improvement would you take the most advantage from?
Good time management can save you a huge amount of money, keeping you away from untimely spending. Carefully plan your time, schedule when to reach which milestone. Make sure you stay realistic – when calculating too optimistic, you risk delays that could higher your costs, confuse your staff allocation, and lower the overall motivation to continue the digitalisation measures you planned for.
Change management also includes establishing a roll-out strategy. Especially if your business engages multiple employees, each of them will require an introduction to measures implemented and new features that need to be dealt with. Which employee will be able to use which feature from which point in time on? How will devices and databases be connected to a network? Who will be granted access to which feature?
And, last but not least, don’t forget to consider your budget. Your financial resources need to be allocated carefully in order to neither leave resources unused, nor to exhaust them too early. A detailed plan should be used to display how much you are looking for to spend on which measure, at which point in time, and eventually how flexible that amount may be.
There is one last thing I want to entrust to your heart:
Do learn from the others’ experiences, avoid making classic mistakes.
You should co-operate with business partners, exchange ideas, experiences and useful advice, in order to learn from another. In addition, you should consider hiring professional external consultants, and take advantage from their knowledge and expertise. Should you be interested in doing so, do now find out why our consultancy is the best choice!
In order to operate and improve independently, focus on establishing an internal, highly professional IT department with technical affine members with an acute sense of recognizing great technological trends in the business world, ideally before your competitors are aware of them. They should also bring competences in software development and programming with them, so that they can tailor any software to your business’ individual needs. IT infrastructure designing skills will also be required. When implementing new features, do never forget to continue employee briefing and to train your managers. Their development defines your business’s development.
Realising innovation is like rowing against the current – you drift backward as soon as you stop.
Thus, stay up-to-date, do not miss further development! Digitalisation may be the first step, but today’s business world is evolving extremely fast. Be warned: Each business refusing to move ahead will be left behind, overcome by competitors, and therefor will have to say goodbye to the market in the blink of an eye.
Nevertheless, after reading this blog post you should not be frightened of what is coming at all. There are numerous businesses that successfully took steps in order to go digital. And in case you should worry about failing to succeed on your own, remember: We are always there for you.
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