Companies that ask themselves this question are asking the wrong question. It’s not a case of whether they need Digital Transformation, but where and how they need to deploy these technologies. Mobile and the cloud are revolutionizing workforces for companies large and small. Equipping staff with mobile technology and connecting them on the move with business applications rapidly enhances the productivity and availability of the workforce. It also improves employee happiness and retention, because today’s workers like the flexibility of being able to work from anywhere.
Big data is already changing the way we do business. The Internet of Things and the proliferation of connected devices are set to make big data even bigger. And by combining big data and the cloud, organizations can process and analyze vast amounts of data. All of this information feeds back into intelligent business insights delivered in real-time. Just over half (54 percent) of respondents to HBR’s Digital Transformation survey say that big data has already transformed their organizations, and 70 percent expect it to do so going forward.
Big data doesn’t just deliver customer insights: it can also lead to entirely new products. For example, car insurance companies can install a wireless device in a vehicle that sends back data about how safely it’s being driven. The driver can reduce their premiums by driving well and insurance companies gain data that helps drive more accurate pricing and new product categories.
Businesses getting the most from Digital Transformation start by making the best user experience their goal. They often find that the way to achieve this is through a combination of cloud, mobile, social, and big data technologies. A mobile app, for example, should allow communication with your business and feed big data insights back to your company via the cloud. Best of all, you don’t have to re-engineer every process. A new customer app, for example, may still be able to use your existing back-end technologies.
