As organizations continue to face pressures from record labor shortages, inflation, and supply chain challenges, investments in digital transformation efforts have become a vital driver of sustained profits. Outdated systems and processes may hinder a company’s ability to quickly adapt in today’s marketplace. Whether through business process reengineering, automation, strategic software updates, or data analysis, companies can harness value creation and competitive advantage through digital transformation.  

Where to Start: Analyze the Current Landscape

Understanding the strengths and weaknesses of your organization’s current digital foundation can pinpoint the opportunities for major improvements and prioritize projects. To get the most out of digital transformation, a company’s leadership team must align on the future-state environment and what it will take to achieve these goals. The most successful long-term improvements are sustainable, scalable, and tailored to the specific needs of the company. Projects will typically fall into one or more of four categories.

1. Optimize Operations through Business Process Reengineering

For companies dealing with increasingly complex business processes or an increase in customer complaints, there may be an opportunity to rework business operations. Business Process Reengineering (BPR) is a strategy that reorganizes the vital processes and operations that allow a company to function. Start with obtaining broad executive-team support as well as planning for significant lead time, adequate budget, and a way to gather feedback from employees across levels.

2. Embrace the Automation Revolution

Automation can help leverage a smaller workforce and produce scalable business processes without additional headcount. The right software and investment can simplify complex business processes into streamlined operations. Companies looking to automate processes or bring in Robotic Process Automation (RPA) should consider the organizational requirements and executive-level support needed to ensure business continuity and how technologies can enable their teams. When implemented correctly, automation can save companies thousands of work hours and reduce employee burnout.

3. Select Software Strategically

Outdated software can deter progress by lacking standard functionality and integration capabilities. Several considerations while evaluating a technology stack may come into play. First, the organization needs to be sure that new software is in sync with its business and industry needs. Next, the business needs to ensure that the software suite will be scalable with growth. With software processes becoming more integrated, it is also important to consider how to align the various functions of the business to the software future state.

4. Create Processes to Act on Data

To challenge the status quo and support decisions through data analytics, companies must ensure that data is accessible and accurate to make real-time changes. When data doesn’t live up to a management team’s expectations, it could be due to disparate data repositories, poor data management, or a lack of access. Standardizing Master Data across platforms and implementing a self-service reporting platform can enable teams to make sound decisions for improving the business.

Taking the First Step Toward Digital Transformation

The digital landscape is complex and changing rapidly. Companies that take a proactive approach to technological advancements can drive revenue to the bottom line and make smarter decisions for the business.

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