¿Qué es la transformación digital?
Vivimos en un contexto de continuo cambio y evolución, donde las tecnologías digitales se están imponiendo en todos los campos que se encuentran, y donde la economía cambia constantemente en función de esta tecnología. Esta realidad hace necesario que cualquier organización, empresa o institución implemente capacidades digitales en su lucha por ser competitiva y mantenerse a flote. Por ello, la digitalización se vuelve imprescindible, en un proceso conocido como transformación digital.
La transformación digital se entiende como el conjunto de cambios que implican la implantación de capacidades digitales en todos los ámbitos de una empresa, englobando procesos, productos, estrategias y competencias, con el objetivo de mejorar su eficiencia, facilitar la gestión de riesgos y, en general, lograr una rápida y necesaria adaptación al contexto de tecnología digital en el que nos encontramos.
Una definición más sencilla de transformación digital podría ser que es el conjunto de acciones que llevan a cabo las organizaciones para adaptarse a un nuevo mundo, en el que la tecnología está presente en su día a día. Es un proceso donde la empresa introduce su negocio al mundo tecnológico, a través de herramientas orientadas a satisfacer sus necesidades.
Con estas definiciones en mente, es lógico que esta transformación requiera una evaluación y reinvención de prácticamente todos los aspectos dentro de una organización, desde la cadena de suministro y la estrategia de trabajo hasta las habilidades y capacidades de sus empleados y las interacciones con los clientes.
Fuente: https://pixabay.com/es/ilustraciones/digitalizaci%c3%b3n-transformaci%c3%b3n-hombre-4751659/
¿Qué impulsa la transformación digital en una empresa?
En el apartado anterior hemos visto una serie de tecnologías emergentes que condicionarán cada vez más el funcionamiento de las empresas y los mercados.
El acceso a todos ellos requiere un nivel mínimo de digitalización, pero incluso para las empresas que no están tan directamente involucradas en esta revolución tecnológica, la transformación digital es una necesidad.
En general, son varias las causas que inducen a la necesidad de una estrategia de transformación digital, y en muchos casos van de la mano:
- Cambios en el comportamiento y expectativas de los clientes.
- Nuevas realidades y paradigmas económicos
- Cambios sociales, tanto en el tipo de necesidades como en el mundo de las ideas e incluso a nivel estadístico, donde el envejecimiento de la población se hace cada vez más notorio.
- Disrupción del ecosistema y la industria
- Tecnologías digitales emergentes o existentes
Digital transformation strategy
A digital transformation strategy focuses on building capabilities within a company that maximise the opportunities of new technologies and accelerate their impact - and, of course, their benefits.
This process requires the involvement of different aspects of the company in a clear and concise roadmap to be followed, which must take into account at all times that the end goals are not static but changing, as digital transformation is a continuously evolving journey, just as innovation is.
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSU2q-1YsM4
A very important aspect to bear in mind is the versatility of this process. While there are common goals and common basic challenges, there are also big differences in the way forward depending on the company, the region in which it is located, the partners, and so on. Thus, the guidelines are never fixed.
Source: https://pixabay.com/es/photos/ajedrez-ipad-3d-digital-estrategia-1214226/
However, we can describe the parts that generally need to be reinvented in a digital transformation strategy at the business level:
- Company functions or activities: marketing, operations, human resources, administration, customer service, etc.
- Business processes: All those set of operations that have a specific business objective. Digital transformation requires the optimisation of these processes, and in most cases involves their automation.
- Business models: It is essential to regenerate the way the company operates, meaning the value proposition, the way it seeks to make money and the approach it takes to marketing its product or service. New sources of revenue and new approaches in terms of investment must be proposed.
- Business ecosystems: A digital transformation in a company is never a stand-alone, independent process. There are contextual factors that affect any business, as well as a number of partners or stakeholders. In this sense, in order for a company to effectively achieve digitalisation, it must be supported by others who have the same objective and concentrate their efforts on innovating. For this reason, it is worthwhile for a company to encourage and collaborate with partners or stakeholders to move forward digitally.
- Asset management: A company that wants to transform digitally must broaden its range of assets and identify as such elements such as customers and information itself. These non-tangible elements are becoming increasingly important in the competitiveness of companies, so it is essential to analyse the experience and interests of customers, as well as the treatment of data, its protection and confidentiality.
- Organisational culture: These are the principles that make up the "personality" of a company. It is the result of the set of norms and values by which a company is governed in any of its areas, from the skills used in the performance of work to the relationships between the whole team or even the participation in different external activities, its involvement in social problems, etc.
A company's corporate image, and therefore its competitiveness, depends on its organisational culture. Organisational culture is therefore a key aspect in the success of a company, so digital transformation must take it into account. It is therefore necessary to adapt our corporate image to the new changes, to associate it with innovation.
This reshaping does not have to mean an abandonment of the values that govern a company and with which it has functioned well. The aim should only be to adjust the organisation and established rules according to the new needs brought about by digital technology.
- The role of customers, employees and partners: The reality is that digital transformation must always put people before technology, and a company that wants to opt for success must set the expectations and needs of stakeholders at its core. Without taking the human aspect into account, an effective and productive implementation of digital technologies will not be possible. Therefore, it must be remembered at all times that digital transformation is an additional enabler to a company's development, a component of the equation, but the equation will not be solved if the focus is not kept on the role of the stakeholders.
Source: https://pixabay.com/es/vectors/formaci%c3%b3n-curso-negocio-5822607/
The training of employees in digitisation is particularly relevant and should be seen as a prerequisite for digital transformation. They must feel involved in the process and acquire knowledge on the subject in order to tackle their tasks successfully, through courses, access to seminars, the implementation of projects, etc. We cannot forget that this is a constantly evolving field that needs informed and up-to-date staff.
Digital disruption
The objective of the implementation of the digital transformation process is to achieve a digital disruption in companies, i.e. an irreversible change, a new working context based on the exponential speed of technological innovation that puts an end to the traditional business model.
It is true that an increasing number of companies are committed to technological needs, but not many, with strong projects, have achieved digital disruption by changing their business model without backtracking.
The truth is that, as innovations grow at a faster pace, this digital disruption is becoming an increasingly urgent necessity.
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a33tgxN8x_Q
In January 2019, an article was published as part of the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting entitled "What the next 20 years will mean for employment and how to prepare", which reaffirms this accelerating revolution that will completely change working lives. This revolution, of course, goes hand in hand with digital disruption, and is summarised in five major shifts:
- Artificial intelligence and robotics will eventually create more jobs, not less, just as they do today.
- There will not be a lack of jobs, but a need for appropriate measures, as well as a shortage of qualified people to fill those jobs.
- As remote working becomes the norm, cities and companies will enter a new war for the talent of the future. Disconnecting work from a location will give people a new geographic freedom to live where they want, and cities and metropolitan areas will compete to attract this new mobile workforce.
- According to the workforce growth rates of the FreelancinginAmerica2017 study, by 2027 the majority of workers will be self-employed. In Europe we do not have data, but the trend is likely to be along the same lines.
- Technological
change will continue to increase, so learning new skills will be a constant
necessity throughout life.
To address these predictions, it is necessary to prepare the company in a series of key aspects that make digital disruption viable:
Embracing global change: Digital transformation is an entirely global process, and as such, it must be embraced by all sectors, from large multinationals to small entrepreneurs. The latter include the rise of start-ups. New business models have taken advantage of technological disruption, finding new market niches and adapting to increasingly specialised demands.
Source: https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2013/12/09/20/52/news-226200_1280.jpg
Changing the business mentality: It is a prerequisite for companies to assume that the traditional business model is coming to an end. For this to happen, the most important thing is the people who manage and form part of the companies. It is they who have the capacity to transform knowledge and apply information and communication technologies. A major constraint in this respect is the constant alertness in which most leaders are immersed, fearful of risking their current models to an uncertain future. It is true that there is a growing involvement of managers and executives in facing this challenge, but the "fear" is still present.
Source: https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2015/04/28/07/55/mindset-743166_1280.jpg
Analyse influencing factors: As we already know, there is a wide range of factors influencing the digital transformation process that need to be studied in order to create an effective procedure. In this regard, a company should analyse the businesses that would be beneficial to engage with in triggering the disruption. It should also study the needs of its region, as well as those of the average customer, and target its strategy based on this.
Source: https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2013/11/20/23/00/test-214185__480.jpg
In relation to beneficial relationships, an interesting example is the partnership of the multinational Mercedes-Benz and the drone company Matternet, who created the Vans & Drones project, an integrated parcel delivery solution that would facilitate the reception of products under high demand. This project highlights the advantages that one business can offer to another, even if they are not closely related in terms of subject matter, which also allows more effort to be devoted to creating new strategies and projects instead of increasing the number of tasks within the company's own infrastructure.
Adapt to new needs: Entrepreneurs must accept the disruptive process as a paradigm that forces an adaptation that cannot be reversed. Therefore, it is necessary to learn to detect all the business models offered by the digital economy. On the other hand, in the current economic context, specialised businesses are triumphing to the detriment of a mass audience, given the needs of an increasingly segmented public.
Source: https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2015/06/27/09/03/adaptation-823401__340.png
In this sense of specialisation, many companies begin by offering a single product or service that identifies them and satisfies a single need, and then expand into other needs. An example of this is the company Uber, which, although it began by offering a personal transport service, has now segmented itself by offering home delivery of food through the UberEATS platform, or by providing an exclusive solution for the delivery of medical products and hospital trips through the UberHEALTH assistance platform.
Building a community: In an increasingly digitalised and networked world, the public's demands are increasing at a dizzying speed, as their power in social networks and their hyperconnectivity grows, so that they can access any business at the click of a button. For this reason, it is necessary to analyse in detail the needs of the customer, as well as those of employees, to integrate them into the means available to the company to communicate and make itself known.
Source: https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2018/11/29/21/51/social-media-3846597__340.png
Diagnóstico de la madurez digital de una empresa
Un diagnóstico de madurez digital de una empresa consiste en un informe detallado que puede realizar una consultoría tecnológica a través de la información que recibe de directivos y profesionales, con el objetivo de que cada negocio pueda autoevaluarse y detectar los ámbitos en los que actuar. realizar esfuerzos y proponer mejoras para lograr la disrupción digital.
Fuente: https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2021/02/15/16/01/woman-6018388__480.jpg
Un diagnóstico completo es un proceso laborioso. Sin embargo, podemos ofrecer una versión muy simplificada que puede servir como primer ejercicio para cualquier empresa que aún no haya utilizado esta herramienta y quizás como primer paso en un proceso de transformación digital.
Descarga este documento de Diagnóstico Básico , y…
- Lea cada pregunta en la primera columna
- Seleccione la respuesta que mejor se ajuste a su caso en la segunda columna.
- Las recomendaciones correspondientes en la tercera columna se aplicarán a usted.