How Does Digital Transformation Work?

Perhaps you have made up your mind over the conflict between digital transformation and digitalisation and have thus, settled for the former. And yet you are not clear on what it means nor have the slightest idea to translate it alive in your business. This article will give you an in-depth knowledge of what digital transformation is all about and how it applies to your business.

We all know the world has gone global and how technology has taken over. Digital Transformation is one of the significant ways to learn how to evolve with the times as it is one of the products of technology.

According to Wikipedia, technology is the collection of tools, like pieces of machinery, modifications, arrangements, and procedures used by humans. Technology is the systematic use of ideas or knowledge in applicable and practical life situations. They are little upgrades that make work and life easier, better, and more accessible. Technology is useful in medicine, education, business, transportation, communication, agriculture, etcetera. It is from this life-saving technique that digital transformation was birthed. In this article, our team of experts will help us learn what Digital Transformation is, how it works and which sectors it is most visible in.

What is Digital Transformation?

Digital Transformation, otherwise known as DT, is the process of overhauling the traditional ways of approach to life, business, and methods of doing things. It is the infusing of technological ideas and applying modern-day approaches brought about by the influence of technology, into doing things. Digital Transformation is very clearly, causing a paradigm shift in the way things are executed. This change in models, methods, and ideas applies to every aspect of life you can think of, business included, of course.

Looking at how far the world has evolved and how many people have embraced technology, we have various examples of Digital Transformation in different sectors across the globe. Let us start with the ones close to home, easy to assess and relatable; in the agricultural sector, the world has gone from using hoes and cutlasses to using tractors and ploughs, thereby making their work easier, better and faster.

In the educational sector, schools have evolved from chalk and duster to computers. Now, life is relatively easier for teachers and students where the learners can effortlessly assimilate school work. Even in the telecommunications sector, digital transformation is constantly taking place. The world has moved from NITEL post stamps, pigeons, and the like to using telephones to communicate.

This digital transformation is not limited to these sectors alone but can be applied in all other industries and human affairs we can think of. Before the dominance of the digital era, businesses were operating on a traditional method like using papers and binders, tip-exes, faxes, carbon copies, hand-written ledgers, etcetera in enterprises. This painstakingly slowed down business operations and enforced larger manpower. Digital Transformation brought about the use of computers, printers, photocopiers, toners, etcetera, thus, making businesses faster and more productive.

With the help of technology, digital transformation has given the business world a new look. It doesn’t matter that the transformation of technology varies according to companies, digital transformation still does the magical work of improving business outputs with the use of modern technology.

Since the 20^th century, many businesses have been upended because their products have become outdated and thus, people no longer have use for them. Instead, these businesses were getting replaced with technological materials, ideas, and brain power, or at the very least, by business competitors who quickly evolved with the changes brought about by technology. By embracing it and putting it to good use to their advantage, they could stand the test of time and outlast their competition.

It is also important to note that digital transformation is not a one-off thing but rather a progressive approach to getting things done. The digital transformation of now will not be the same in the next ten years. Businesses and sectors that want to remain extant should know enough to be on their toes, constantly updating their approach with the latest trends.

Digital Transformation Per Sector

Being an elaborate aspect of technology, Digital Transformation is quite broad and applies to different sectors in different ways. Here are some of the ways Digital Transformation can be used in various organizational sectors:

• Healthcare Sector

With the presence of Technological Transformation, the days when doctors and nurses exhaust themselves due to a lack of manpower are now far behind. These days, digital transformation has made it possible for telemedicine, X-rays, scans, and ultrasound machines to exist.

These technological advancements largely ease the tasks of medical practitioners and the stress of even patients. Patients now experience very little stress before receiving medical attention. Technological advancement via digital transformation thereby making life easier for both parties.

• Banking Sector

A lot of people can relate to the struggles of going to the banks to deposit money, withdraw, or exchange money. They may come across as aggressive and doleful bankers and accountants who make figure errors of your money due to fatigue caused by long hours of working and attending to a lot of people. That must have been quite a sight. Nowadays, we have Automated Teller Machines springing up in strategic places, Point of Sales Machines with conversant attendants to tend to your daily needs, less handwritten ledgers for accountants to work with and in fact, several financial technology startups around to tend to your financial problems and money exchange needs, etcetera. These and more are some of the advantages digital transformation does to the banking sector.

• Agricultural Sector

The agricultural sector has also been overhauled with digital transformation. There are less arduous ways and faster methods to grow crops and rear our livestock.  There are well-controlled pesticides, rodenticides, and the like to keep crops alive and protect them against harmful pests. There are better methods of storing foods to prevent spoilage and outright wastage of foods. Also, the agricultural sector has employed the use of biotechnology, temperature detectors, moisture sensors, and GPS technology. This transformation makes it easy for farmers to work less hard and smarter. It helps them channel their energy positively and wisely, thereby reducing the cost of manpower, and increasing foodstuff production and healthy foods overall.

These and more are some of the importance of technology via digital transformation across various sectors.

It will be of no use knowing all the advantages of being digitally transformed and not knowing how digital transformation works. Thus, I will be highlighting some types of digital transformation that there are and how they apply to all areas of life, not excluding all the various sectors in the world.

There are five different ways by which digital transformation can be applied in business, they are as follow:

1. Business Process Transformation: This is the knowledge and ideas proposed by companies to apply to digital transformation. Business process transformation is the new school of thought a company is ready to work with to evolve with the world as long as digital transformation is concerned.
2. Business Model Transformation: As the name may have implied, there is going to be a shift in the paradigm of the company’s vision if a company is willing to save its business from going down with traditional methods and ideas that technology has displaced.

Transforming the business model is an important and sensitive decision a business has to take for digital transformation to take place. This way of making digital transformation work and worth the while is going to require enough brain-racking and outside-the-box thinking.

3. Domain Transformation: Domain transformation is another upscaling that needs to be done to realize the dream of transforming a business digitally. Here, modern technology ideas such as the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), and devices that are strong enough to withstand such technologies are required.

A domain should be carved outside of the traditional method of doing things such that, it gets easier to move along with the digital transformation. It is not a one-time thing, as explained earlier.

A new website, new designs, and even a new company’s physical outlook are some of the domain changes that will be required to accomplish a digital domain transformation.

4. Cultural Transformation: Never mind the name that makes you think that we are transforming digitally in a reverse manner. If a major change is to take place in an organization, for one wanting the change to live through plans and aspirations and paradigm shift, a shuffle must take place in the internal structure of the company, among staff and heads of departments. For an organization to grow, experiencing a change as big and important as digital transformation is going to cause a displacement in the operations and efficiency of the staff, hence, education and orientation of existing staff must be done.

Intentionality to hire new staffs that are tech-savvy and adaptable to change must be considered and put into place. This way, an organization can get digitally transformed through a positive cultural transformation.

5. Cloud transformation: Another way digital transformation would work in an organization is when a company makes its storage digital. For easy accessibility, retrievability and safe-keeping. This makes company organization and data-keeping easy.

After achieving our objectives of learning about digital transformation and how it works, and if you are interested in transforming your business into a digital one to meet up with modern technology, you can send us an email at [email protected]