Not just a trend for large enterprises – anyone can embrace it
The word digitisation seems to dominate all articles written at the moment, and it’s easy to see why. To our mind, digitisation is not merely a new IT trend or solution but a new order or view of the world, which informs everything.
Consider that in a few years’ time all new market entrants will have grown up with everything digital. This means that they will expect companies (regardless the size) to understand this, respond to it, and deliver a fully integrated digital experience for them – both as an employee and as a customer.
In fact, those companies that are starting to define digitisation strategies are finding that these are usually entirely focused on meeting customer needs and trying to provide almost immediate value to the user. However, it is this same realisation which is causing concern. As while the customer is (and should) inform the value strategy, digitisation will affect every structure within a business – from the HR and marketing strategies to the vendor and financial roadmaps. So then, the right IT investment into digitisation is not only critical but the roadmap of implementation, within various organisational, departments, even more so.
Add this specialized digitisation approach to smaller sized businesses locally, most of whom must navigate tight budgets and innovation planning very carefully, and you have a real challenge. While there is a real sense of urgency underpinning digitisation, especially given this evolution already defines social connections, how do they (the smaller business market) keep up with today’s consumers, who increasingly prefer “speed” and “digital” enabled services, while competing with their larger corporate counterparts?
Investment in the right technology structures should not be underestimated. To many companies cut corners or compromise on quality purely because budgets dictate as such. However, one of the most viable options for digitisation to become a reality, for any size business, is to examine investment. With the various financing options in the market today, companies who have limited budgets, now also have an alternative to buying the technology solutions – which they will need if they want to demonstrate value to this digitized generation. Of course it’s not that cut and dry – but it does mean a change in mindset and viewing investments into technology as an evolution.
So with the rise of digitisation, no matter the size of the company, if they understand the rules of the game, they can rewrite the rules of competition. While harnessing digital technologies may not be new – digitisation is making sure these technologies are now harnessed for a new effect – one any company can take advantage of.