Digital Transformation During Coronavirus: 4 Must-Have Aspects Which Companies Can’t Afford To Miss

COVID – 19 has disrupted the entire world and introduced all of us to the new normal. To function in this new normal, digital transformation is the key. It is no longer an aspiration but a reality.

It has moved from being a good-to-have process to an imperative.

The industry experts who predicted that businesses might become fully digital in the next 10 years, are now certain that the era of digital natives will come much early. The businesses that already have a digital transformation strategy in place are seamlessly navigating the perils of remote working. 

Here are the key factors to consider while forming a digital transformation strategy: 

Cloud Strategy

Cloud spending has soared in 2020 due to the increased need for remote working capabilities, however this trend is set to continue in the coming years. Enterprises across the globe are realizing the limitations of physical infrastructure and frantically moving their workloads to the cloud. As per the survey by Snow Software, 76 percent of the organizations that were surveyed have opted for cloud infrastructure. 55 percent have increased their use of collaboration tools such as Slack, Teams or Google Chat, while 52 percent have increased their use of cloud-based video conferencing software such as Zoom, Cisco WebEx or GoToMeeting. 

Furthermore, 60 percent said that they would continue to increase their overall cloud usage and 91 percent are changing their cloud strategy as a result of the current economic climate.

Security

As per a recent survey, organizations are not only including Cybersecurity among their top considerations when it comes to digital transformation, but it is also their second biggest investment priority. Investments in digital technologies will be futile, if the business, its customers, and assets are not being protected. Hence, Cybersecurity needs to be at the centre of an organization’s digital transformation strategy.

Customer Experience

The pandemic has completely uprooted the orthodox engagement beliefs. In the times of crisis, the way a brand interacts with its customers creates an immediate and lasting effect on their trust and loyalty. Today, as millions of customers are furloughed and retreated into isolation, a primary measure of their customer experience will be based on how the businesses they frequent and depend upon services and meets their new needs with empathy, care and urgency. Hence, Businesses are left with no choice but to invest in digital engagement platforms that take customer experience to next level. Businesses need to ensure their customers receive a seamless, convenient, and customized experience. To be able to deliver this, they need to adopt an Omni-channel digital strategy and give it precedence over the traditional brick-and-mortar models.

Longevity of the business model

From here on, businesses need to come up with strategies to turn this so called “temporary arrangement” into a long-term robust digital strategy. Many of the industry giants have plans to extend “work from home” to the maximum number of employees by 2025. Organizations need to think of this pandemic as a catalyst that accelerated their already-business-critical digital transformation process. Organizations that have changed their business models to align with this new normal and are leveraging digital tools are better poised to succeed in the coming decade.

This is a Guest Post by Mr. Neelesh Kripalani, Sr. VP & Head- Center of Excellence – Clover Infotech