Think inside the box to avoid the pitfalls of digital transformation

Today’s digital-first world demands that we rethink the way we work to remain competitive. Data and content are at the heart of everything we do, like never before. From sales to customer service, from finances to design, and the Cloud era has changed how we manage, share and collaborate on content. Having a robust content management strategy that connects your people, processes and data are essential to protect the growth and security of your business.

Professor Klaus Schwab, the author of The Fourth Industrial Revolution, calls on us all to;

“shape a future that works for all by putting people first, empowering them and constantly reminding ourselves that all of these new technologies are first and foremost tools made by people for people.”

The utopia of this people-first approach to digital transformation is clear. However, research cited by McKinsey & Company suggests that 70% of large-scale projects don’t reach their goals. The most recent data suggests that this may be as high as 86%! With investment in digital transformation programmes estimated to reach $2 trillion by 2022, that’s a very expensive failure!

To avoid being one of the businesses missing the mark in how they’ve adopted cloud technology, we believe businesses need to start by thinking inside the box. Blue-sky thinking is great when you want to generate completely new ideas, but when you need to identify and improve inefficient processes to improve ways of working, this isn’t a practical approach. Business leaders need to focus on the art of the possible, so it’s essential to look internally at how to align your business goals, processes, culture and IT to make technology work for your business and your people.

Find out more in this engaging webinar where you’ll discover the pitfalls that many succumb to in their digital transformations, practical tips on how to avoid them, and engaging cases on the future of work through intelligent automation.

In less than two decades, the way we work has changed beyond recognition. The accessibility of cloud technology has created countless opportunities for business to meet the needs of the digital-first, always-on end-user. But in a majority of cases, mass digitisation isn’t delivering on the ‘work smarter, not harder’ promise.

In 2019, we commissioned an independent survey with our strategic partner, Box, the leading Cloud Content Management Platform, asking more than 2,000 UK employees how well their business has adopted digital working, how people shared data and what frustrations were felt by employees. The results were astonishing! We found that an average SME with 150 employees is wasting more than £500k in unproductive man-hours! Read the engaging research findings here.

So what’s going wrong? Here are four common reasons why the proliferation of cloud platforms designed to streamline work aren’t necessarily making work easier.

ISSUE 1 

Digital transformation happens through necessity, not design. It’s now so easy for anyone to buy cloud software, and pay as they go. The traditional route of IT requests for new business software no longer applies. Teams frustrated by legacy systems, with poor usability, search for cost-effective, time-saving digital solutions. Employees working remotely find workarounds enabling them to access content away from the office, often resulting in Shadow IT. Sometimes the latest technology trend is introduced simply because everyone else is doing it! This results in cloud platforms being downloaded and used throughout the business that the IT team doesn’t even know about!

This platform sprawl means data is stored in various siloes and duplication of information is rife. Even completing simple tasks often requires access to multiple platforms. Ultimately, employees are suffering from too many open tabs!

THE SOLUTION

To be successful, any digital transformation strategy needs to be informed and driven by a collaboration between IT and the C-Suite to ensure it meets business and end-user goals, now and in the future. IT departments must engage with employees to understand their needs and be empowered to say yes to requests more easily. This strategy, goal and people focussed approach reduces the need for individual departments to look for solutions themselves. It also reduces the potential risk of Shadow IT.

ISSUE 2

IT no longer have control of software around the business so this introduces compliance and cybersecurity threats. Data sets held in different platforms across the business each have their own access permissions and there’s huge potential for inconsistency in how data is stored and copied between systems. This is a compliance nightmare! It also means there’s no single source of truth accessible to all. So outdated information might still be in circulation long after it’s defunct.

In a world that is more informed than ever about how businesses must manage and protect data, this has to be one of the greatest concerns for any business today.

THE SOLUTION

IT departments need to become enablers, involved in every technology-based investment decision collaboratively. This not only protects the business but also enables the needs of end-users and customers to be met. To regain governance, avoid data duplication and reduce the risk of cyber threats, a clear content management strategy needs to be in place to effectively control business data. Introducing a single content hub where everyone can access the most up-to-date information in one place protects companies and employees as everyone is working from one source of truth. This can be achieved by a strategy driven by IT to identify opportunities to simplify work and increase collaboration and security using cloud-technology.

ISSUE 3

Many of the cloud platforms we use daily don’t talk to each other. Cloud-based tools offer a world of opportunity and have enabled more agile and flexible working. However, most applications don’t talk to each other, making workflow automation extremely difficult and expensive. This hampers work, slows decision making and introduces unnecessary human cost and error. Overall, this results in businesses not getting the full benefit from the digital transformation initiatives they’ve embarked upon.

THE SOLUTION

The biggest opportunity for digitalisation success is intelligent automation. This cognitive-based automation is designed to mimic “human” work, reducing mundane tasks that usually require human input. Through intelligent automation, you can connect your people, processes and platforms to automate common business processes. This also removes the barriers to success in your digital transformation. Intelligent automation has captured the imagination of business leaders everywhere. It can streamline time-consuming business processes and dramatically improve ways of working. However, many organisations don’t know where to start.

The key to success is to align your automation strategy with your business goals. Spherica can help to define your strategy and implement integrations and AI to increase productivity. We can automate time-consuming tasks throughout your organisation, putting your people in control.

ISSUE 4

Change is not embedded in company culture, so people are not engaged in the transformation process. Any business transformation will only be as successful as the people implementing it. If your people aren’t engaged, your strategy simply won’t be delivered well. Changes are always challenging and making changes as significant as introducing completely new ways of working will cause friction. At least in the short term.

THE SOLUTION

To be successful, employee and end-user engagement needs to be at the heart of a well-planned strategy. The long-term benefits need to be made clear to all. Friction must be addressed with effective communication and ‘change champions’ in place to aid the new ways of working. Sharing informing and engaging users in the transformation journey will make the path to success much smoother and faster.

INTELLIGENT AUTOMATION IS THE NEXT LEVEL OF DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

According to McKinsey & Company, intelligent automation promises, “radically enhanced efficiency, increased worker performance, reduction of operational risks, and improved response times and customer journey experiences.”

Intelligent automation is the future of work and the choice of businesses that want to deliver above expectations and be the best in their field. This is not about replacing humans with machines. It’s about freeing teams from repetitive, mundane tasks so they can be empowered to do the best work they can.

The intelligent automation solution of our Digital Innovation Division, Synaptek, rapidly connects people, processes and applications to streamline work and create endless process efficiencies, supercharging the speed of work and electrifying the customer experience, no matter what the industry or business. Using cutting-edge technology and carefully crafted AI, Synaptek release the power of cloud-technology for smarter ways of working for all. Repetitive and mundane tasks are automated. Teams have more time to spend on value-added tasks, collaboration is improved across the business, creating the future of work.