Digital transformation is a subject that touches the heart of companies but that they do not yet exploit enough. Even if, for 56% of companies, digital transformation is seen as an opportunity, no less than 78% of companies have not yet started it. In a world where new generations are born with innovative technologies, it becomes essential for a company, in order to grow and ensure its sustainability , to begin its digital transformation process.
How does digital transformation upset the codes within companies and prove to be an essential need?
What is digital transformation?
In the 1990s , digital was only an added value to the company because it was both difficult to put a real digital strategy in place and the benefits were not really known. Currently, the digital trend places digital transformation at the heart of business strategies , even if this is not developed in each sector.
Digital transformation is the process by which a company will integrate new technologies into its activity in order to improve its performance . Clearly, digital transformation means rethinking the way a company operates by integrating digital tools into its strategy, but not only. Indeed, digital transformation does not only concern the implementation of digital tools, it is a real transformation of the way of thinking and working . It is about changing all the practices of a company: new practices, new team management or even a new business model .
This allows a company to have a different approach and to optimize its processes in order to be efficient over the long term and to remain consistent with the times . Thus, many companies have first implemented the digitization of processes, ie the use of smartphones or the trivialization of e-mail.
If we take the example of companies that have already carried out a digital transformation process, we realize that the definition is vast and covers a plurality of notions. This is the example of Saint Gobain which wishes, through digital transformation, to improve the interaction with its customers as well as the way it manufactures and distributes its products. For this, the brand, beyond forging a spirit of digitization, has implemented tools such as Customer Relationship Management (CRM) which is customer relationship management software or even e-learning platforms and collaborative robots.
Finally, the challenges of digital transformation are beginning to be understood by most companies, but come up against implementation difficulties.
What challenges for businesses?
Barely 31% of business leaders in France see digital transformation as a real opportunity. However, it is essential for companies to take into account the current challenges that are in particular new technologies. Based on this observation, it is essential that a company begins its digital transformation to be credible on the market. Indeed, communication on social networks , for example, is necessary today to maintain a direct relationship with customers and sell the merits of one’s firm. The same goes for websites , which must provide a clear vision to the customer and which are the showcase of the company . Today, more than 85% of Internet users buy online according to the Federation of e-commerce and distance selling (FEVAD), hence the importance of having sufficient and welcoming networking.
Another challenge for companies is that of renewal . Indeed, the digital transformation makes it possible to constantly renew and rethink its strategy . The work of questioning is decisive for the viability of a company, since it allows it to correct its strategy in real time and to adapt. This goes hand in hand with productivity and, ultimately , overall business performance . It is the McKinsey study which suggests that companies that set up in the digital age are 3 times more profitable and grow 4.5 times faster than those that have not started their digitalization process. Artificial intelligence , big data, robots or computer systems make it possible to automate processes, which saves considerable time and promotes the quality of these processes.
Finally, digital transformation also makes it possible to have a certain competitive advantage. Indeed, the use of all new technologies allows companies to be at the cutting edge of technology and to differentiate themselves. The aim of the companies is to offer customers personalization, to offer innovative products and concepts in order to remain competitive, all this with Gen Z in mind.
The benefits are considerable, the digital transformation makes it possible to increase the potential number of customers, increase sales and ensure its sustainability.
How to implement your digital transformation?
If we stick to this quote, we must reinvent ourselves, but how?
Companies must, to ensure their longevity, ensure cohesion between the short term and the long term . The construction of a business model is part of the long-term challenges, not only taking into account the short-term return on investment but also taking into account the future market and its possible evolution.
In order to take advantage of the advantages linked to the digital age, ESCadrille Toulouse Junior Conseil offers its services to begin a digital transformation and supports you in each step. With more than 41 years of experience , ESCadrille offers services adapted and in perfect harmony with current trends and the real needs of customers. In this, we have a perspective and an analytical capacity allowing us to offer you all the keys to succeed in digital. In addition, we work in conjunction with students from Toulouse Business School , who specialize in the fields of digital transformation in a master’s degree to enable you to offer you qualified speakers. We are a young and dynamic team that is even better able to understand digital issues and provide you with the best possible support.
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