Digital transformation? It started from Owner's mind. Are you ready?
Let me tell you a story. There once was a pervasive myth in the Indian community, when the Computer Revolution started back in the 1980s in India. People thought it would take their jobs. And in today's era, the IT sector of India is playing a major role in the Indian economy.
The fact of matter is, when something involves the culture in a community, you can’t ignore it.
Many companies are looking for digital transformation nowadays, because every sector that transforms digitally - and those who are still waiting for it - might face big problems in future.
As technology changes day by day, your customers can be stolen by remote companies, while you might be waiting in your shop for their visits.
So, it is better that you have all the tools and strategies necessary to compete with remote or local competition. Digital transformation is one of the most required tools in that.
There are some myths about digital transformation, including:
Transformation is not for small companies
Of course digital transformation is for small companies! The days are gone when you needed a lot of resources to maintain your IT costs. Nowadays, many cloud platforms are available and provide cheaper services, which can give you the flexibility to have your system on both a hybrid and fully digital model.
Microsoft Azure also provides cheaper services to small and medium SMEs. For example:
Microsoft Dynamics Business Central
Is specially designed for small- and medium-sized companies.
Microsoft Dynamics Sale
Is designed for small, medium, and big companies.
The reason behind selecting big companies is that their platform is flexible and scalable, and you only need to pay for uses.
In the future, if you need bigger infrastructure, you won’t need to set up your system again from the beginning. It's just to hook extra resources and pay for it. The same does for when you need to drop any services.
So, whenever you are selecting any cloud system you must be sure about the company's value and credibility, so that in the future when your system is up and running, you should have better support and service.
Once your company system is set up and trained for a particular process, it is not easy for you to move on to any other system and adopt it easily.
So, it is better to select a system that is scalable, cost effective and provides better support and service that is long lasting.
Transformation can drain your budget
If you are not technical and not able to understand the cost and expense that is required in digital transformation, it might be your biggest fear. Most business owners are non-technical. When I say non-technical, I mean they are not digital experts.
But let me tell you some facts about digital transformation; it is not something that comes at your expense. It comes under your investment. Investment means the right amount at the right time.
So, if you are going through a digital transformation of a portion of a business at the right time and have invested the right amount, it will help your business to grow.
A bad strategy is to jump into it without complete understanding of the process, and then looking for someone to help.
As a business domain expert, you need the right amount of knowledge to understand how digital transformation works. Then you can hire the right people and let them do one portion at a time. Let it function before you move to the next portion.
Many big companies help business owners to test the complete system, even spending a lot of money on it. So, you should start evaluating digital transformation first before making a decision about which business functions where you want to start.
For example, Dynamics 365 Business Central, Dynamics 365 sale and Dynamics 365 Customer Services are free on a trial version. You can even use it for months to use and test the process.
But in the end, digital transformation is not optional; it's required, so you only have one way to go. When your customers adopt a digital culture, business must follow as well.
Owner does not have required skills
When you started using Facebook for the first time, was it awkward for you? Yes. Everything that you use for the first time is a bit difficult, but as you start using these things they make your life easier and become easier to use. The same does with these tools as well. You have the same amount of knowledge that you need to operate social media.
Still, if you are not able to understand the process, you can connect with forum experts who are doing their best to guide customers on those products. One of the best examples of one of these forums is the Dynamics 365 Community.
It will take less time
Digital transformation is digital savvy. You need to practice. The digital space is evolving, and it will be part of your life.
As a business owner you master skills like leadership, finance management, employee management. Now you need to know how to control your businesses using technologies that are available on the market and are getting smarter day by day.
In the end the system works, and people fail. So to have a system that works is an ongoing process.
When you understand the tools and techniques, you can use your domain expertise to get the best possible result and lead your domain!
Don’t go on myths, go with facts. DM me if you are keen to learn more!
Happy learning.