Over the last year, digital transformation has been a priority for a large number of businesses. Our Fintech Barometer revealed that it was on the agenda for almost half (46%) of UK organisations. As 2020 approaches, digital transformation is an incredibly important step for your business. It is best described as an integrated approach that enables the optimal utilisation of the expectations, possibilities and opportunities of digital applications and employees for business processes and information management. Our research found there are a variety of reasons organisations are embarking on their digital transformation journeys. This ranges from increasing efficiency in business processes (43%), reducing costs (35%) and improving the customer experience (32%). Other reasons given include responding to market developments (21%) and increasing turnover (20%).
Why is it so important that organisations transform?
Digital transformation is vital if organisations are to keep up with people’s expectations regarding technology, processes and communications. Organisations need to invest time and effort in ensuring they remain connected, both with the customer and each other, and to provide the best customer service possible.
After all, now that businesses have access to so much data, customers expect services tailored to their personal needs. They want the company to know their preferred method of communication and how to provide them with the best possible experience. Therefore, it’s essential that organisations transform in order to offer better customer service than their competitors.
Additionally, it’s crucial for the entire organisation to be involved in digital transformation. It shouldn’t just be something the CEO or CIO participates in. This is because despite what the name suggests, digital transformation isn’t just about technology. The biggest change is all about humans, so the CMO, COO and CFO all have a major part to play.
Digital transformation includes the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and big data. If a business unit uses big data to optimise their processes, for example, it’s only a small step to roll out that successful approach internally. A data-driven organisation is also able to grow. Particularly if you decide to use one shared platform which enables you to exchange essential data with various business areas and external parties. This is an approach that not only offers strategic added value but also has a positive effect across the organisation.
Where to start
Introduce changes in stages. Trying to transform in one fell swoop is just asking for trouble. Instead, look at which steps to take and tools to introduced in the short-term to initiate digital transformation.
Once you’ve introduced one element and the finance professionals in your department have got used to it, you can then look to move on to the next step. Our previous blog highlighted that some finance professionals are concerned about what digital transformation could mean for their role. However, software is there to help finance professionals do more, not replace them entirely.
Rather, using tools such as Onguard helps finance professionals to mitigate risk and make better decisions. Our order-to-cash platform provides insight into the existing processes, ensures a more streamlined payment process and offers interfaces through APIs with all processes within the order-to-cash chain. This means that managers and employees have immediate insight into performance and results across the entire organisation. This leads to greater efficiency, an optimum customer experience and a higher return.
By embarking on digital transformation and introducing new tools and solutions, you can ensure your organisation is moving with the times. In addition, it’ll be possible to offer customers the personalised service they desire and streamline processes, leaving you free to focus on more value-adding tasks.
