It is said that every crisis is also an opportunity. And so it goes with the COVID-19 pandemic, which continues to drive an unprecedented wave of technological innovation to address a dramatically altered reality. As everyone struggles to adjust to new circumstances, many businesses understand the necessity of change but don’t see a clear path forward. This article will examine different digital transformation strategies for the post-pandemic world.
Even though COVID-19 has been a crisis with a long-lasting impact on the global economy, it also showcased the true value of innovation and digital transformation strategies.
There was more innovation in nine months than over the previous few years. In the face of disruption, many businesses were motivated to speed up or completely reinvent their digital transformation strategies to survive the shock wave caused by the pandemic. The 2020 Harvey Nash survey reported that COVID-19 resulted in the biggest surge in technology investments in history. During the first wave, companies spent around 15 billion dollars per week on technology.
While the natural response to a crisis is caution and protection, there is a strong case to be made that focusing on innovation yields greater benefits. Furthermore, as so many businesses raced to harness technology to counter the effects of the pandemic, pursuing digital transformation strategies is not an option, but a necessity. While there are no tried-and-tested solutions, there are strategic organizational choices that can enable a swift and effective digital transformation.
Three key areas of digital transformation
Innovation, by definition, does not rely on existing solutions but rather creates new ones. Nevertheless, there are strategies organizations should consider to fuel their future growth. Here are the three key areas for our pandemic-affected times:
1. Adoption of new technology to address changing markets
Many industries, such as healthcare and retail, rapidly transformed. To adapt to new business environments, companies implemented new technologies. With unprecedented challenges triggered by the pandemic, companies are pushed to redefine digital and organizational strategies. The broad use of online communication and collaboration tools is one obvious example of embracing technology to adjust to the remote work scenarios imposed by the pandemic.
However, many businesses go beyond that to ensure both safety and productivity: the emergence of a more flexible and agile workplace with a heavier reliance on artificial intelligence (AI) and automation technology.
2. Reassessing organizational digital priorities
Before companies adopt new technologies and redefine digital transformation strategies, they must reassess their internal priorities.
Here are some of the key considerations in this process:
- Managing increased, ever-changing cybersecurity risks as attackers exploit the uncertainty that a crisis brings.
- Boosting employee upskilling at scale will be a defining factor for most industries.
- Enhancing a brand’s digital and online presence, as many companies break out of traditional business models.
- Embracing supporting technology and infrastructure such as data, analytics, and cloud-based technology to enable remote work without reducing workforce productivity.
3. Being transparent about changing internal policies
The key to survival after a crisis like COVID-19 depends on how companies train their employees, communicate the benefits of changes to all key stakeholders, and adopt digital technologies to accelerate success.
Updating internal policies requires a comprehensive understanding of digital principles around data and analytics, automation, online collaboration, cloud-based technology, and cybersecurity. In a post-pandemic world, it is more important than ever that companies clearly communicate their new digital business strategies to their employees, customers, clients, and business partners.
Move forward with digital transformation
Many businesses have come to terms with the fact that there is no single digital transformation strategy for every company, which means companies that wish to reinvent themselves must tailor their digital needs to the current market conditions.
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