10 Must-Reads to Boost your Digital Transformation
July 6, 2022
Table of Contents
Nowadays, digital transformation is crucial for any business that wants to survive and grow within an increasingly competitive business world.
Digitalisation of your company activities can lead to higher overall efficiency and productivity, better customer experience and increased satisfaction, a better understanding of business performance, more flexibility and innovation, all leading to higher business performance and commercial success over the long term.
Here is a list of 10 must-reads when it comes to boosting digital transformation for your own business.
What is digital transformation?
Digital transformation is the integration of digital technology in all the processes of the company. In other words, it completely changes how you act and deliver value to your customers.
It is also a cultural change that all companies, sooner or later, have to face in order to survive and grow, no matter the size of the business. The world is becoming more and more digital, so leaders need to take fully on board digital transformation to remain competitive.
However, it is difficult to have a single specific notion of what digital transformation is as every company is unique.
If you ask a manager what digital means for them, they usually think of going paperless or even using computers to do business. It is an umbrella term that has a lot of shadows that can be grouped into five areas:
- Operational agility
- Digital technology integration
- Culture and leadership
- Workforce enablement
- Customer experience
Why is digital transformation essential?
In 2018, over US$1 trillion was spent on digital transformation investments. However, a large percentage of that was arguably wasted because digital transformation is not only a matter of investments, but is more about developing strategies and addressing the challenges and opportunities that digital transformation can bring.
Today, experience and skills associated with digital transformation are crucial for every business strategy.
The world is global, so you have to adapt your internal and external operations to digital technologies. To do that, businesses need to change the way they work and accept the necessary cultural changes.
It is recognised that technology has not just improved people’s lives but it has also been making work faster and easier. Digital transformation is allowing companies to better respond to customer needs and hence survive in the future. Digital transformation also gives the opportunity for competitive advantages which constantly adapt to technology changes.
In this post-pandemic world, companies that will survive and succeed will be those that are able to create experiences and journeys that facilitate customers’ lives. On the other hand, companies that are reluctant to use digital and AI technologies and do not use them in their decisions and strategies are more likely to fail.
10 advantages of digital transformation
- Boost productivity and efficiency
- Facilitate communication among business departments thanks to internal collaboration
- Accelerate responses to fluctuations of the demand
- Save time so reduce costs
- Promote mobility and remote communications due to decentralised production
- New business opportunities, create new products and services because it opens new doors
- Bring new talents and renews the interest of specialised professionals
- Allow better decision-making by having a deep overview of data
- Creates a competitive advantage being able to improve the quality of the products
- Push innovation and helps companies predict potential disruption
Which steps should companies take to start their digital transformation process?
1. Align objectives with business goals: IT managers should understand which is the problem they are trying to fix, and then line up the objectives and the goals that the company is trying to achieve.
2. IT and business must co-create: usually, IT technicians were asked to solve broken services. Today they have to sit at the same table as the other business people to understand the problem and create and deliver a better value for the customer.
3. Pick strategic partners: businesses should partner with IT leaders that have experience and expertise in that field.
4. Redesign business and products around customer outcomes: businesses can start using cloud software to speed up changes and they can embrace artificial intelligence to improve operational efficiency and quickly meet customer expectations.
5. Retrain employees around digital: in order to meet customers “digital” preferences, companies must be sure that their employees are on the same line.
Top 10 must-read books about digital transformation
Platform Revolution: How Networked Markets Are Transforming the Economy–and How to Make Them Work for You by Geoffrey G. Parker, Marshall W. Van Alstyne, Sangeet Paul Choudary
Platform Revolution presents strong evidence and facts and gives the reader a straightforward guide for creating a successful platform business model. It presents in a clear and understandable manner different ways one can identify suitable markets and how to make money out of them.
The book presents the various strategies behind the most successful and upcoming platforms and leaders, as well as how more traditional businesses can learn and adapt to a changing world.
This book explores different topics such as security regulation, and customer trust, as well as which markets seem ready for a platform revolution. It demonstrates the promising future in front of platforms and shows how these will change people’s lives and their work forever.
Digital Transformation: Survive and Thrive in an Era of Mass Extinction by Thomas M. Siebel
In his book Digital Transformation, Siebel presents a clear picture of what digital transformation is. He explores the intersections between four different technological currents: cloud computing, big data, Internet of Things and Artificial Intelligence. He demonstrates how these have transformed the world of business, both public and private.
To illustrate his points, Siebel presents different real-life case studies of the digitalisation of companies such as 3M, US Air Force, Shell and Caterpillar. He provides readers with a clear image of what digital transformation is and practical advice on how to successfully adopt digital transformation.
The Technology Fallacy: How People Are the Real Key to Digital Transformation by Gerald C. Kane, Anh Nguyen Phillips, Jonathan Copulsky, Garth Andrus, Paul Michelman (Editor)
The Technology Fallacy shows the reader why companies should focus on their people and business processes rather than on technology when it comes to digital transformation. This group of authors have put together four years of research in collaboration with Deloitte and MIT Sloan Management Review, interviews with business leaders from companies such as Walmart, Google and Salesforce, as well as surveys of over 16,000 people.
They contend that companies can effectively respond to digital revolution by modelling their business culture to be more tolerant, creative and flexible. This book helps business managers and heads to survive digital transformation by making changes to their company that make best use of the powers presented by technology.
AI Superpowers: China, Silicon Valley, and the New World Order by Kai-Fu Lee
In AI Superpowers, Kai-Fu Lee shows the reader how China has so quickly caught up with America. Lee explains how significantly American and Chinese Artificial Intelligence will influence white-collar jobs besides having a devastating impact on blue-collar workers, as most experts have predicted.
Lee contends that these changes in AI will lead to dramatic developments much quicker than anticipated.
Lee presents the different sectors that will be affected by these developments as well as those that can adapt and grow through AI. He also offers various solutions to these monumental changes happening right now.
Modern Monopolies: What It Takes to Dominate the 21st Century Economy by Alex Moazed, Nicholas L. Johnson
Platforms such as Snapchat, Google, and Amazon have radically changed the game. Rather than producing anything, these platforms propose value by connecting people together and being present in the global population’s everyday lives. Mobile technology has also changed the way in which people interact and brings together the digital and physical worlds. Although these businesses are growing their influence from the digital realm to our global economy, few actually fully understand how significant this structural shift is.
In this book Modern Technologies, Moazed and Johnson, explain the changes that have been happening, how, these impact today’s businesses, and how company leaders, managers and entrepreneurs can evolve and thrive in this new world.
Mastering Digital Business: How powerful combinations of disruptive technologies are enabling the next wave of digital transformation by Nicholas D. Evans
Mastering Digital Business is a practical guide for business and IT executives. Nowadays, intelligent automation, Internet of Things, cloud, mobile, wearables, robotics and social are some of the most groundbreaking new technologies.
Nicholas Evans explains how people can make use of these various technologies, combine them and optimise our digital services, platform business models and leading practices in corporate innovation in order to develop and implement highly competitive and effective digital strategies.
The Industries of the Future by Alec J. Ross
The Industries of the Future presents Alec Ross’s observations on the various forces that are transforming society. Alec Ross has travelled nearly a million miles to 41 different countries, as Hillary Clinton’s Senior Advisor for Innovation. In his book, he presents the most important opportunities for progress as well as how some countries thrive and others lag behind.
Ross’s piece presents different ways in which we will need to evolve. He paints a very informed and vivid image of how seismic global trends impact our daily and future lives. He takes a look at certain areas that will mould our future economy over the next few years, including the impacts of AI, cybercrime, robotics, digital technology, and commercialisation of genomics.
The Transformation Files: 17 Insights to Inspire Managers and Leaders in the Transformation of a Digital Economy Business by Rob Llewellyn
In The Transformation Files, Rob Llewellyn presents a group of various critical success factors that every head should prioritise during the adoption of digital transformation. To back himself, Llewellyn has over 20 years of experience, working in over 30 different countries to help world-renowned companies create more commercial value from people and customers.
This insightful must-read is informed by relevant professional experience and practical advice to start applying the advice and tips straight away.
The Digital Matrix: New Rules for Business Transformation Through Technology by Venkat Venkatraman
In The Digital Matrix, Venkat Venkatraman presents readers with a clear picture of the different players forming the new business world, which changes every company will have to go through, and which strategies to adopt to guarantee business success.
This book will help you navigate the digital world, understand how you can compete and partner with other businesses in order to create value, realise how robust machines can help optimise your employees’ work, and understand how to create teams that try out new ideas, reevaluate existing beliefs, and redevelop your business strategy for a digital world. It shows readers how to reconceptualise their business model, bring together the right team, and make bold strategic decisions to make best use of the power of digital technology.
Digital Transformation Playbook: Rethink Your Business for the Digital Age by David L. Rogers
Digital Transformation Playbook looks at the phenomenon of digital transformation and what marks out businesses that adapt successfully and thrive within the digital world we live in.
David Rogers has over a decade of experience as a global business consultant and teacher at the Columbia Business School. In this must-read, he shows how long-standing businesses can reimagine their strategy to make the most of new opportunities presented by digital.
This book presents concrete tools and advice for any business, no matter the size or industry, for making decisions and forming new strategies. It also presents some case studies to back up this advice. It is a fantastic book for leaders, showing them how legacy businesses can reinvent themselves to succeed in a digital world.
How CONNECTS can help you with digital transformation
Using an online platform to conduct business is one way to boost your business and have a successful digital transformation. If you are a business owner and need to find new business opportunities, suppliers, supply chains, clients and partners on a regular basis, using a single online digital platform such as CONNECTS for all of this can save you a lot of time and effort. It can help you streamline your business activities and become a more effective and prosperous company.
Digital innovation and transformation have never been more essential for businesses. We believe strong business relationships can only be developed through trusted networks. Working with Chambers of Commerce, we provide access to online leads, suppliers, partnerships, skills and business communities you can trust.
CONNECTS is an online Business Matchmaking Platform that allows entrepreneurs to initiate trustworthy business opportunities worldwide.This fast-growing platform is unique, simple, and effective for business development and growth. CONNECTS has been developed to support Chambers of Commerce, SMEs and Start-ups.
The Communities feature on CONNECTS enables users to invite other users to join online business communities of common interest. There, they can share information, have 1:1 chats, share business information, and organise meetings and events.
Users will also be able to broadcast their Teams, Zoom, and Webinar sessions to wide audiences, Monetise their communities by providing exclusive access and information to paying members and manage events such as trade missions.
Are you an entrepreneur wanting to discover and develop new opportunities, both locally and internationally? Join our Business Matchmaking Platform and start your free trial.
Already a member of a participating chamber? Join our Business Matchmaking Platform for free.
Want to learn more about CONNECTS? Find us on Google maps! For more information, don’t hesitate to contact us or request a demo.
