Digitalisation is the future

Digitalisation is the future – Steps to take today

What is Digitalisation?

Digitalisation or Digital transformation is the integration of technology into all areas of your business. The terms digitisation and digitalisation seem to be used alongside each other. The difference is that Digitisation is the process of converting information in a physical format to a digital one. While Digitalisation leverages the process of digitisation to enhance business processes.

Once upon a time, remote working was frowned upon by some employers who maintained the importance of being physically at the office. But the Covid-19 pandemic was a lesson and stark reminder for many business owners why digitalisation is so important. Unfortunately, many businesses felt the wrath of the pandemic due to the fact that they were yet to have their operations online. Besides being a medium for process improvement and efficiency, digitalisation gives the opportunity for survival and continued operations in uncertain times as now.

Although pandemics do not happen so often, there are other more common disruptions that may affect physical businesses such as a fire, flood, hurricane, etc. When these occur, we need to ask ourselves if we are okay with our businesses closing or if we would rather have a backup plan in place. While many businesses were ready and thriving during the peak of the pandemic, others were unprepared and some were forced to shut down. If you were among the latter, then it is time to take action to avoid being in the same situation again.

Steps to take today towards Digitalisation

Embrace change

Digitisation has the potential to increase your company’s value and reduce costs. However, many people are still resistant to embrace change. We as humans are hardwired to remain in familiar territory and unfortunately, this mindset holds company’s back. Rather than worry about a few days of learning and unfamiliarity, focus on the positive outcomes that will come from this change.

Better customer experience
Enhanced collaboration amongst colleagues and clients
Centralized and secure data
Easily accessible insights and analytics

Review your current business processes

An important step towards digitalisation is reviewing all your different business processes and defining what digitisation would mean for them. In other words, single out critical priorities and outline the outcomes you would like to achieve from digitising each of these processes.

Analyse the competition

An insight into what your competition may or may not be doing gives you an idea of your strengths and weaknesses, and where you could improve. It is an opportunity to look inwardly and enhance your customer experience.

Develop a digital strategy

With all the above information , it is time to put together a plan that drives you into the future.

Map out the process you have chosen in detail, identifying potential bottlenecks and deciding what improvements you can make.
Create a detailed plan that involves time, costs, personnel and systems you would ideally want to change.
Identify your top three goals. Write them down.

Remember to be SMART: your goals must be specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-bound.

Start small

Doing everything at once can easily get overwhelming and cause a failed digitisation process. It is important to pick one or two things that you can grasp easily and which would give you a boost to make more changes. A good start would be eliminating all paperwork. A CRM system helps to store all your client data online allowing you to find information easily and without any hassle. Automation also allows you to send out emails without physically being there to respond to every message that comes in. This frees up your time allowing you to attend to other pressing issues.

Focus on training and knowledge

Training and knowledge is a key part of digital transformation. Being able to maintain a customer-centric approach while also building on your skills and implementing change can be challenging. Enterprise Ireland is offering to take some of the load off with the Enterprise Ireland Digitalisation Voucher. You can receive €9000 funding to get started on your digitisation journey.

Enlist the right professionals

There are professionals with experience in digitalisation as well as change management willing to take your business through this process. it is important to find a partner that is willing to understand your goals and vision and work with you to achieve this. Case studies and customer testimonials are a great way to pick out the right team.

Cloudtech Ireland has worked with businesses in sectors such as Construction, Engineering, Finance, Education, Health and wellness to mention just a few, to improve their business processes and move their business online. We are also approved vendors for the Enterprise Ireland Digitalisation voucher. Together we can work on creating a project plan to get you approved for the funding.

Technology is constantly improving. Businesses will need to adapt in order to meet the increasing demands and expectation of clients. The pandemic has given companies the push needed to demonstrate that they can help drive change and will be steadfast no matter what comes next.

Here at Cloudtech, we provide faster, cheaper, better and safer results while listening and ensuring that our clients are happy.