If you try to google “digital transformation”, the search results yield the following results (yes, we do understand that these are ads):

While the definition on Wikipedia which shows up on the right side of the screen said the following –

For anyone trying to search for this term, the results may end up posing more questions than providing an answer.

We decided to ask experts in this field across the world to help us make our definition of digital transformation concrete.

Out of the several answers we received, here are the ones that truly delve into the meaning of digital transformation and how the term is perceived by different leaders in different domains.

Name – Maksym Babych Company – SpdLoad

Website – Spdload.com
Designation – CEO

Definition/Explanation –

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION is the profound change in a business’s activities, processes, competencies, and models to fully leverage the opportunities of various emerging technologies with present and future shifts in mind.

In translation:

– Using less pen and paper, and more online tools and applications.
– Having fewer archive rooms and more storage space in the cloud.
– Worrying less about being connected, having an overview, and getting quicker answers, and more about data security, technological trends, and combining an integrated technology system for your business.
– Complaining less about the useless software solutions on the market, and more about having overwhelmingly many tools and apps to choose from.

Name – John Moss Company – English Blinds

Website – EnglishBlinds.co.uk
Designation – CEO

Definition/Explanation –

What exactly is Digital Transformation?

To assess the success or otherwise of a digital transformation, it is really important to determine how you plan to do this from the get-go; before you begin the transition. This is because regardless of how well you plan things or how thoroughly you think you’ve covered all of your bases, something will
probably go minorly wrong along the way.

You’ll face some delays, there will be the odd glitch, and generally, things don’t tend to go as smoothly as you might assume they will if you haven’t been involved in managing a transformation before. Issues of this type, even if they’re relatively minor, can make it hard to view the big picture at the end of it all and to impartially assess how successful it was or how things went. If you’re remembering a lot of stress, pressure, and running around troubleshooting, this will tend to skew your view of the end result, even if
it is excellent.

However, by integrating metrics and benchmarks to measure end success from the get-go, you can develop a much more realistic picture of how the transformation’s ultimate results pan out.

This is something we’ve learned over the course of the last year, as we executed a large-scale digital transformation for internal communications. As part of this, we not only digitized a wide range of our reporting protocols for the first time but also introduced a range of new operational protocols and procedures too, which involved retraining staff in these policies as well as integrating the new supporting tech.

The roll-out of tools that should have been fairly straightforward (such as intranet-connected tablets for shop floor staff to access information, feedback to managers, and request real-time virtual advice and assistance from senior staff) was perhaps the most challenging part of the transformation, for a couple of reasons.

The first of these was because it was the largest part of the roll-out, involving the greatest number of people and moving parts, and not all of our frontline staff (particularly those over a certain age) were already highly familiar and comfortable with tech like tablets, even very simple ones.

The second was because we had to tackle the dual challenges of the digital transformation roll-out itself, plus also the human element of it as well; and so when we came to review and assess purely the digital side of things, it was very hard to mentally separate the digital/tech side from the human
side, and all of the variables that the latter introduced.

This brings me back to my point about integrating measurement benchmarks from the get-go; objectively, our digital transformation went better than we could have fairly expected given it was the first major shake-up of its type within our company, but we needed some distance and objectivity to be able to recognize this fact!

Name – Eric Jeffery Company – IBM

Designation – Senior Management Consultant and Solutions Architect

Definition/Explanation –

– Digital transformation came about to help organizations grow in technological maturity while focusing on business needs.
– Digital transformation is a buzzword to elicit emotion and entice action.
– Digital transformation can have a positive impact on companies.
– Digital transformation can lead companies down an incorrect path.

Moving towards a digital transformation path without understanding the goal can lead to unnecessary financial spend. Digital transformation can mean different things to different people.

Name – Sukhi Jutla Company – MarketOrders

Website – MarketOrders.net
Designation – Co-Founder and CEO

Definition/Explanation –

For consumers, the traceability of a product is of paramount importance. And while the jewelry industry has tried to address this concern, it has been very slow to embrace new technology-driven solutions. Indeed, the supply chain for precious stones such as diamonds is among the most complex and fragmented of any industry.

But this entrenched conservatism, with all its inherent inefficiencies, is starting to give way as the industry begins to recognize the potential of blockchain.

In its journey from uncut stone buried under miles of earth and rock to its final resting place in the gleaming window of high-end jewelers, a precious stone will pass through dozens of hands.

It is notoriously hard to ensure a fully digital end-to-end supply chain is in place to evidence this. This is why in my business, MarketOrders.net, we are introducing new ways of working by introducing blockchain technology to track and authenticate gold and jewels that pass through the platform.

This is a huge digital transformation and in order to implement it, you need outstanding technology developers as well as the ability to convince your customers to embrace this innovation. The biggest challenge, therefore, is in convincing your stakeholders to jump onboard.

The best way to do this is to demonstrate how this new digital transformation can positively impact and benefit users. Another way to bring on board support is to show them how to use the new technology. In our case, this means helping our customers understand how to create digital wallets, using cryptocurrency to pay for orders and how they can use blockchain to authenticate the products in their stores.

Name – Max Falb Company – Fueled

Website – Fueled.com
Designation – Special Projects Coordinator

Definition/Explanation –

In short, digital transformation is about incorporating technologies into products and processes to achieve a competitive advantage in today’s digital economy. A more extensive definition of digital transformation is the process of keeping your business up to date by optimizing all touchpoints in which customers, employees, and partners come to interact and converse with your business.

Name – Peter Wilfahrt Company- Diono

Website – Diono.com
Designation – Chief Digital Officer

Definition/Explanation –

Digital Transformation is a process where you, as a business, should try to replace every human interaction with a digital process. Looking at product manufacturing, supply chain, digital marketing, IT security, or retail/online shopping: you will look at the process end-to-end and eliminate as much manual labor as possible. This is the only way to truly transform your business into a digital business. Thought leaders and winning CEOs develop a “digital-first” business. Every investment should be backed by (digital) data; every project/development/product should be backed by (digital) data and insights. Starting this process now will help you to win headspace against your competition and will help you to a) formulate correct and decisions b) be faster c) understand your customers better.

Name – Adeel Shabir Company – GigWorker

Website – GigWorker.com
Designation – Content Marketing Executive

Definition/Explanation –

Digital transformation is necessary because of this digital age and advancements in technology. This also helps you to be much more productive in your daily work. In this day and age, many companies are introducing digital workspace for the employees because it’s comfortable and is easy to work.

*Following are the ways that digital transformation has been a success for us: *

1. Communication is the key to success in any business. We at Gigworker introduced *Slack* for the ongoing communication inside the company and it really helped us a lot. Slack is a tool that comprises multiple aspects of communication, you can create departments for each group of employees and they can also communicate directly with almost everyone on board.

2. We as a media company have multiple tasks that require a lot of attention and to meet our deadlines, it needs to organize. We introduced *Trello* in our company and it has helped us a lot in making and assigning tasks for each individual employee with a deadline that needs to be met.

3. To keep an eye on the work of our remote employees, we introduced *Hubstaff*. A time tracking tool for the company and now we can justify each employee’s work and time that they have taken on working each task.

Name – Avinash Chandra Company – BrandLoom

Website – BrandLoom.com
Designation – Founder & CEO

Definition/Explanation –

Digital transformation is the integration of digital technology into all business areas, fundamentally changing how you operate and providing customers with value. It is also a cultural change that allows organizations to continuously challenge the status quo, innovate, and make themselves comfortable with failure.

This goes into traditional roles such as advertising, promotions, and customer service. Alternatively, digital innovation begins and ends with your thought and consumer interaction. When we switch from paper and spreadsheets to smart business apps, we have the ability to reinvent how we do business — how we reach our clients — with digital technology at our hands.

Yes, we have experienced Digital Transformation at our organization. We have decentralized our working space. With the right tools, we can coordinate with our team across geographies. This has increased efficiency overall and helps us keep track of workflows

Name – Ellen Mullarkey Company – Messina Staffing

Website – MessinaStaffing.com
Designation – Vice President, Business Development

Definition/Explanation –

Like many industries, the HR industry is currently undergoing a technological renaissance. So, in order to keep up, my organization had to undergo a digital transformation years ago.

Our transformation involved onboarding new technologies, hiring employees with experience in using these tools, and training our existing teams on how to use them properly. It took a lot of work, but I must say it’s been quite successful.

It wasn’t without its challenges, of course. You’re always going to have employees who are hesitant to change their ways and adopt new tools after working the same way for years. But by showing them how these tools can improve their productivity and make their jobs easier, you’re able to get buy-in from everyone on the team.

At the end of the day, digital transformation is more than just a buzzword. It is how all things “digital” have “transformed” the way we conventionally do or did things.

As a digital transformation agency, we have helped several businesses in automating business processes, in order to increase efficiency and positively impact the bottom line.

We thank all the experts who took the time to respond to our queries and helped us in providing insights to our readers.