How to leverage technology for business transformation

Business transformation, also known as digital transformation (DX), comprises a wide variety of changes put in place to help a company or organization run more efficiently. This includes everything from updating internal systems to leveraging technology to enhance business operations.

You can use business transformation to evolve departments and workflows, or the entire company, including management, culture, human resources, customer interactions, IT and even standard business processes. As more businesses consider their own DX efforts, they’ll inevitably need to assess what technologies they need to improve and reform.

What tech is necessary for business transformation?

If your company isn’t leveraging technology in every possible way, you’re likely falling behind the competition. There are endless solutions out there, but a handful of specific types are mission-critical for digital transformation.

Cloud

The cloud, a secure space for online databases, lets companies expand their infrastructure with on-demand access to resources and storage at the click of a button or tap of a finger. Employees can view or utilize tools from anywhere.

According to TechJury’s cloud adoption stats for 2021, about 61% of companies went through cloud migration in 2020, moving most or all of their processes to the cloud as part of their digital transformation.

Depending on your team’s needs, these changes can include multi-cloud types such as private, public and hybrid models. Customizing the cloud experience lets you avoid taxing IT resources and support growth as priorities change.

Centralized data warehouse

As a data management system, a centralized data warehouse is a single location accessible to multiple users across various departments or teams. Data warehouses are used to store historical information, analysis details and reports, which can be viewed or generated at any time. A centralized data warehouse is critical for any company looking to analyze its performance with information it can trust, all in one place.

The term “data warehouse” is often used interchangeably with “data lake.” But there are key differences, as outlined by Talend. Most importantly, data warehouses have structured data that can easily be filtered and searched. Data lakes are filled with raw data that hasn’t yet been organized or given a defined purpose.

Workflow automation

Arguably the most important step toward successful business transformation is workflow automation. According to a 2021 study about recurring tasks by Clockify, people spend four hours and 38 minutes per week doing duplicate work. That’s a productivity loss of nearly 220 hours annually.

Prioritizing workflow automation makes process management more streamlined and efficient, freeing employees up to be more productive creatively.

Business intelligence

Business intelligence (BI) is when a company leverages technology to understand its data for better decision-making.

A study about online data creation conducted by the Information Overload Research Group (IORG) says that 90% of online data has been created in the past two years alone.

Profitability and overall growth opportunities abound when a company can use proper business intelligence practices as part of its digital transformation. Using effective BI gives organizations a digital edge over competitors that aren’t tracking this massive influx of information. Data analysis allows companies to make smarter, more strategic decisions across multiple disciplines.

Self-serve tools

According to the “2020 State of Digital Transformation” report from TEKsystems, 61% of business transformation leaders are using digital tools and 47% have implemented self-service technology.

When thinking about what technology you need for digital transformation, consider the resources that will allow you to get more accomplished on your own. Self-serve tools like Slack, Google Analytics and Salesforce enhance efficiency and help limit backlogs. According to Fonolo, these types of tools can even help lead to an 85% year-over-year increase in customer-retention rates.

Which tech is right for my business transformation?

If you’re just getting started with leveraging technology for digital transformation, there are a few clear places to begin.

Enterprise information management

As a means of organizing information assets and offering business insight, enterprise information management (EIM) provides structure and transparency for a company.

Modern EIM solutions like OpenText are easy to include in business transformations. This software allows a company to protect its data and keep it organized whether the content is being used in internal or external business processes.

Collaborative platforms

While tools like email aren’t obsolete, they are quickly being overshadowed by more dynamic and user-friendly collaborative platforms. Solutions like Slack, Dropbox, Trello and Microsoft 365 are all delivering new and innovative ways for teams to communicate and collaborate effectively.

Business process management

A company’s goals and objectives are always changing, which means many operations will eventually become outdated. Business process management (BPM) takes a close look at these operations to make innovative changes that can be adapted throughout your digital transformation.

This involves a constant flow of reviewing your efforts, adjusting your functionality and making improvements as necessary. Some examples of helpful business process management software include Pipefy, Kissflow and Nintex.

How Slack helps with business transformation

Every company is different, which is why Slack created a guide to help you better understand what digital transformation would mean for your business specifically. As you endeavor to improve your processes, you’ll need the tools and resources to set your teams up for success.

Slack takes business transformation to the next level by enabling both linear and nonlinear communication, and efficiently grouping people, projects and workflows together. And since the platform integrates with thousands of apps, you can merge your workflows seamlessly to get everything done in one place.

Use Slack as part of your business transformation

Digital transformation is a complex and sometimes lengthy process. Using a flexible collaboration platform like Slack makes the entire process easier and more efficient. Get started for free and see how leveraging technology like Slack can help.