Through the development of the web, tech and computers, the work landscape has completely transformed over the last twenty or so years. Indeed, today, it’s virtually impossible to think of any company that doesn’t use tech to at least some degree in its day-to-day operations.
Reasons why Your company Needs to Digitize
However, while technology has undoubtedly revolutionized current working practices, many industry analysts suggest we’re merely seeing the tip of the iceberg when it comes to how – and where – we’ll work in the future and that we are currently in the throes of a fourth industrial revolution (the so-called Industry 4.0).
An unstoppable revolution
Certainly, there’s little question that industry and commerce are changing at a truly alarming rate. As tech like Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning finally start to deliver on their promises of an automated future, digital services are playing an increasingly vital and innovative role in many firms.
Adapt or die
One need only look at the continuing demise of the traditional high street to see that those firms that fail to sit up and take notice of changing markets ultimately fail.
E-commerce and online retail have been increasing exponentially over the last 15-20 years, giving rise to some of today’s biggest and most profitable firms (for example, Amazon).
The growth of cloud services
Digitization isn’t just apparent in retail, however. Rather, today’s most successful firms are embracing tech and integrating it into all areas of their operations to increase their competitiveness and streamline how they work.
Take, for example, cloud computing. By moving to a Cloud Service Provider (CSP), companies can level the playing field between them and other, richer competitors by gaining access to the same advanced tech.
There are too many benefits of using cloud tech to list here but rest assured, the cloud will save you time and money while also safeguarding your company data.
Contrary to popular opinion, migrating to the cloud need not be complicated. For example, if you already use apps like Google Workspace, you should speak to a specialist with Google Cloud certification to see just how easy it will be to dovetail your existing services into a new cloud-based platform.
Digitization gives you more control and a better overhead view
Not so very long ago, a lot of the decisions made running a firm were put down to educated guesswork. For example, if you run a clothing company, you might each year try to predict demand for items based purely on time of year or perhaps previous sales.
However, if you take this example and port it over to a digitized model, then the advantages of greater integration with tech become clear to see. With digitization, you could (as a few examples):
- Study in-depth previous trends from both your firm and others to predict demand
- Integrate climate forecasting apps to see how the weather might affect trends for different items
- Use website reporting software to see which product pages generated the biggest interest (and when)
- Track customer satisfaction and make additional purchase suggestions using Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software
- Set up automatic reordering from suppliers when stock levels run low
- Take care of deliveries using automated drop shipping services