The recent COVID-19 pandemic came with thousands of changes in almost every field. Be it education, medicine,
content marketing, digital marketing, and whatnot; its impact cannot be unseen.
Fortunately, not all the effects of the pandemic are negative. While it has limited the resources for some industries, it made businesses analyze major flaws in the digital world. As a result, companies are experiencing the accelerated digital transformations.
Today’s world depends heavily on digital and the role of IT in it is more critical than anything. The pandemic has led to several restrictions on the offline platforms resulting in consumers turning to online solutions. Therefore, businesses are under tremendous pressure to remain competitive and develop end-to-end customer experiences. They require a strong online presence to deliver the best customer experience.
But how can they do it?
Well, it’s simple — by adopting the biggest digital transformation trends and integrating them into their businesses.
If you are wondering what these
trends are, you will know them shortly. In this article, we shed light on the top 10 digital transformation trends that will fuel some incredible changes in the business landscapes worldwide. But before that, let’s understand why these ongoing and upcoming digital transformation trends are important.
Why is Digital Transformation Important?
The expectations of both businesses and consumers are rapidly evolving, thanks to modern-day technology. As a result, organizations are finding newer ways to accelerate digital transformation by strengthening their digital tools. This is essential for creating and improving their business models, services, products, and processes.
Undoubtedly, the more the digital maturity of the company, the more financial success. According to a
survey conducted by Deloitte Insights, the net revenue of a company with a great level of digital maturity is three times higher than the companies with poor digital maturity. This explains why digital transformation is necessary.
Furthermore, efficient digital transformation supports quicker deliveries of advanced services and processes. It aids businesses to remodel the current circumstances and offer resilience that is extremely important for staying competitive. Take a look at the following benefits efficient digital transformation to analyze what it can bring to your organization:
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Improved employee culture and engagement
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Improved supply chain management
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Improved competitive advantage
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Improved customer benefits
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Better flexibility
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More savings
Digitally driven startups generate around
54% of the total digital revenue. On the other hand, traditional organizations are leveraging their business models through the current digital transformation trends to bridge this gap.
Top 10 Digital Transformation Trends of 2022 and Beyond
Note that not all digital transformation roadmaps will take you ahead. Only specific digital transformation trends have the power to achieve the above-mentioned benefits. Following digital transformation trends blindly may cause problems for your organizations and eventually fall short of your targets.
Here’s the list of the biggest digital transformation trends that have the power to reshape your business platforms and take them to newer heights.
Data Platforms will Witness Revolution
Nowadays, businesses are more customer-centric than ever and data is the king. Companies need more and more data to reach their audience. This is impossible without a state-of-the-art digital infrastructure, especially Customer Data Platforms (also known as CDPs).
The primary objective of the customer data platform is to gather data from all the possible sources and effectively manage it. It also organizes and tags data accordingly to make it usable for various purposes.
However, there’s a catch!
Even though there’s plenty of data available, most businesses fail to utilize the available data resources properly, and ultimately reaping all the benefits. Effective data analytics can avoid this problem and lead companies to desired efficiency and growth.
Considering all these factors, customer data platforms will play a significant role in transforming digital platforms in the coming years.
Automation will Enhance Digital Transformation
Pandemic has already changed the way companies conduct their business. Most of them rely on automation to flourish in the current market as it can speed up digital transformation and eventually the growth.
Using automation in Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and business processes can be a game-changer in enhancing efficiency and net revenue. Being said, it’s becoming the heart of current and future digital transformation trends.
Technologies like robotics,
artificial intelligence, and machine learning are the key factors businesses should consider to integrate automation and achieve better agility and growth.
5G will Go Mainstream
This is the era of work from home and remote places. As a result, companies are coming up with effective ways to manage business operations from remote settings.
However, this can be a tedious task without the availability of incredible internet connectivity and bandwidth. So, what can satisfy this need?
The answer is 5G.
Thankfully, it’s already been a hot buzz in the market for the last couple of years and gaining more prestige every day. In the years ahead, it will be a normal thing in the business world because of its ability to satisfy connectivity and internet speed demands.
Companies will Turn to Multiple Cloud Systems
Significant growth of multi-cloud platforms is inevitable in the coming years. Multi-cloud systems will be one of the most significant digital transformation trends in the future because of their ability to distribute cloud applications, assets, and software across various cloud platforms.
Moreover, they can eliminate the hurdles businesses face in data management and remove vendor lock-ins. Therefore, the use of private and public cloud infrastructures will thrive in 2022 and beyond.
Cybersecurity Practices will Improve
Remote working has its own set of pros and cons. While it allows business operations from your comfort zone, it also demands improved cybersecurity.
Companies that want to adopt digital transformation trends will focus more on developing robust cybersecurity strategies. Note that your company’s security infrastructure and practices must go hand in hand with digital transformation.
Event-Driven Architectures & Live Data Processing will Shift to the Next Level
Previously, real-time data processing used to be a strenuous technical objective. As a result, organizations depended on untrustworthy data updates and manual solutions to implement complex data queries, fix latency issues, and poor data quality.
Fortunately, modern-day architecture options have now made live data processing easy. Such options include systems that aid event-driver architectures, real-time data streaming, open-source data platforms, robotic process automation, etc.
Work from Home will Continue
Pandemic has restricted organizations to conduct operations from remote places. As a result, employees are working from home to comply with the government norms and offices are becoming increasingly redundant.
Many surveys and studies conducted by various companies report that this kind of working style will be normal and the ‘work from home’ concept is here to stay for long.
While organizations have understood its benefits, remote working is, on the other hand, propelling digital transformation. With more people engaging in work from home, newer innovations and technologies will make their way into the business.
Analytics will Enhance for the Betterment of Resilient Supply Chains
Supply chains were severely damaged due to the pandemic. However, the technology has helped organizations to recover their broken supply chain sections. Now, most of the companies are back to normal with resilient supply chains and improved local sources.
The focus of the enterprises will be on the right use of analytics, artificial intelligence, and automation to continue forecasting demands and managing supply chains. This will be their best way to make sure the logistics are resilient.
Quantum Computing will Make Big Difference
Google has recently announced that it is working on developing a quantum computer in the next ten years. This machine will be completely error-free and commercial-grade.
Even though it hasn't been significantly advertised yet, many businesses have already started researching it. In the coming years, quantum computing will have the lion’s share in improving the efficiency and revenue of various industries.
Blockchain Technology will Flourish
Blockchain has caught everyone’s eyes with the recent rise in technology adoption. Although it has been linked with cryptocurrency lately, many other industries (especially the finance sector) are now exploring and integrating this technology.
Considering its capabilities, the expansion and exploration of blockchain across different industries will continue to flourish in the coming years. Furthermore, this technology will be a significant part of cybersecurity practices and, ultimately, the future digital transformation trends.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the four main areas of digital transformation?
Organizations should consider the following four major areas of digital transformation in they want to embark on it:
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Organizational and cultural transformation
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Transformation in business processes
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Transformation in business domains
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Transformation in business models
What are the challenges in digital transformation?
All the discussed digital transformation trends will lead to a remarkable shift in everyday company operations. However, they will come with the following common challenges:
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Lack of proper business models
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Poor leadership and strategies
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Incorrect data collection
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Poor security levels
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Lack of expertise
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Low budget