Digitalization Is A Process, Not A Solution

Dine Manalo
8 min readJan 17, 2022

It’s pretty clear that the digitalization is the pathway that all businesses must follow moving forward. Even prior to the Covid-19 epidemic organizations of all kinds and sizes embraced digital and online advancements because of the many successes in connection with the process. Research suggests that the worldwide spending for digitalization will be in the 1.8 trillion (!!) in 2022. with experts saying it could surpass the 2 trillion mark by 2023.

Companies are taking steps to change or replace their traditional processes with the widest range of digital tools and programs as they can. Whatever the reason, many companies consider digitalization as an improvement. It is a means to enhance operations, increase efficiency, reduce costs, and more. But, that’s exactly why digitalization received the false story of it being a way to solve complex business issues.

Although technology may help us solve issues however, it will not automatically yield more revenue or more effective outcomes. If it is not approached with a strategy digitalization can be more expensive than it is beneficial. In the year 2019, 70% of companies that invested in digitalization had results that weren’t in line with their objectives. The more than 9 billion dollars invested in digital transformation plans end up being wasted, a shocking amount that tells you all you have to know. Digital transformation isn’t really a business solution. It’s just a method.

Many companies lauded digitalization as the savior of operations, and rightfully so. However, before you pull up the red carpet to make the declaration, here are the essential things to be aware of.

Digitalization’s Benefits

Of course, the innumerable advantages and benefits will place the digitalization as an essential initiative for your business. Technology’s primary function is to perform the tasks and processes that only human or human can complete. There are thousands of minor inconveniences, operation bottlenecks, and processes that take a lot of time were greatly improved as a result of digitalization. The premise seems simple for businesses. If you are looking to make something better or improve something, you devote your efforts to achieving it. Here are a few ways companies make use of technology in order to solve business challenges.

Efficient Task Completion

The business operation is a complex system of routines and procedures that keeps the organization running and earning profits. Each step requires staff, resources and procedures to be completed. But, one factor determines if the business operation can maintain its pace or fail to meet them. Time is valuable for businesses. It is applicable to all tasks throughout the business. The faster turnover, the faster the path to profit.

Businesses invest heavily into incorporating technologies into their operations. As a result, organizations are able to see an enormous improvement in efficiency and productivity. The benefits of automation come in various kinds. The automation of routine tasks, the storage of business data, managing resources and streamlining workflows are among those advantages. Efficiency is the best technology feature and is why businesses pursue digitalization.

Content Creation and Discovery

Information is the most innovative and consistent thing that improves businesses overall. With the advent of the internet and internet-based technologies companies now have everything they need to be able to attract customers. Employees are more able to access knowledge and resources to support marketing strategies, sales strategies, and customer service. Therefore, businesses see significant improvements at the day. The most significant benefit of digitalization in that area is content creation.

Content is consumed by viewers on every online platform. Social media, business websites, digital markets, journals for academics and many other websites expand the ways in which businesses can connect with their prospective customers. Digitalization is now synonymous with the presence of a business online, making it beneficial to get started on that aspect.

Customer Targeting

The most notable aspect of digitalization is the ability to connect businesses with the broadest audience that can be reached. Digital marketing and advertising strategies could be fun strategies where marketing experts can try new ideas. One strategy is to segment the public into various personas. The method is based on identifying which areas they are likely to be in and then making them more attractive to them. With marketing being one of the most expensive departments of companies, making use of digital tools such as programs, software, and platforms will ensure success as soon as companies invest.

Marketing strategies must be efficient in order to make sure that companies believe their money is helping profits grow. Thus, marketers utilize tools and programs to know more about their prospective customers. They can tailor the experience of advertisements and marketing strategies to improve conversion rates. This strategy would be challenging without the automated data and reports that are generated using digital tools. This makes the use of customer targeting a novel approach.

However, fixing those difficulties in the business world doesn’t mean that it’s in line with increasing profits. They can be a method to reduce costs and improve results but it’s not an absolute guarantee. Perhaps meager results are the reasons why some companies have avoided digital change earlier. But, they’re left with no choice as of 2020, which is the year that the global economic crisis has hit businesses severely.

Covid-19’s role in the acceleration of digitalization

Most companies aren’t interested in digitalization based on a simple phrase: If it’s not broke then don’t fix it. The traditional methods that are still efficient and productive may not need improvement. Moving parts of the process can drastically alter the process outcomes, results, quality and many other aspects. In addition, there is the training and onboarding process the staff requires to work on those tools. Making adjustments to the processes to meet the demands of digitalization is not efficient and unnecessary if your current processes have performed well. Unfortunately, the pandemic Covid-19 made businesses unable to choose.

The number of cases active and the death toll continues to increase as the virus spreads worldwide. Businesses that rely heavily on traditional and face-to -face interactions had to close their doors to ensure employee safety. In the end, productivity and profits dropped significantly. The companies had to stop operations temporarily due to social distancing protocols. The economy was in decline and entrepreneurs witnessed their dreams of a lifetime shattered. It was fortunate that those who pursued digitalization were able to outlast. The Covid-19 outbreak urged businesses to pursue their journey towards digitalization even if this means revamping the existing procedures. The thought of abandoning commercial spaces like offices or headquarters may be costly, however the switch to digital channels cultivate business continuity more effectively then waiting around for the social distancing protocol to be relaxed and for on-site operations to continue, especially when new versions are appearing.

The only way to improve business is through digitalization. The Covid-19 pandemic accelerated digital transformation in every business and industry. For a brief periodof time, digitalization was not just a long-term and cost-effective strategy for business. It turned into a salvation.
There’s a Confusion Behind Digitalization

It’s not a question that digitalization addressed a critical problem for businesses in the outbreak of Covid-19. They needed an alternative to traditional , on-site configurations and digitalization provided. In the end, companies are able to continue operating without compromising social distancing guidelines. In hindsight, it seems that companies are making significant progress when pursuing digitalization. However, this doesn’t conceal the fact that it is the replacement for an existing system that might be at its greatest efficiency as well as productive.

Digitalization has become the norm, and nearly every company has turned to it to stay afloat during the epidemic. Advantages surrounding efficient task completion, content discovery and creation, customer targeting, and cost-efficiency are now expected outcomes. Businesses would be thrilled returning to operations following an unfavorable adjustment period in 2020. But the process of digitalization can’t save companies from cutting employees off in order to reduce operations to minimal standards, or closing doors temporarily in order in order to recover financially. Even the process involves costs for financial services, particularly when it comes to purchasing digital tools and programs through third-party service providers. This is where the digitalization process creates the greatest difficulties. If you were not planning to invest in it, then the cost of digital transformation amid the pandemic might blindside you despite hearing about the cost-effective benefits others have enjoyed.

The Factors that Powered Digitalization’s Success

If the world was without the threat of the virus, digitalization would position itself as a viable business solution. Most businesses aren’t going to want to spend a lot of money on digital equipment and programs that improve efficiency. Additionally, these technologies require the expertise of someone who is able to use them. In the end, finding and hiring employees with those qualifications become necessary. Like everyone else in the business world realizes, labor expenses are the biggest expense. The cost of employee wages, benefits, bonuses, compensation, and taxes in general make up approximately 70% of the overall budget for the month. If you consider the effects of the pandemic on your business revenues, you will not feel like your business is growing while you work towards digitalization.

It is essential to have as many able hands as you can get when you are transferring operations into the digital age. However, how can you achieve this without incurring too many costs in the middle of a financial crisis that has slowed the world down? In the end, it’s where companies found offshore solutions.

On-site operations are fickle because of Covid-19 and its variants of mutation. It could be years before the pandemic is officially over and digitalization is likely to remain dominant for a long period. Solutions for offshoring revolve around remote work services, providing companies with skilled professionals from different areas of the globe. They are most well-known in countries that have low-cost economies and top-quality workers like the Philippines. Most businesses often start with IT outsourcing and securing IT specialists and their services for a minimal cost compared to the setting up of departments themselves. But it shouldn’t be long before you realize offshoring solutions are applicable for the rest of your digitally-connected business divisions. If you are creating offshore teams from countries that have low-cost economies, you can prevent labor costs from becoming financially disruptive to your organization that is digitally adapting.

iSupport Worldwide is among the most prominent offshore ventures in the Philippines. The American-owned BPO company solves staffing issues to maintain fast growth for its customers. With top-of-the-line IT and HR Support services as well as fully-branded premises, in addition to up to 70% cost savings on cost of labor, iSupport Worldwide can assist businesses of all sizes and industry by assisting them with typically costly and time-consuming digitalization process.

Conclusion

Business owners know that resiliency is one of the top qualities of a successful entrepreneur. The Covid-19 virus could be one of the most difficult obstacles you’ll ever have to face. It’s one problem after another and many have given up. The digitalization process, however, offers an opportunity to fight. This may not be a solution needed by everyone to boost profits, but it’s a way to make organizations more successful in an uncertain and challenging business environment. If you need a with setting the foundation of your IT infrastructure or in digitizing the other business areas, iSupport Worldwide is ready to assist. Schedule a call here to discuss how we can begin the process of turning digitalization into an advantage.

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