{"id":81433,"date":"2016-03-30T12:54:50","date_gmt":"2016-03-30T17:54:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ict-pulse.com\/?p=81433"},"modified":"2017-04-07T19:34:49","modified_gmt":"2017-04-08T00:34:49","slug":"going-digital-hype-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/2016\/03\/going-digital-hype-more\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cGoing digital\u201d: is it just hype, or should it mean more?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Today\u2019s businesses, including those in the Caribbean, tend to pride themselves on \u201cgoing digital\u201d, but what does that mean? And is whatever is done, is it\u00a0enough?<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\nWithout a doubt, today\u2019s businesses and organisations must learn not only navigate, but to thrive, in <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">today\u2019s<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> environment. Currently, we have unprecedented development and use of technology, which has transformed our societies, including the way businesses and countries operate, along with consumer behaviour, attitudes and expectation. As a result, the terms \u2018digital age\u2019 and \u2018information age\u2019 are now used to highlight the dramatic shift that has occurred occurred in our economies from industrialisation and the \u2018industrial age\u2019, which began in the mid-1800s.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hence, over the past several years, the term \u2018going digital\u2019 has been used by organisations, from small businesses to large corporates, to signify that some digital transformation is occurring. However, \u2018going digital\u2019 can mean different things to different organisations, and may include one or more of the following (which itself is not an exhaustive list):<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">going paperless, by digitising key processes<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Incorporating digital platforms and channels, such as social media, cloud computing, mobile, into operations<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">computerising as many processes as possible<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Incorporating more analytics and big data into the strategy development and decision making processes<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">creating a digital strategy for the organisation, which speaks to how technology will be used.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For many organisations, especially those in the Caribbean, the above points represents the extent of the transformation that has been occurring in this \u2018digital age\u2019, which essentially is focussed almost exclusively on operational adjustments. However, is that enough?<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Future-proofing your business<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This fact must be re-emphasised: technology is changing the way business is being done: both internal to the organisation in how it operates, and externally, in its relationship with its customers, its competitors and partners, along with how it is seen in its industry. It is thus incumbent on business leaders and decision makers &#8211; cognisant of the landscape that exists and is continuing to emerge &#8211; to identify and implement strategies to future-proof their businesses that not only ensure their long-term survival, but also their relevance in the ever-evolving marketplace.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, while many businesses have been focussing on digitising their operations, frequently, it is with the objective of maintaining the existing \u00a0business concept and model. They are not paying attention to how the environment is changing, specifically the impact of digital technology on, among other things: <\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">how business is being done<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">emerging trends and developments in their industry<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> customer behaviour and expectations.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hence two questions that ought to be asked are: \u2018What impact is digital technology having on my industry?\u201d Second, \u201cdoes my current business model still work in that emerging\/changing space?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To answer those questions properly, careful research is necessary to understand the developments in the industry of focus. Thereafter, it would be equally important for there to be a rigorous and dispassionate examination of the business within the context of the wider industry to determine the extent it might need to change.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Impact on customer base <\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As more digital strategies are implemented, the ways in which a business engages its customers can also broaden or change. Further, depending on how the business changes, the customer base may also change, which may not be limited to just customer demographic, but correspondingly customer behaviour and expectations will also change. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For example, if delivery of goods and\/or services is moves online, such as a brick-and-mortar book store expands to sell books over the Internet, and include electronic (e-) books, it means that, among other things, those new customers customers must be digitally savvy, comfortable in conducting electronic transactions, and own devices on which to read e-books. Accordingly, the ways in which those customers are engaged and kept, would most likely be different from the tactics used for the a physical store.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Impact on perceived value to customers<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Following on the earlier points, depending on the extent to which the product or service offerings change, it could affect the firm\u2019s value proposition to its customers. Accordingly, this is a matter that ought be carefully examined so that the business ensures that it correctly communicate what is value proposition is to it customers. Further, as digital technology continues to transform our lives, it is essential that businesses realise that \u201c<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">customer expectations go beyond ease of use; they\u2019re now expecting proactive experiences<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201d \u00a0(Source: <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/hbr.org\/2016\/03\/the-4-things-it-takes-to-succeed-in-the-digital-economy\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Harvard Business Review<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">)<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>Image credit: \u00a0Stuart Miles (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.freedigitalphotos.net\/\" target=\"_blank\">FreeDigitalPhotos.net<\/a>)<\/em><\/p>\n<p>__________________<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Today\u2019s businesses, including those in the Caribbean, tend to pride themselves on \u201cgoing digital\u201d, but what does that mean? And is whatever is done, is it\u00a0enough? Without a doubt, today\u2019s [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":81437,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[82,17,11],"tags":[71,261,50,222,15],"class_list":["post-81433","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","category-caribbean","category-ict-tech","tag-businesses","tag-customer-care","tag-productivity","tag-strategy","tag-trends","et-has-post-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Strategy-for-Business-by-Stuart-Miles-FreeDigitalPhotos.net_.jpg?fit=400%2C300&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2iE1G-lbr","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81433","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81433"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81433\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":97019,"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81433\/revisions\/97019"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/81437"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81433"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81433"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81433"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}