Any business owner or manager knows the pain of inefficient systems and frustrating tools, especially as you aim to scale your business and increase your revenue. Digital transformation is the best way to increase efficiency and grow your business, no matter what your size. However, most of the resources to do so have historically been inaccessible to anyone but the largest of enterprises. This isn’t the case anymore. Technology has become more accessible to more kinds of businesses
Most resources providing information on digital transformation are also aimed squarely at the largest of companies. However, there are huge opportunities for businesses of all kinds to modernize their operations and embrace the benefits of technology. This article is a resource for any business wanting to use technology to build on its success. Construction companies can create digital tools for their field teams on site, schools can create systems to modernize their facilities' data, retail operations can build smart inventory management systems, and shipping companies can use AI to optimize logistics. Business can better manage their teams and help their customers using employee portals or customer portals.
Modern tools have made it easier than ever for businesses of all sizes to customize their technology to their needs. No code platforms like Glide let you build your own business software that fits your needs and processes perfectly. Cloud technology and digital databases like Airtable are affordable and make data useable by any team member from anywhere. Automation tools like Make and Zapier let you create automated workflows that save manual labor and streamline processes. Even AI tools are becoming more accessible and useful for real business applications.
A recent McKinsey study found that the pandemic sped up the digitization of businesses’ operations by at least three to four years, and those changes have stuck. Businesses that want to stay competitive will need to get on board. This guide will help you identify the best tools and strategies to give your business all of the benefits of digital transformation in 2024.
What is digital transformation?
Digital transformation describes how a business integrates and deploys digital technology to increase efficiency, reduce manual labor, and improve processes across the business’s daily operations.
Transformation usually happens in three key areas:
Processes—Purchasing or creating software to help streamline processes, automating work to improve efficiency, and
Culture—Building a culture that encourages innovation and embraces modernization. Using technology to improve information sharing and open new channels of communication between teams, eliminating silos and building a culture of collaboration.
Customer experiences—Improving customer experience through broadening communication channels, offering new services, and using digital analytics to better understand customer needs.
What is a digital transformation strategy?
A digital transformation strategy is a detailed plan for rolling out digital technology and process improvements.
Your strategy should be informed by your business goals. A digital transformation strategy can help relieve the pain points holding your business back and take advantage of new opportunities for growth and success.
A digital transformation can change work for office workers, but it’s just as likely to mean improving support for field teams, warehouse staff, or retail associates on a sales floor. You want to develop both short-term plans and a long-term roadmap for how technology can shape your business. What’s most important is that company leadership is on board, guiding your digital transformation roadmap, keeping a focus on business outcomes, and creating a company culture that actively supports and enables innovators at work.
Often, a good place to start is your business's outdated systems and processes. You might be stuck managing piles of manilla folders because you haven’t found a digital tool that fits your needs, or you might be stuck copying and pasting data from a half dozen different tools because no single software license does everything you need it to. Think about what your business could achieve if those obstacles were replaced with automated tools that just worked. That’s the power of digital transformation.
Digital transformation is about taking advantage of the digital tools and processes we have at our disposal. It can touch every corner of your business, from how you deliver value to your customers to how your team collaborates behind the scenes. It helps you replace inefficiencies with innovation and relieve the burden of manual tasks with automation to create a business that’s not only relevant but thriving.
Moreover, digital transformation can even open up new revenue streams and business models that were previously unattainable.
What does a digital transformation strategy include?
Digital transformation is driven by both technological advancements, like AI, and the need to stay competitive, efficient, and responsive to customer demands. You can evaluate what types of technology will best help your business, but most digital transformation strategies will include the following technologies:
Software
Software is obviously at the heart of digital transformation, but the types of software adopted will change based on your business and its specific needs. Large enterprises will have access to extensive resources and will likely opt to create ERP systems to manage operations, acquire software licenses and seats for their team, and hire developers to build custom software for more specific needs that aren’t covered by existing tech.
Businesses without the resources for more expensive software can build solutions for their own businesses using technology like no code platforms. No code enables them to build websites, applications, and databases without having to have engineers on staff. No code developers are also faster and more cost effective than traditional code. With these technologies, businesses of all sizes can get the benefits of custom software for improving both internal tools and processes and creating better customer experiences.
Data and analytics
Data helps make better decisions and drives the majority of important business processes. However, many businesses run their data out of spreadsheets or even paper files. Digitizing your data management makes it easier for you to use your data strategically. You can create systems to better organize your data, share data more effectively, analyze data, and use it to make decisions.
An important pillar of digital transformation is data democratization, breaking down data silos so more of your team use and interact with all of your data instead of just pieces of it.
Data democratization can happen in many ways. Migrating from paper spreadsheets to digital makes your data more accessible and easier to analyze. Take it a step further, and you can create an Excel interface or an app on top of Google Docs data so it’s easier to enter, share, and visualize your data. If you are already using databases like SQL, you can create an SQL GUI that helps non-technical team members use the information in your database without having to know the basics of SQL.
The big data and analytics market is projected to grow to $684 billion by 2030 as nearly all organizations invest in storing, sharing, and analyzing their data digitally. Competitive businesses need to give their teams access to data to keep up. This can include collecting data from the Internet of Things (IoT) to better understand and meet customer and employee needs. In fact, IoT devices are expected to generate 79 zettabytes of data by 2030.
Workflow Process Automation
Technology can help you automate your business's most repetitive, manual tasks, improving efficiency and generating significant ROI by freeing staff up for more business-critical work. APIs and webhooks can help you connect more of your software and data together in one place, so your team can use it more effectively. Automation tools like Make and Zapier also make building automated workflows that run on triggers easily.
Automation can help you connect the software you use, share data more effectively, and increase accuracy by eliminating human error. It can also run 24/7 without getting tired, so you can increase your productivity without burning out your team. These efficiency savings are why the robotic process automation market is valued to exceed 23.9 billion by 2030.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning
Artificial intelligence technology has evolved faster than anything else, and it’s beginning to mature enough to provide real benefits to businesses. While larger generative AI tools like Writer are too expensive for most businesses, technologies are emerging that make it possible to apply AI to your day-to-day business needs.
Glide AI is one example. This feature allows you to create custom tools with no code that give your own users the ability to perform tasks with AI right in your business software. This enables you to add the efficiency benefits of AI right into every process in your business.
AI and machine learning are projected to contribute up to $13 trillion to the global economy by 2030 as businesses increasingly rely on them for automating complex tasks, analyzing large datasets, and creating more personalized customer experiences.
Cloud Computing
Cloud technology makes it easy for your team to access important documents anytime, anywhere. No more waiting on a colleague to send over a file or digging through emails. It’s all there, ready when you need it. Gartner predicts that by 2025, 85% of enterprises will prioritize cloud-based solutions.
How to create your digital transformation strategy
Now that you understand what digital transformation is and its real drivers, here is a framework with key steps to guide you through creating your digital transformation strategy.
1. Assess your current systems
Before diving into building a digital transformation strategy, you need to know where your business stands today. This means closely examining the tools you’re using, how your processes are working, what pain points your team is encountering, and what opportunities you might be missing. Understanding your starting point helps you set realistic goals and focus on the areas that will have the biggest impact.
Consult teams at every level so you fully understand your business workflows before making strategic decisions. Your employees are the ones who are hands-on, using your tools and executing your processes every day. Their insight is important in making sure you’re rolling out new technology in the most effective way.
2. Anticipate future problems and opportunities
Evaluate what small problems might balloon into bigger issues as your business scales. For example, creating manual quotes for clients might work just fine when you have 50 clients a year but will be an insurmountable task once you land 500. This would be a great opportunity for building an automated quote system using AI.
Operations, IT, and leadership should cooperate to build a technology strategy that considers future growth.
“That's what a COO does. You solve the problems before people know they are problems. A COO stays ahead, far ahead if possible, of the executional teams - clearing roadblocks before they happen.” - Bill Schonbrun, COO - CarboNet
3. Set clear objectives
Once you’ve assessed your business's current state, the next step in your digital transformation journey is to set clear, measurable objectives and KPIs. These goals should be specific and achievable. For example, a goal might be to roll out a specific piece of technology by the end of the quarter, decrease the hours spent on data entry by 5 hours a week per team member, or onboard 50 more customers to a customer portal by year-end. Set dates and metrics you can measure.
Setting specific objectives gives your digital transformation a clear direction and ensures that each step you take is aligned with your broader business goals. With clear, measurable goals in place, you can better track your progress and ensure that your digital transformation efforts are on the right path.
4. Develop a roadmap
With your objectives set, the next step is to create a concise roadmap that outlines the key steps, timelines, and resources needed to reach your digital transformation goals. This roadmap serves as your guide, ensuring everything stays on track. Make sure to assign responsibilities, identify potential risks (like system downtime), and plan how to mitigate them.
5. Get your whole team on board
Throughout the process, provide stakeholders with clear communication and regular updates, and involve key players in decision-making. A transparent and collaborative culture builds the support needed to make a digital transformation strategy successful.
Getting everyone on board, from managers to front-line employees, is crucial for a successful digital transformation. Share your goals, plans, and objectives with the team to get them invested and participating. According to a PwC report, organizations that successfully engage their stakeholders are more likely to see their digital transformation initiatives succeed.
6. Train your team and provide resources for skill development
As you introduce new tools and processes, you should help your team learn how to use them effectively. Investing in training will help ensure your team can take full advantage of the new systems in place so your business gets the full benefit of your new tools and processes.
7. Use agile transformation - test, learn, and repeat
An agile approach to digital transformation can be a really effective way to make sure your changes are being effective. Agile methodologies involve making smaller changes and iterations, testing them, learning from them, and then making necessary changes as you move forward. Agility means being willing to change direction as you learn and incorporate learnings to make your strategy more effective.
Measure impact as much as possible, get feedback from staff and customers and iterate on your plans when new information becomes available. This is one reason no code can be such an effective digital transformation tool–it allows for quick cycles of testing and iteration so you can act on learnings in real-time and get the most effective tools possible.
8. Continuous improvement
Even once your strategy is executed, you want to assess your use of technology and your processes on a regular basis. Digital transformation is an ongoing process that requires regular reviews and adjustments based on what’s working and what your business needs as it grows. Continuous improvement is the key to sustaining the benefits of digital transformation and helping your business stay competitive and adaptable.
How custom software built with no code can power digital transformation
No-code technology can be the most important piece of a digital transformation strategy, especially for underserved industries. Many times, the right off-the-shelf software simply doesn’t exist for a particular task or type of business. If it does, it can often be expensive, outdated, and a poor fit for your specific needs. It’s always possible to hire engineers to build something more customized, but programming is an incredibly slow and expensive process.
No code lets you build solutions in weeks rather than months, and you can build your tools yourself without needing to have coding experience or hire developers. Businesses that lack the time or bandwidth to build their own tools can also hire no code developers to build customized systems faster and more cost-effectively than they could with traditional coding.
Glide is a no code platform that was specifically designed for building business tools. Your apps start from data, creating an interface for digital spreadsheets or databases that anyone can use, with increased control, privacy, visibility, and the ability to build workflows off of that data. You can create a centralized interface for all of your software (even the clunkiest legacy software your industry is stuck with) that will eliminate data silos and smooth workflows across your business.
By creating multiple apps on top of the same shared data, you can build powerful workflows across your business. One example could be a client portal for tracking project progress. That business could also build a project management tool for its team on top of the same data. When an employee moves a project from one stage to another, that change is reflected in the client-facing app as well.
If they need approval on a design, clients can approve it in one click and notify the team. For more oversight, they could also build an admin dashboard for leadership that produces regular reports using AI summarization, lets them onboard new clients, and lets them check their stats as projects progress.
Use modern technology to build your business
“Since implementing the app, our dispatchers and support staff have saved easily over 20 hours per week on administrative tasks, allowing them to focus more on load planning and customer service as well as retention. It's reduced overall downtime and lead time on our processes by at least 25 to 30 percent. Before, a lot of our payroll and admin time was spent on inefficiencies just because we didn't have a qualified system in place. We’ve been able to reinvest the time and money we’ve saved back into the app and integrate new features that make it more and more valuable to us and our customers.” - Adam Wingfield, Founder/Managing Director of Innovative Logistics Group
What a lot of businesses discover when they first start developing a digital transformation strategy is that technology often costs them as much time as it saves. By approaching your transformation projects strategically, you can make sure your digital technologies are working for you, not the other way around.
Your technology should save you time and energy, and help you use your team's skills more effectively. It should also help you innovate and encourage your team to spearhead initiatives to improve business processes whenever they see new opportunities. With no code, they can build their own digital tools for the task at hand and build processes that work better for their unique needs.
When your team spends less time on minutiae, they are free to tackle projects with more business impact, helping you scale, grow your revenue, and achieve higher levels of success as an organization.
No matter the size of your business, the industry you're in, or the unique challenges of your organization, you deserve to reap the benefits of technology.
