Digital agility – thriving in the 'new normal'

Very few people could have predicted the events of late 2019 and 2020, and the widespread disruption which COVID-19 would cause. Every business leader, however, has long been warned to prepare for disruption in one form or another.

For many years, experts from across the business and technology landscape have spoken about the need for greater agility in every aspect of our business models. Whether disruption comes from new digital competitors, changing customer needs or a global pandemic, it is always inevitable. The only true antidote is agility.

In a period of such widespread upheaval, most organisations have had to come to terms with their own agility as they’ve sought to rapidly transform key aspects of their people, process, and technologies. This includes:

• Quickly rolling out remote working and business continuity strategies
• Pivoting their traditional sales and service channels into new digital models
• Controlling their ongoing expenses and rationalising unnecessary resources.

Many organisations will be pleasantly surprised at the speed with which they’ve been able to adapt to the new reality. Others will be suitably concerned by their failures to adapt at the required pace. Either way, every organisation will be understandably anxious about what comes next and whether their business and operating models are suitable to cope during this difficult time.

From surviving to thriving: the need for digital agility

Research conducted by McKinsey found that companies which moved quickly and decisively during the 2007-08 global financial crisis were more likely to survive. 

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the IDC predicted that 80 per cent of revenue growth will be reliant on digital offerings and operations as soon as 2022. While we may want to believe this timeline has been delayed, the reality is that many organisations are seeing the opportunity for a leap forward during this crisis.

Unfortunately, making the required changes that your business needs can sometimes feel like building a plane while it’s still flying – incremental transformation is occurring, but not at the speed required to avoid the disruptive turbulence you’re feeling in an aircraft with no wings. .

Predominantly, our lack of agility stems from the fact that our technology environments haven’t been designed with rapid change in mind. We’re stuck between the legacy technology we’ve heavily invested in and the new SaaS (Software as a Service) applications and flexible cloud services our customers and employees demand.

Deciding where and how to transform is almost as important as the transformation itself. 

To create true digital agility, we believe these transformations need to happen in two key areas:

1. Customer experience

• What are the new digital experiences you need to begin delivering to your end customers?
• How are you adapting your underlying operations to create a more customer-centric business?

2. Operational efficiency

• What are the process improvements required to create the required level of operational efficiency?
•  How can your organisation streamline infrastructure while ensuring it is also scalable?

Success will hinge on your ability to bring together the right ecosystem of technology partners to unlock each aspect of true digital agility.

Datacom can partner with you on the most crucial new phase of your digital transformation. Through our advisory and consulting services, we can help you develop an immediate roadmap to deliver new customer experiences and harness new operational efficiency.