When it comes to digitalisation, no company is a blank canvas — the world has experienced varied periods of disruption that have accelerated the adoption of new technologies across the board. As a result, it is critical for organisations to update and enhance their existing technological infrastructure, rather than beginning from scratch or carrying out massive technological overhauls. Due to the pandemic, businesses had to react rapidly to situations. For the most part, this was effective, demonstrating the advantages of short-term, iterative techniques, thus promoting digital acceleration rather than digital transformation. The ‘conventional’ approach to digital transformation is expensive and might take a long time to achieve. Additionally, this approach is often unable to rapidly respond to changes in the operational environment.
In Endava’s Digital Acceleration vs. Digital Transformation whitepaper, every organisation approach in the study reported that they anticipate deploying increasingly advanced technology during the next three years. It is critical to recognise that these technologies rely on pre-existing infrastructure and capabilities. If a company is considering cloud optimisation, big data platforms, or even virtual and augmented reality, they should all be deployed as part of a continuous process. Even early adopters investigating metaverse efforts should not aim to drastically restructure their company to suit it; rather, it should be a continuation of current trends. Creating the digital acceleration roadmap entails first thoroughly assessing prospective solutions and determining which are most likely to bring the most significant value.
Priorities During Digital Acceleration
Over the past few years, there have been a variety of fundamental forces driving digitisation on a global scale. According to Endava’s research, more than 57% of respondents identified digital security as the most critical aspect influencing their digital adoption approach. This was closely followed by customer experience (48%), platform scalability (47%), and remote employee access (46%).
The underlying theme of these driving priorities was that the digital journey had become a make-or-break factor for companies. With 88% of organisations now consistently doing more business online, a frictionless, resilient, and online service, without digital breakages, has become paramount. Digital breakage refers to gaps or broken processes in the digital customer journey. As online activity frequently follows a predefined path, most digital breakages occur when the user deviates even slightly from the norm, resulting in an inability to complete the process as planned. As a result, the company essentially loses money, either via sales or through user productivity.
Customer experience
According to GoDaddy’s MENA Survey 2021, over 50% of UAE businesses plan to enhance their social and digital presence in 2022. The annual revenue based on online sales channels is reported at 40% in the UAE, highlighting the importance of adopting digital services. The use of digital services appeals to today’s customers as this enhances and streamlines their experience of interacting with brands. Investments in Customer Experience (CX) technology are all set to soar as 74% of organisations in the Middle East plan to invest more than 200,000 US$ this year, reveals the Intelligence Report launched on the sidelines of the Customer Experience Live Show Middle.
Platform scalability
Organisations have adopted digital solutions rapidly throughout the past few years. However, they did not always consider how to future-proof them. The expenses incurred from the resulting complications is coined “Technical Debt.” This is often due to the lack of consideration towards the scalability of the platforms developed. According to OutSystems’ technical debt survey, which polled over 500 IT leaders worldwide, technical debt consumes about one-third of a company’s IT budget on average, accounting for 41% of its IT expenditure for enterprises. Therefore, platform scalability and adaptability are crucial when accelerating a company’s digital strategy.
Driving Digital Acceleration
In short, there is an increased awareness of the importance of virtual solutions, which is causing the acceleration of the digital revolution. It has been noted that while digital acceleration is a goal for many, this must be accompanied by a few core priorities when implementing a new digital platform. Companies must thus complete their digital acceleration journey with these priorities in mind to enhance the result and output for both companies and customers.
