At the beginning of 2020, it would have been difficult to believe so many parts of life would change so drastically in a single year.
Ten months later, that’s exactly what’s happened, with major shifts in everything from the way we travel to the way we learn at school to the way we do business.
Digital transformation – the adoption of digital technologies to optimize or differentiate products, processes or services – has been a priority for most companies during the 21st century, but not always to the same extent.
Some organizations have enthusiastically embraced this new way of working, viewing it as a real opportunity and making significant investments to position themselves for long-term success in the digital age. Others have taken a more cautious approach, making updates as necessary but not prioritizing technology as much outside of that.
ABI Research’s new whitepaper, titled Digital Transformation: What's New, What's Next, And What It All Means, provides insight into key digital transformation initiatives, how they are changing businesses that enact them and how the global pandemic has affected it all.
To summarize:
Companies further along their digital transformation journey have been able to pivot and respond more quickly to changes in supply and demand. For others, the urgency of the pandemic has forced a level of digitalization upon them that might not have occurred otherwise. The net effect is the reinforcement of technology as a lever for greater flexibility and agility, faster growth, and better productivity.
To read the full whitepaper, download it here.
In addition to a top-line overview, the whitepaper takes a closer look at four key elements of digital transformation that are here to stay.
Digital Transformation as a differentiator – More and more companies are taking advantage of digital technologies to work smarter, reduce costs and accelerate innovation, but they don’t realize those benefits overnight. Digital transformation is a deliberate process and ABI Research recommends thinking of it in four stages: awareness, education, alignment and execution.
Evolution of Internet of Things – From remote monitoring to digital training to real-time analytics, IoT technology has matured to offer a broad range of practical, pinpointed applications. These solutions help businesses operate with improved data, and over time, better data leads to better results.
Impact of Augmented Reality and Spatial Computing – Digital twins already provide workers with virtual replicas of physical objects and processes. Digital threads take the concept a step further by housing all that data in one central location. When combined with AR, these technologies give businesses a new way to help front-line workers and others learn faster, avoid mistakes and save time.
Importance of Software-as-a-Service – Over the past couple decades, SaaS startups have attracted the most interest from investors and it’s no mystery why. These companies can move with agility, provide reliable returns because of their recurring revenue and often have fewer associated costs than other types of businesses. An effectively implemented SaaS model provides quicker updates, more flexibility and an improved overall experience for customers.
In the coming weeks, we’ll spotlight the above topics in more detail, focusing on what makes each category so critical for many modern businesses.
Of course, if you’d rather not wait, you can always download the full whitepaper today and start reading as soon as you like.
