What Should Sme’s Consider When Preparing a Digital Transformation Roadmap?

Having spent nearly four decades advising organizations on this process, I want to start by saying that a digital transformation is more accurately a full business transformation. It’s not just about technology; it’s about the business processes and the culture around them.

Thus, it’s critical to consider what your current systems offer, where efficiencies can be created via automation and synchronization, and how simplifying procedures will help team members get the practical information they need faster and in an easy-to-understand format.

Start by conducting a cross-functional assessment of current processes and supporting systems and be honest when reviewing what’s in place, because no business can build without a strong backbone. Look at opportunities for greater efficacy, noting the tactical changes and resources required for each step.

Review how information is recorded and stored. Keep in mind how employees utilize it. And once you’ve started, don’t stop. Constantly be critical when analyzing what’s in place today and you’ll quickly begin recognizing where new technology solutions can centralize information to save time and energy, ensure more systems are communicating seamlessly, and create actionable end results.

There are many excellent resources for organizations to use as a framework to prepare for digital transformation. At Aptean, we offer a variety of assessment tools and guides on our website to support businesses at every stage of their journey.

When ready to explore software solutions, prioritize these aspects:

• Move to the cloud to protect your data, deliver a more modern paperless experience, and shift away from hosting everything on-site where it could be more easily compromised.
• Simplify, standardize and automate the most important business insights and customer transactions to increase operational efficiency and get real-time reporting on essential processes, ensuring they are easy to act upon while reducing downtime.
• Add mobile capabilities, device integration, production planning and analytics to improve connectivity across the business and make important information easier to access, which helps employees perform and keeps customers coming back for more.
• Find industry-specific solutions tailored to your business. Our customers here at Aptean appreciate the considerable value that our purpose-built solutions and by-your-side expertise bring to their digital transformation journey. A vendor who understands your industry’s biggest problems will have an optimal solution prepared so you can implement and integrate swiftly.

Modern software solutions allow businesses to save substantial time in a variety of ways, like using artificial intelligence (AI) to create optimal production schedules with minimal effort or using predictive analysis technology to configure product pricing in a matter of hours instead of days. Over time, with the right partner, you’ll experience the benefits of transforming your business with digital technology and watch as your company becomes future-proof in this digital era.