Here is the new article written by our Director and Co-Founder Javier Orús Lacort for the Economy and Business section of the Heraldo de Aragón, published on January 5, 2020.
We hope you like it!
We reproduce here the published text:
The Digital Transformation of Society and Companies is our “Industrial Revolution” in the Digital Era in which we find ourselves, signifying great progress for Humanity in all senses. However, as in any process of change or transformation, we encounter possible difficulties along the way that must be overcome, both at the Corporate and Social level.
Specifically, today many companies are already carrying out their Digital Transformation, and many others are considering carrying it out. In many cases they already have a well-defined roadmap to achieve their goal, but in many other cases the reality is that they want to get on the train but are not clear about how, or where to start. We are going to try to show here some points to take into account to achieve it.
Business first, then Technology
Before thinking about implementing one or another of the many emerging technologies that we have at our disposal today, the first thing to think about is “what for”, i.e.: what business objectives we want to achieve with it. Once we have those objectives clear, then it is time to consider “what tools” we should consider for it, and not the other way around. Everything must be 100% aligned with the Company’s Strategic Plan.
That said, it is also important to consider that all existing technology allows us to go much further than if we do not use it, providing great scalability to our business, so it allows us to set “challenging” objectives and squeeze the most out of the technologies that help us to achieve them.
New Business Models
This is not merely a technological change, but one that is transforming Business Models. In this sense, its impact is both at the level of Product or Service design, as well as Customer relations, Business Process design and efficiency, and People and Talent management.
Today, technology must be used to better connect our products or services with our customers, understanding and knowing our customers more and more, interacting as much as possible with them. If you know your Customers and their buying behavior well, you will be able to anticipate their needs and considerably improve their shopping experience. The Customer has to be at the center of your business.
Likewise, new Technologies allow us to be much more efficient in our Business Processes, giving a new twist to all the Technology implemented so far. And with respect to the management of the people in an organization, new
skills and new competencies are necessary and very important in this Digital Era, so it is vital to accompany our employees on this journey, as they are the absolute key to any transformation. It is worth remembering that changes are carried out by People, not by machines alone.
Change of Corporate Culture
In line with all of the above, companies must make a change in their corporate culture in order to be able to face this transformation with guarantees. This change must be sponsored by the entire Management of the Organization, which will act as an active facilitator of the change.
This cultural change is very important, as it is the new working framework for the increasingly multidisciplinary teams of our companies, enabling a management by values and making effective the empowerment of each of the people in our organization, if possible in an organization chart as “flat” as possible. In this way we will manage to be much more flexible and promote Innovation in the broadest sense of the word, that is to say: promoting a “start-up” culture within the Company, allowing ideas to be had and carried out, learning from both successes and failures for subsequent Innovation projects to be carried out.
There is no doubt that the Digital Transformation of a company is a great challenge, whether it is a small company or a large organization. No one says it is simple, but it is not something unapproachable either. As always, the compass that should guide us should be the Business, and what we want that Business to be over the next few years. That, together with large doses of common sense, absolute confidence in the Team and infinite perseverance, will do the rest.
