Business transformation for the Digital Era is a major topic of conversation throughout the tech business community. Recently, Headspring conducted a survey of 258 business leaders and employees to find out just what the digital transformation means for companies and the people involved.

The findings of the Headspring survey, combined with a discussion hosted by IBM Big Data on the popular CrowdChat website, help shed some light on the state of this changing industry.

Stepping away from legacy systems

One of the first discoveries of the survey was that business transformation is considered a top priority. This is in line with the thoughts of the IBM Big Data discussion participants, who considered digital transformation to be necessary for a company’s survival in the coming future. The survey also showed that upgrading and replacing legacy systems was the key reason business leaders chose to set their companies on the digital journey.

Beyond the reasons for transforming their companies, the survey participants also shared their priorities in the plan to go digital. Across businesses of all sizes, the common priority is cost reduction. Replacing legacy systems with new technology could allow companies to see a significant savings on their infrastructure and data bills.

But how?

Although nearly everyone polled agreed on the importance of cost reduction, there was a difference in opinion about how the digital transformation should progress. Executives and employees see the transformation process from separate perspectives. Executives care most about upgrading legacy systems and improving mobility, while the employees who work every day with those systems find replacing them to be a moderate priority, at best. This response highlights the idea that a successful business transformation requires a plan that everyone involved can get behind.

Facing the challenges of digital business transformation

The survey also touched on the consequences of failing to make the transformation. The results show that industry professionals feel they’ll lose credibility and customers if they don’t go digital. This plays into the advantages of a digital business, namely, the ability to react quickly to changing circumstances and the power to anticipate the customer’s needs and deliver on them in real time. A business that can’t do these things is going to suffer for it in the marketplace.

To help manage the digital business transformation, many companies rely on partners who can provide the infrastructure and experience the company needs. This is a very good idea, as the digital journey is not an easy path, and most companies are unprepared for the challenges it presents. The survey polled the respondents for their opinions about partners and their services.

The right partner

Companies of all sizes feel that it’s vital to find a partner who can understand their business needs. They’re looking for someone who can help them do better what they already do best. Smaller businesses also have an interesting secondary concern, however. They’re asking for a partner who can transfer knowledge for internal sustainability. Likely, this is because smaller companies do not have the trained personnel on hand to maintain these new digital systems.

The survey also showed a very clear result concerning the relationship between businesses and their partners. Companies with partners are vastly more likely to consider upgrading their legacy systems to be a major priority versus businesses that chose to manage on their own. The difference between them was more than two-to-one in favor of upgrading. This indicates that companies bring on partners for the purpose of helping to improve their infrastructure, while those businesses without partners are satisfied with the technology they already use.

Bringing the pieces together

By taking a look at the ideas and opinions from events like the IBM Digital Business Journey CrowdChat and the information revealed in the Headspring State of Business Transformation poll, we can see a more distinct picture of the digital journey. It’s about transforming your business to meet the future, reducing costs by upgrading your systems, sticking to a plan that everyone involved can agree to, and choosing the right partners who understand your needs and bring the technology to take you through to the other side of the digital divide.

Failing to make the change to a digital business means losing customers, credibility and, ultimately, your ability to compete in the complex marketplace of the future.

Photo by HebiFot (Pixabay)