Yes, the headline is punchy! But, for every 20 online pieces on a company's recent digital transformation, 19 of them will be mostly about technology. Whether its upgrade, development, integration, or implementation, everything’s been covered. At odds with common beliefs, this is not the ONLY aspect of digital change.
Every aspect of a business is affected by digital. The prospect of effectively adopting, adapting, and altering a company might be a daunting task. However, while examining one online piece after another, two similar threads emerge.
· First, digital is a full-fledged business problem. Changing particular processes, working in silos, or isolation will not work.
· Second, the user experience or customer experience, if you may, must be the principal motivator for change.
Every time, resurfacing new technology on top of existing business structures, techniques, and culture yields the same result. Money was squandered and the outcomes were mediocre. Technology has made it possible to reach out to people, be it an employee or a customer. However, we can only fully engage with them if we focus on user experience.
For years, the term "digital transformation" has remained a corporate buzzwordfor global enterprises. A quick glimpse at Google Trends reveals that digital enterprise creation is a popular topic. Digital has disrupted every industry, from entertainment to government, to retail, to banking, every work process is compromised if you are not digital.
Subjected to how well a business is prepared, the digital disruption may bring tremendous growth opportunities, or devastate the business. Even more, the UK government have achieved tremendous feats by adopting state-of-the-art technology.
In 2013, the Government of the UK allocated itself 400 days to modernize 25+ government-based services. These ranged from making prison visit reservations, or career allowance applications, to filing legal claims, and handling taxes. The objective was to make these solutions faster to use and more understandable, as well as, simpler, and by default “digital”. The GDS's stated goal was to deliver digital services that UK citizens have a preference for.
Is the department doing well? The statistics speak volumes about the success of these digital initiatives:
· A million UK citizens registered to digital voting practices;
· Online channels are now streamlining self-assessment filing for over 85% of people;
· 98% of driving tests booking are online now
GOV.UK presently receives a million visits per week, with annual transactions totalling more than £3 billion.
The GDS produced digital services that consumers desire to use by removing obsolete organizational procedures and standardizing the customer experience. The efforts are saving the UK government billions every year.
The GDS did create new online platforms and digital services. They also merged hundreds of websites into one – Gov.uk. Still, however, it is the work the UK government did and strives to do further, keeping the user central to organizational operations, that enabled them to leverage and build technological models preferred by the general public.
Yes, effective digital transformation has nothing to do with technology and everything digital – it is the consumer-first mindset that yields favourable results.