If you’re considering a digital transformation of your business, you may be wondering what the benefits are.
After all, a major upgrade like this doesn’t come cheap, so it’s important to be aware of exactly how it will improve matters for your firm, your teams, your customers – and you.
In our latest Software Surgery, we’re taking a closer look at the top five benefits of making your business digital.
Efficiency
First up has to be the improved efficiency a digital transformation brings, from which all other benefits stem.
In simple terms, if you’ve got one joined-up system managing all your administrative jobs, rather than lots, it stands to reason that it’s going to make your job easier, as there will be less of the admin tasks to do.
Ultimately, one of the main roles of the software application is to make employees’ lives easier: having to do less work to achieve the same objective.
Accuracy and insight
From an employer perspective, automation leads to fewer mistakes as there’s no room for human error. This leads to greater efficiency on their part, as the data going into the system is more accurate and so they will spend less time rectifying omissions. Employers can also make more informed business decisions, as they can be confident the data they’re basing them on is accurate.
Additionally, automation means managers have a better insight into what’s going on in the business. If you’re using the system to record information, then the outcome is a system that is able to produce real-time information on production and productivity, and who’s doing what when.
Real-time information
Knowledge is power, and customers increasingly want to be kept informed every step of their journey. Digitally transforming your systems means that your clients can get information in real time, rather than having to chase you – a frustration for both parties. Whether they have their own area on an app to log into, or they get automated updates, your customers will be better informed, which will also reduce the burden on your team of having to answer queries.
Supply chain
Digitalising your business has a knock-on effect throughout the supply chain – in a positive way.
Take construction, or any business that relies on accurate information about the cost and availability of materials.
At the moment particularly, prices of materials are fluctuating massively, sometimes two or three times a week. Information like this would, in the past, have come through on a spreadsheet – slowly. So, if that data is being automated, it again saves time and leaves less margin for error.
Remote working
We’re all working more flexibly than ever. While the pandemic forced us to work remotely, it’s something many firms have adopted as a matter of course, and digitalisation makes this possible.
In many circumstances, all you need is a phone and an internet connection to access systems and you’re set – ten years ago you wouldn’t have been able to do that.
The business mindset has changed and we’re not as wedded to having physical offices. We’re going to be more and more cloud-based, and that goes for software too, with fewer applications needing to be downloaded and stored on a PC or laptop.
And while people are working more remotely, are they working more efficiently? More often than not, they aren’t, as a number of systems will have been cobbled together in a hurry during the pandemic to get access to the server. But that’s not the most efficient way of doing things and if the systems aren’t talking to each other, you and your team won’t benefit from any of the above.
So the more efficient you can make your systems, the more accessible, the more flexibility you have with working, the happier your team’s going to be – and a happy team makes for a successful business!
If you’d like to talk more about the potential for digital transformation, then we offer a free hour-long consultation – get in touch for more information.