Today, technology seamlessly weaves its way into every aspect of our daily lives. That’s precisely what digital transformation is all about – a process that enables businesses to harness the power of cutting-edge technologies and revolutionize the way they operate, engage with customers, and flourish in today’s fast-paced world.

Digital transformation goes beyond a mere trend; it’s a profound shift that can reshape the very core of a business. It allows organizations to metamorphose and emerge stronger and more adaptable than ever before.

In this blog, we’ll embark on an exciting journey to understand the significance of digital transformation, explore its key components, and learn from real-world examples of successful transformations. We will understand why it holds the key to shaping the future of businesses worldwide.

Understanding Digital Transformation

Imagine taking your cherished family recipe and giving it a modern twist with new ingredients, cooking techniques, and flavors. That’s the magic of digital transformation – a process that revitalizes businesses by infusing cutting-edge technologies into their core operations, just like the innovative twist to your traditional recipe!

Which digital technologies enable transformation?

Digital technologies, like cloud computing, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and the Internet of Things (IoT), play a vital role in the business landscape.

The cloud is like a virtual pantry that stores all your ingredients and tools, making them accessible from anywhere at any time. AI acts as your sous-chef, analyzing data, providing insights, and making your decisions more intelligent. Meanwhile, the IoT is the magic ingredient that connects everything, enabling devices to communicate and create a harmonious cooking experience.

The Digital Metamorphosis: Embracing the Ever-Evolving Adventure of Growth

Digital transformation is a thrilling quest to become the best version of what your business is capable of becoming. It’s not a one-time makeover or a sudden transformation, but a continuous journey of growth and improvement. Just like you set new goals and work towards them over time, businesses must shift their perspective from considering digital transformation as a one-time project to embracing it as an ongoing process.

This journey requires a mindset shift – instead of seeking instant results; businesses must focus on long-term gains and stay committed to the process. Digital transformation demands consistent effort and dedication, as every step contributes to overall success.

Benefits and Outcomes of Digital Transformation

The benefits of digital transformation are many, and you will discover more of them as you implement it in your business, but here are a few of its main benefits. 

  • Enhanced Productivity: Digital transformation ensures mundane tasks vanish from your to-do list, leaving businesses with more time and energy to focus on what truly matters. 
  • Delightful Customer Experiences: Businesses become experts in customer satisfaction through personalized interactions, seamless online shopping, and responsive customer service.
  • Unleashing Agility: Digital transformation enables businesses to respond swiftly to changes and opportunities. They can adapt their strategies, offerings, and operations in the blink of an eye, staying ahead of the competition.
  • Unraveling Insights: Digital transformation empowers businesses to harness the power of data, uncovering valuable patterns and trends. These insights guide businesses toward smarter decisions and growth like a treasure map.
  • Flourishing in the Digital Kingdom: In this captivating realm, businesses hold a golden scepter of competitive advantage. Digital transformation sets them apart from their rivals, like a crown that marks them as the industry’s leaders. They become the beacon of innovation, drawing customers to their kingdom of products and services.
  • Securing the Castle: Digital transformation fortifies its defenses against cyber threats and data breaches. It’s like having a strong shield that safeguards their reputation, customer trust, and sensitive information.
  • Sustaining Everlasting Success: Digital transformation is not a one-time invocation but a perpetual journey of growth and adaptation. With every step, businesses evolve and renew their charm, ensuring a legacy of prosperity.

Read more: Is Open Source the Crucial Catalyst For Digital Transformation?

Open Source

Overcoming Challenges and Embracing Opportunities

A digital transformation journey can empower businesses with the tools they need to thrive in a technology-driven landscape. However, this metamorphosis comes with its own set of challenges and considerations. Let’s dive into these hurdles and discover how to overcome them while achieving your organization’s goals.

1. Organizational Culture and Mindset Shift

  • Challenge: The resistance to change can be deeply embedded within an organization’s culture.
  • Consideration: Cultivate a growth-oriented mindset that embraces innovation and adapts to new technologies.
  • Approach: Foster a culture that rewards risk-taking and encourages open communication to build trust.

2. Change Management and Employee Buy-In

  • Challenge: Employees may fear the unknown and be reluctant to embrace new processes or technologies.
  • Consideration: Engage employees early on in the transformation process and communicate the vision clearly.
  • Approach: Encourage two-way communication, provide training and support, and celebrate small wins to build momentum.

3. Legacy Systems and Technology Integration

  • Challenge: Integrating new technologies with existing legacy systems can be complex and time-consuming.
  • Consideration: Evaluate the compatibility of existing systems with the new solutions you plan to implement.
  • Approach: Develop a well-thought-out integration strategy, and consider phased implementations to minimize disruption.

4. Data Privacy and Security Concerns

  • Challenge: The digital era brings increased risks of data breaches and privacy violations.
  • Consideration: Safeguard customer and company data to build trust and maintain regulatory compliance.
  • Approach: Implement robust security measures, regularly audit systems, and ensure employee awareness of data protection practices.

5. Skills Gap and Talent Acquisition

  • Challenge: Finding skilled talent with expertise in emerging technologies can be challenging.
  • Consideration: Upskill current employees and promote a learning culture to bridge the skills gap.
  • Approach: Collaborate with educational institutions, offer training programs, and consider hiring freelancers or partnering with external experts.

Watch now: 7 Deadly Mistakes Non-Tech Businesses Make on Tech Projects

Success Stories: Real-World Examples

As businesses brace themselves for their journey, they seek inspiration from the tales of industry leaders like Amazon and Netflix. These titans have undergone remarkable digital transformations, leveraging technology to disrupt markets and revolutionize customer experiences.

Staying Relevant like Amazon and Netflix!

  • Challenge: Amazon began as an online bookstore, and Netflix was a DVD rental service. Both companies recognized the need to adapt and evolve to stay relevant in the ever-changing digital landscape.
  • Solution: Amazon expanded its product range, becoming an online marketplace for various goods and services, leveraging technology to optimize customer experience and supply chain efficiency. Netflix transitioned from a DVD rental service to a digital streaming platform, investing in content creation and personalization algorithms to offer a superior streaming experience.
  • Takeaway: Embrace innovation and be willing to pivot when necessary to meet evolving market demands. Continuously focus on improving customer experience to build loyalty and attract new customers. Leverage technology to streamline operations and enhance efficiency.

Unifying and Protecting Data in Healthcare like John Muir Health!

  • Challenge: Healthcare companies are often concerned about data security and interoperability while implementing electronic health records (EHRs).
  • Solution: Healthcare providers invested in robust cybersecurity measures and interoperable EHR systems to protect patient data and facilitate efficient communication among healthcare professionals. An example is John Muir Health, which “leverages a cutting-edge data platform to unify data while also using the cloud to improve real-time patient communication. As a result, patients can ask questions and receive information through their preferred communication channel, such as email or SMS.”
  • Takeaway: Understand the unique challenges of your sector and tailor the digital transformation strategy accordingly. Collaborate with industry experts and technology partners to implement suitable solutions.

Creating Seamless Experiences in Retail like Ikea!

  • Challenge: Retailers struggled to bridge the gap between physical stores and online shopping, creating a seamless omnichannel experience.
  • Solution: Retailers adopted advanced analytics and inventory management systems to optimize stock levels and offer personalized recommendations to customers across various channels. Ikea, for example, tripled their online sales by prioritizing the digital side of their business!
  • Takeaway: Continuously monitor and adapt to the changing needs of customers and the market.

Thriving in the Digital Age: Fingent’s Unparalleled Support for Transformation

The key to sustained business success lies in continuous innovation and adaptation. As organizations strive to remain competitive and relevant, embracing digital transformation becomes imperative. Throughout this journey, Fingent emerges as a trusted partner, offering comprehensive solutions and unparalleled expertise to empower businesses and drive growth.

Fingent’s commitment to excellence and wealth of experience in guiding organizations through successful digital transformations make us a beacon of reliability. By understanding the unique challenges of each industry and sector, we tailor our solutions to meet the specific needs of our clients. From industry giants to startups, Fingent collaborates closely with organizations of all sizes, ensuring that no one is left behind in this technological revolution.

By fostering a culture of innovation and providing the necessary support and training, Fingent top custom software development company helps employees embrace the digital shift with enthusiasm and confidence. Our meticulous planning and phased implementation approach ensure a seamless transition, minimizing disruption and maximizing efficiency.

Reach out to us, and let’s lead you to success on your digital transformation journey.

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    About the Author

    ...
    Tony Joseph

    Tony believes in building technology around processes, rather than building processes around technology. He specializes in custom software development, especially in analyzing processes, refining it and then building technology around it.He works with clients on a daily basis to understand and analyze their operational structure, discover (and not invent) key improvement areas and come up with technology solutions to deliver an efficient process.

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      “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” – Benjamin Franklin

      Profound words that underline the importance of business planning. Business planning is the right strategy to ensure business productivity. With business getting more complex and planning tools filling up shelves, enterprises need a more straightforward way to manage business plans and improve sales. Only a few of the many products available have a holistic end-to-end approach to information analytics services.

      SAP Analytics Cloud is a distinct analytics tool. It integrates analytics throughout the business process and across every level of an organization. It is an impeccable and compatible solution for enterprises that are involved in sectors like manufacturing, finance, and sales. This is an effective cloud-based tool that can analyze the data irrespective of the size of your firm. Plus, it allows you to transform this data into charts, tables, graphs, and more.

      This article will help you determine how SAP Analytics Cloud enables enterprises to improve business planning. Read on to check out the features that will let you boost your business and help you stay competitive.

      Top Two Features Of SAP Analytics Cloud For Effective Enterprise Planning

      SAP Analytics Cloud is the first and the only tool in business intelligence that caters to all aspects of the business. It assists you in organizing and managing your data visualization, business planning, and predictive analysis.

      Here are the SAP Analytics Cloud core planning features:

      1. Augmented Analytics

      Augmented analytics capabilities can help existing AI-powered analytics to offer business insights in real-time. You can add these capabilities to business planning and workflows. This contains an enhanced ‘Search to Insight’ capability allowing users to ask questions about data in natural language. Further, it can automate insights that include values and simulations.

      The ‘Smart Predict’ feature can help train models to predict future outcomes without manual intervention. This enhances user experience allowing business analysts to predict future outcomes more accurately and automate decisions, preventing time lapse. Ultimately, SAP Analytics Cloud smoothens the process and improves business management.

      Read more: SAP Analytics Cloud: Creating Dynamic Visual Stories

      SAP Analytics Cloud

      2. Enterprise planning

      Collaborative enterprise planning ensures one version of the truth across the enterprise. Thus, it brings users together to align with the plan leading to better business outcomes.

      The zero-based budgeting feature helps allocation of resources efficiently. The embedded collaboration tools ensure that every member of the finance team is aware of relevant information while they discuss finance issues. Plus, all the relevant budget templates are recorded and saved for the quick action and enhanced productivity.

      SAP Analytics Cloud allows its users to analyze, plan and predict at one location. This can speed up planning cycles and help make informed decisions. Built-in features such as financial modeling, automated reporting enable enterprises to make better end-to-end planning decisions.

      Planning and consolidation applications allow businesses to connect complex planning processes to the cloud. Thus, enterprises can create business plans and adjust them within the SAP Analytics Cloud. This allows enterprises to extend and align their plans across the organization leading to better outcomes.

      Read more: Business Intelligence in SAP: How It Helps You Become a Data-driven Organization

      Business Intelligence in SAP

      Features That Improve Agility In The Enterprise Planning

      1. Data and data visualization

      Data visualization represents your entire business process. It is this important to find all the possible ways of viewing and understanding the data at a glance. This is where SAP Analytics Cloud can help. It can help make your data highly visible. These analytics offer quick answers to critical questions that can improve your business decisions.

      Businesses need to gather enormous amounts of data each day from all their departments and other sources in sales. The next challenge is storing all this data in a secure place. SAP Analytics Cloud is the perfect place to store your data as it is most secure and easily accessible to all relevant people in your organization.

      Read more: 7 Crucial Business Challenges Solved by SAP Analytics Cloud

      SAP Analytics Cloud

      2. Models

      You do not need technical expertise to create a model from unrelated data sets of your company. It is quite similar to adding data to a story. Depending on the type of data, your models can either be simple or complex.

      In any case, models help you organize present your data so that you can gain insights into your business. The models in SAP Analytics Cloud organize and present the data in rows and columns. This offers a unique, clear view of your data that is ready for analysis.

      3. Stories

      Stories occur in two phases: data view and pages. These two capabilities can enable you to gather data and connect it to create a model. This model is refined when you add data to make a story. These stories can empower you to make quality decisions for the success of your business.

      What Are The Benefits Of SAP Analytics Cloud?

      SAP Analytics Cloud offers many benefits for enterprises that are on the SAP. Here are a few:

      1. Access data on the fly

      SAP Analytics Cloud can be integrated to work both on Android and iOS devices alike. It allows your users to manage all their business activities even on a small screen from anywhere, at any time.

      In today’s fast-moving world, your finance team needs the ability to create viable forecasts at a moment’s notice. Using SAP Analytics Cloud will enable your business process to remain proactive, not reactive.

      2. Real-time insights

      SAP Analytics Cloud functionalities allow all relevant users to generate instant insights to enhance decision-making and improve business outcomes.

      3. No more silos

      SAP Analytics Cloud allows for integrated planning across your organization. This means you can rest assured that all those involved in the decision-making process have the whole picture, not just a small part.

      4. Customized dashboard

      Enterprises are always on the lookout to improve data visualization, which helps in having a better interface for successful operations. Thankfully, SAP Analytics Cloud allows its users to customize their dashboards to help them navigate through the system and offer a personalized look. This way, business owners have relevant data on their interface just the way they like it.

      5. Increased efficiency

      SAP Analytics Cloud facilitates easy collaboration across your organization. This allows for quicker approvals, contributions, and comments. Plus, automation and ML helps in creating plans that are more productive, leading to faster results.

      6. Minimize errors

      Integrating SAP Analytics Cloud with SAP S/4HANA will allow the enterprises to minimize or eliminate errors that occur while making changes on multiple files on the cloud. You can make changes without manual intervention in the source system.

      Read more: SAP S/4HANA Journey: 8 Ways C-level Leaders & Executives Can Derive Business Value

      SAP S/4HANA

      Power Charge Your Business

      SAP Analytics Cloud is unique. It offers businesses real-time data to manage their resources effectively. Their tools keep getting newer updates to make it more reliable. As an SAP Silver Partner, Fingent has the expertise necessary to help you make the best use of this power-packed tool. Let us discuss your business and see how SAP Analytics Cloud can help you. Call us.

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        About the Author

        ...
        Ashok Kumar

        Ashok leads Fingent’s SAP Consulting practice for ANZ, SE Asia, The Middle East and Africa (EMEA), and other global clients. More specifically, he helps companies improve operational efficiency by enhancing their digital cores and improving their application integration. Ashok has amassed over 20 years of leadership and consulting experience having worked with Global giants like SAP, IBM Consulting, Capgemini, & Oracle in his previous assignments. Connect with Ashok via LinkedIn and learn how your business can excel with recent SAP trends.

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          Technology is getting better and better each day. Several technologies and architectural patterns have emerged and evolved during the past few years, and it only gets better with time. Microservices architecture or microservices is one of those patterns. It emerged from the world of domain-driven design and persistence.

          In this article we will cover:

          • What is microservices architecture?
          • The difference between microservices, monolithic architecture, and service-oriented architecture (SOA)
          • The benefits and examples of implementing Microservices Architecture.

          What Is Microservices Architecture?

          Microservices architecture is a specific method of designing software systems that can structure a single application as a collection of loosely coupled services.

          Microservices architecture is made up of several components in their own individual compartments in the software. This makes them independently upgradeable or replaceable.

          Microservices architecture simplifies the process of building and maintaining certain types of applications by breaking them down into many smaller pieces that work together. Though this increases the complexity, it offers greater advantages over the monolithic structure.

          Now you may wonder: Isn’t Microservices just another name for monolithic architecture and service-oriented architecture (SOA)?

          Let’s clarify that for you!

          Read more: Progressive Web App Development: 10 Benefits

          Progressive Web Apps

          Microservices Architecture Vs. Monolithic Architecture

          In the current age of Kubernetes, Monolithic architecture faces many limitations. Please note a few:

          • Monolithic architecture is a single application. It is generally released once a year with the newest updates. Whereas, Microservices architecture is cloud-based and can be updated as required.
          • Monolithic architecture is slow. Modifying a small section may require complete rebuilding and deployment of the software.  Microservices on the other hand are faster to deploy and quick to isolate any defects.
          • Monolithic architecture is harder to adapt to the specific or changing product lines while individual models of Microservices architecture enable scaling and development.

          Microservices Architecture Vs. SOA (Service-oriented Architecture) 

          Microservices architecture is distinct from SOA. Here are a few differences:

          • SOA model is dependent on ESBs and so it is slower. Whereas, microservices is faster as it leverages faster-messaging mechanisms.
          • SOA focuses on imperative programming style, while microservices focuses on a responsive-actor programming style.
          • SOA has an outsized relational database. But Microservices architecture tends to use NoSQL or micro-SQL databases.

          Read more: Ways To Accelerate Business Growth and Success in 2021

          Business Growth

          Business Benefits Of Microservice Architecture

          Microservices architecture can help your business grow quicker, increase productivity, and innovate better to deploy competitive products into the market. Here are some specific benefits of the Microservices architecture:

          1. Better organization for efficiency

          Microservices architecture organizes business applications. It can extend those applications to support plugins for new features, devices, etc.  You can easily add more features to each of those popular applications to generate more revenue.

          2. Increased scalability

          Microservices architecture divides applications into smaller modules. Each of these modules can operate independently enabling businesses to scale applications up or down, as required. As these modules operate independently, a fault in the single module does not mean disruption of the entire system.

          If one module fails due to outdated technology or the inability to further develop the code, developers can use another module. In other words, the applications continue to function even when one or more modules fail.

          This capability allows developers the freedom to build and deploy services as needed without having to wait for the entire application to be corrected.

          3. Easy to maintain

          It is easier to maintain and test a single module as opposed to an entire system. Since each module has its own storage and database, organizations can build, test, and deploy all the modules with less complexity.

          4. Faster development

          Since all modules are loosely coupled, change in one module does not affect the performance of the other. This means you can update a single module at a time leading to faster development.

          5. Enhanced performance

          Microservices architecture can enhance the performance of the application. It reduces downtime while developers take their time to troubleshoot the issue and bring the system back to normalcy.

          6. Dynamic yet consistent

          The individual modular approach in Microservices architecture is easy to replicate. This allows for consistency in applications, which in turn makes managing these modules simple and easy.

          Prominent Examples of Successful Microservices Implementation

          Prominent examples of Microservices architecture are Amazon, Netflix, Uber, and Etsy. Over time these enterprises refactored their monolithic applications into Microservices-based architectures. This move has helped to quickly achieve scaling advantages, greater business agility, and unimaginable ROIs.

          1. Amazon

          In the early 2000s, untangling dependencies was a complicated process for Amazon developers. It faced development delays, coding challenges, and service interdependencies.

          However, Amazon assigned ownership to each independent service team. This allowed the developers to identify the bottlenecks and resolve issues more efficiently. Also, it helped them create a very highly decoupled architecture.

          2. Netflix

          Within a year of starting its movie-streaming service, Netflix was suffering from service outages and scaling challenges. It experienced major database corruption and was on standstill for three days! That is when it decided to move towards more reliable, horizontally scalable systems in the cloud.

          First, Netflix moved its movie-coding platform to cloud servers as an independent microservice. This allowed Netflix to overcome its scaling challenges and service outages.

          3. Uber

          Uber, the ride-sharing service faced growth hurdles. It struggled to launch new features, fix bugs, and integrate its global operations. Besides, it became increasingly difficult to make minor updates and changes to the system.

          Uber then decided to move to cloud-based microservices. This allowed its developers to build individual functions like trip management or passenger management. This boosted the speed, quality, and manageability of their services. Among other things, they achieved more reliable fault tolerance.

          4. Etsy

          Etsy experienced poor server processing time. However, with the help of Microservices architecture, Etsy created a variety of developer-friendly tools and went live in 2016. From that point forward, Etsy benefits from a structure that supports continual innovation, faster upgrades, and more.

          Read more: Enterprise Resource Planning Software: A Complete Guide!

          How Fingent Can Help You Implement Microservices Architecture

          Microservices architecture supersedes SOA and monolithic models. However, it has its challenges. This is where Fingent comes to your assistance.

          Fingent top software development company can help you implement Microservices Architecture correctly to improve your productivity and ROI. Designing your architecture is not just a technological option. It is a necessity! It is a business decision that can directly affect your business growth. Fingent can help you take care of the technical aspect while you concentrate on your business goals. Give us a call and let’s get talking.

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            About the Author

            ...
            Sreejith

            I have been programming since 2000, and professionally since 2007. I currently lead the Open Source team at Fingent as we work on different technology stacks, ranging from the "boring"(read tried and trusted) to the bleeding edge. I like building, tinkering with and breaking things, not necessarily in that order.

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              How Organizations Can Embrace Transformation and Expedite Their Growth

              From remote working and e-learning to sales and customer service to more critical cloud infrastructure and security, the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated technology adoption across several key domains. The pandemic has made digital transformation crucial for business growth across various industries. Satya Nadella, the CEO of Microsoft, puts it that “We’ve seen two years’ worth of digital transformation in two months.” 

              That said, companies will have to change their mindsets and adopt new strategies to stay relevant and competitive in future. Here are six ways you can adapt to the new normal and taste business success. 

              Read more: How Business Owners and Leaders Can Set up a Successful COVID Exit Strategy 

              COVID exit strategy

              1. Adapt to change

              Change is the only constant and more so today than ever before. Change is happening at a faster pace and is very crucial for small businesses. Today, old and traditional methods of winning clients and serving them do not seem to fit. The list of things you need to change may be long and only growing. Instead of reacting to these changes, the best approach is to embrace them and treat them.

              So, when you treat the problem, you employ change to work with you and not against you. People are more likely to accept strategic changes now, especially if the initiatives are focused on improving their lives.

              Bring agility and innovation to your business by implementing a quarterly strategic planning and review process. It will allow you to remain focused, actionable, and agile by adopting new learnings.

              While you are in the process of adapting to changes, consider a few questions that you need to ask yourself.

              • What can disrupt my business and change everything?
              • How can I lead that change?
              • How can I ensure that my business stays relevant and profitable in the next five years?

              Read more: Top 5 Organizational Imperatives for Business Leaders to Become Winners in the New Normal 

              Business Leaders

              2. Customer always comes first

              As consumer needs keep evolving, you have to think of ways to meet the new supply and demand to stay relevant and competitive.

              Social distancing due to the pandemic has left many businesses struggling—for instance, physical retail stores, manufacturers, automotive, banks, etc. Many product-based companies face significant issues related to manufacturing and distribution. Service-based companies are also suffering due to poor customer demands. In short, business models should be revamped so that they are immune to new challenges.

              The pandemic has even changed customers’ needs and preferences.

              One of the best ways is to engage in a conversation with your clients to identify opportunities. You could probably start by asking a probing question at the end of the conversation with your client. You may also conduct surveys or quarterly client advisory groups to follow a more formal process.

              To stay relevant, you will have to prioritize customers’ needs and problems. It is imperative for future growth and innovation.

              View Infographic: Business technologies to boost customer experience and satisfaction 

              business technologies to boost customer experience

              3. Implement automation wherever possible

              Working smarter means hiring and collaborating with the right talent. Encourage teamwork for removing the bottlenecks and hurdles. It will translate to more revenue with the available resources. Effective workplace collaboration will also boost your team’s morale and reduce lay-offs.

              Leverage technology and systems to streamline your business and allow it to run smoothly. According to Gartner, by 2024, businesses will see a 30% reduction in their operational costs by combining hyper-automation technologies with redesigned operational processes.

              Identify processes that can be automated and evaluate how automation will enhance your customer service and experience.

              Read more: What Makes a Business Process Apt for Automation 

              business process for automation

              Automation of repetitive, routine, and mundane tasks saves your workforce’s productive hours and spares them for more crucial tasks. Automation enhances your organizational efficiency and offsets growth investment.

              4. Speed is the key to sustain in 2021

              The pandemic has made companies rethink their conventional organizational models and pushed them to adopt new ways of working at speed. Flat structures empowering decision-making are replacing the traditional management-led hierarchies. It enables companies to perform with improved speed and precision. For instance, PepsiCo adopted newer working models to enable fast and easy access to their products during the pandemic. Within 30 days (from concept to execution), the company launched two direct-to-consumer (D2C) websites. 

              5. Adopt digital commerce

              The pandemic has spurred digital commerce like never before. Deloitte’s 2020 holiday retail survey reports that contactless shopping experiences enjoyed a huge spike in demand during the holiday season last year. Over 73% of shoppers planned to have orders delivered to their doorsteps as against 62% in 2019. 

              Read More: Contactless Retail Delivery Software –  How Retailers Can Revive Sales While Adhering To Social Distancing Norms

              contactless retail delivery software

              Companies should accelerate and optimize both B2B and B2C digital commerce channels by developing custom retail software solutions to enjoy the benefits of e-commerce sales and ROI. 

              As customers demand efficiency and speed, organizations must give precedence to customer experience to overcome competition.

              In 2020, Adidas established itself as a top digital commerce player targeting $4.9 billion in online sales, almost 12% of their overall business. In the future, the company expects it to rise to 25%. Also, they were quick to recover from the pandemic impact with an increase in online sales during the lockdown.

              Read more: 5 Transformative Trends Ushered by B2B E-commerce in Healthcare and Life Sciences 

              B2B e-commerce

              Fingent leverages innovative and emerging technologies to help digital retailers and e-commerce businesses

              Fingent custom software development experts helps retailers build custom retail software solutions, e-commerce, and mobile commerce apps that help you deliver exceptional customer service and experience, just like your physical retail store. Fingent helps retailers and e-commerce brands develop Augmented Reality-based solutions that allow their customers to preview objects in 3D. Using AR technology, both online shoppers and in-store buyers can choose their preferred products without the hassle of buying the wrong ones. We enable companies with an e-commerce presence to build AR applications through web platforms (WEB AR), avoiding the need for separate mobile apps. 

              Read more: Technology Investments: How to gain maximum value? 

              tech investments

              6. Ensure customer data privacy and protection

              Data transparency is imperative. With the rise in going digital, the total amount of data created, captured, and consumed will more than double by 2024 globally. A 2019 Factual survey reveals that more than 50% of the US smartphone users will be ready to share their geolocation details with a service provider only if they are aware of how the information will be used. When customers realize the benefits of sharing personal data, such as online behavior, shopping history, mobile app usage, or geolocation tracking and trust that their data will be protected, they will be more willing to share it. 

              Jersey Mike’s Subs, a US sandwich chain, has a transparent privacy policy that lets you know which customer data they collect and how it is stored and used. Approaches like these that give consumers clarity and control over their personal information will define personalization and enhance customer experience.

              Consumer data privacy acts such as General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) for the European Union (EU) and European Economic Area (EEA) and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) aim at ensuring consumer privacy rights and data protection under the respective regional, state, and federal laws. These acts allow consumers in the respective regions to see all the information companies have saved on them and how the data will be protected and used. 

              We help ensure smooth business transformation

              As we try to recover from the crisis, it is essential to consider what the future looks like for your business. Your organization must adopt new technologies, innovation, and new practices to ensure a smooth business transition. It also helps you meet the growing customer demands.

              Reach out to us and let us help you accomplish a seamless business transition through modern technology adoption. 

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                About the Author

                ...
                Tony Joseph

                Tony believes in building technology around processes, rather than building processes around technology. He specializes in custom software development, especially in analyzing processes, refining it and then building technology around it.He works with clients on a daily basis to understand and analyze their operational structure, discover (and not invent) key improvement areas and come up with technology solutions to deliver an efficient process.

                Talk To Our Experts

                  Reduce your operational costs and unnecessary investments with legacy modernization

                  Since the pandemic started tightening its grip on the world, businesses have seen an unmistakable acceleration in digital transformation. Legacy application modernization enables enterprises to have the agility and ability to respond to dynamic changes. Software technologies are being enhanced and deployed at an unprecedented scale, and most businesses have noted a high appetite for digital transformation.

                  Read more: A Detailed Guide to Understanding Digital Business Transformation  

                  digital transformation

                  Your business should also have an application modernization strategy to ensure business continuity and growth in a highly volatile market. Modernizing your existing applications or systems is the best way to monetize the current capital and avoid unwanted technology investments.  

                  Legacy application modernization helps you get rid of accumulating technical debts and business paralysis. This blog discusses how application modernization enables businesses to transform digitally and scale up during the pandemic. 

                  What is application modernization?

                  Application modernization involves updating older software for new computing approaches. These updates include new languages, frameworks, and infrastructure platforms. We can compare this update to renovating an older home, enabling it with better safety, structural integrity, ease of use, design, and so forth. This practice is also called legacy modernization. Legacy modernization extends the lifespan of your applications instead of replacing them wholly. Such an approach will allow your business to take advantage of technology innovations. 

                  Most businesses have thoughtfully invested in their existing application portfolio. Some companies are ready to retire these applications and adopt the latest. However, this can be costly from both a financial and operational standpoint. Hence, “application modernization is the most sensible way to leverage newer platforms, tools, and frameworks.”

                  Read more: Why modernize your legacy systems? What’s the best approach to legacy systems modernization? 

                  Legacy system modernization

                  5 ways application modernization enables businesses to scale up during the pandemic

                  Owning and operating outdated software can present a variety of challenges during the pandemic. Outdated software can accumulate problems over time, resulting in employee and customer frustration. Here’s how application modernization helps businesses scale up during the pandemic. 

                  Read more: Six Common Enterprise Software Development Myths Debunked 

                  1. Application Modernization reduces costs

                  Because of diminishing resources during the pandemic, “cost has been the most important driving factor for application modernization. For example, the more data you accumulate, the more you have to pay for the on-premise data center forcing companies to buy new storage systems more frequently.

                  It is expensive to own and maintain the infrastructure as they incur extra costs for cooling, space, and electricity. Apart from these expenses, you would need a dedicated IT team to maintain a vast storage system. Therefore, it is reasonable and beneficial to invest in timely application modernization that helps avoid all the costs mentioned above.

                  Read more: Four Ways to Future-Proof Legacy Applications 

                  2. Enhances customer experience

                  With stiff competition, the market has turned into a battleground for businesses that sell similar products and services. In this scenario, customer experience is what will set a company apart. Continued use of an outdated system can hurt your customer experience because they have limited functionality. Legacy software affects efficiency and waiting time. Additionally, the security problems of legacy software can easily compromise your business and customer data, impacting your brand severely.

                  On the other hand, a customer expects your business to keep up with the latest trends and technology. Application modernization can enhance your customers’ experience by transforming the end-user interface, automating manual processes, and creating new features. Essentially, your business operations will be more efficient with more stable systems, quicker fixes, and better security. All of it together sets your business apart, ensuring your business thrives during the pandemic. 

                  Case Study
                  Website modernization and legacy CMS migration for the largest privately held medical media company in North America.  Download Now!

                  3. Enables you to create new features and services

                  You may have invested in software that is perfect for your current needs. However, the pandemic has taught us that change is inevitable. An application that is working well today may not perform so tomorrow. Every new patch, release, or update that is not purpose-built will be a problem for you. It is challenging to meet the changing customer needs during an economic downturn. 

                  Thankfully, application modernization allows your business to create new features and services that align with your current and future goals. These new features and services can be purpose-built for your business to ensure the legacy application continues to provide value today and into the future.

                  4. Improves employee productivity

                  You cannot expect your employee to work with applications and systems that seem to take forever to respond or perform simple operations. Just as businesses expect efficiency from their employees, employees expect their companies to provide high-performance technologies in their offices. 

                  Working on outdated applications can frustrate your employees, lowering their performance and hindering their success. Legacy and low-performing software can increase work stress resulting in missed deadlines. It can also affect overall productivity as it irritates and demotivates your workforce. 

                  Application modernization can automate several repetitive tasks and processes, freeing up your employees to concentrate on more intelligent tasks. It will save time and increase the efficiency of your employees. Since modernization minimizes application problems, it allows you to develop more features designed to streamline your operations. 

                  Watch video: New Technologies for Workforce Management and Optimization 

                  5. Erases technical debts

                  Technical debt creates friction between developers and their work. It may increase their job tomorrow, as the situation demands them to take the fastest and shortest approach to deliver the project today. Technical debt includes the implied cost of additional rework that developers have to bear for taking a shortcut today. It is translated into incremental cost and loss of agility because of prior decisions intended to save time or cost. Moreover, technical debt can build up to a point where developers will not be able to do anything to rectify it. Technical debt can result in increased maintenance costs and the inability to add new features. Since each part depends on the other, any attempt to fix one part might cause some damage to another. 

                  Application modernization can erase technical debt because it eliminates the need to replace your existing systems completely. Thus, your company need not spend resources to maintain an outdated code. It will also reduce overall problems from technical debt. Legacy software modernization fixes your application’s glitches and makes it more robust and healthy.

                  Case Study
                  How Fingent successfully automated the integration between SAP SuccessFactors and SAP S/4HANA.  Download Now!

                  Modernize your apps without burning a hole in your pocket

                  Your business can get up to speed with application modernization without investing heavily in all new systems. With application modernization, your business will see increased revenue in the long run. It boosts productivity and enhances the security of your applications. 

                  Get started on your mission to legacy modernization. We at Fingent software development experts can help you make smart decisions and find the most effective way to modernize your systems without leaving a gaping hole in your company’s resources. Give us a call, and let’s get talking.

                  Stay up to date on what's new

                    About the Author

                    ...
                    Sreejith

                    I have been programming since 2000, and professionally since 2007. I currently lead the Open Source team at Fingent as we work on different technology stacks, ranging from the "boring"(read tried and trusted) to the bleeding edge. I like building, tinkering with and breaking things, not necessarily in that order.

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                      Cloud Migration Strategy: Ultimate Guide to the 6 R's

                      Cloud is becoming an integral part of today’s market. More and more companies are adopting it. Commenting on cloud adoption statistics, Hosting Tribunal said that “the hybrid cloud is the weapon of choice for 45% of enterprises.” Also, it forecasts that
                      the public cloud service market is expected to reach 623.3 billion dollars worldwide by 2023.
                      Why is cloud adoption so popular right now? Is cloud necessary in today’s market? What is the most suitable cloud migration strategy for a smooth transition? This blog drills down to all the queries about the cloud.

                      Let’s begin.

                      Is Cloud necessary in today’s market?

                      “Cloud computing is not only the future of computing but the present and the entire past of computing.”

                      – Larry Ellison, Oracle.

                      Not long ago, enterprises had to establish and maintain their own server to host and run applications on their premises. Today, cloud computing is revolutionizing all operations of the business world. Though relatively new, this technology became the cornerstone for the digital transformation of enterprises. Cloud technology provides companies with on-demand data storage, computing power, and many other cloud services. These services are maintained by service providers at remote data centers.
                      By partnering with a cloud migration services provider like Fingent, you can easily overcome the challenges that come with sudden operational demands, higher operational expenses, and ineffective processes. This frees your business and employees from maintenance issues.
                      Here are a few more compelling reasons why the cloud is necessary for today’s market.
                      Cloud computing is a subscription-based model. That would mean there are no purchasing, labor, or maintenance costs. Since cloud computing is a technology that provides services to companies, you only pay for what you use. This allows you to optimize your budget more efficiently.
                      Work efficiency is greatly improved while adopting cloud computing. It promotes collaboration on a larger scale, such that multiple users from different departments can access and share documents from anywhere, anytime, with full visibility in the collaborative process. You can overcome geographic limitations and set up a multi-region infrastructure that can be accessed from anywhere.
                      Cloud services can help your business scale up or down easily based on your changing user requirements. It is also exceptionally flexible. Your employees are not tied to a single location; they can access and share vital business applications from anywhere, driving higher productivity and improved levels of employee satisfaction. There’s no question about the security concerns, as the public cloud services providers, such as AWS, Google, and Azure, provide a more confined and secure environment than on-premise servers.
                      One of the greatest benefits of cloud computing is cloud storage. That means the cloud makes data accessible and usable, even remotely. Such accessibility does not expose data to risk because, in the cloud, data is never stored in one place. It is split into fragments and encrypted before it is distributed across various locations. This also ensures that your data is protected from cyber-attacks or natural disasters. In case of any disaster, cloud backup can help recover lost data without the downtime and disrupting regular operations.
                      Cloud computing requires limited resources as it allows your employees to access storage and computing resources virtually. You can save your pockets by eliminating the costs incurred in maintaining in-house servers and storage and associated operational costs.

                      6 R’s of Cloud Migration Strategy

                      Migrating your on-premise application to the cloud can be a total disaster if done without proper planning and ideation- both in the long and short run. That is why every cloud migration requires a proper strategy based on the application’s detailed assessment.

                      Here’s a closer look at the 6 R’s of the cloud migration strategy

                      1 Rehost

                      This strategy is commonly referred to as lift-and-shift, in which components from on-premise can be moved to the cloud without making any underlying changes to the architecture. It is comparatively simpler, quicker, and cheaper as it allows easy compliance and security management.
                      Example : A leading security and facilities management company in the UK ameliorated its business operations by using the ‘lift and shift’ strategy to migrate its entire IT operations to AWS cloud, which included all its websites, client desktop services, and SQL databases. The company was able to save 50% on its infrastructure costs.

                      2 Replatform

                      This is an improved version of the lift and shift strategy with some additional benefits. This option lets you make deeper optimizations and configurational changes to the application without transposing the core architecture to make them work better and faster in cloud environments. Hence, this strategy does require some programming knowledge and expertise to perform a seamless cloud transition.
                      Example : Pinterest migrated from AWS’s legacy cloud to the next-gen cloud computing system when it spiked over 250 million customers and served over 1000 microservices with different infrastructure layers and tools. They adopted this approach to move their microservices to Docker containers, which increased infrastructure capacity by 80% in non-peak hours.

                      3 Refactor/Re-architect

                      A well-revised migration effort is typically profitable for highly critical applications requiring stringent cloud-native applications or features needing deeper modernization due to performance issues or obsoleteness. Refactor is basically re-architecting or re-building your existing applications from scratch to make them realize the full potential of cloud-native technologies.
                      Example : When Netflix experienced major database corruption three days back in 2008, they re-engineered their technology and primarily changed the way they operate with AWS as their cloud provider. The complete refactoring took them years, but they gained 8X times the increase in streaming members than in 2008 and have become a global OTT platform with a presence in 130 countries.

                      4 Retire

                      In this strategy, you identify assets and services that are no longer required or productive for your IT teams. Any application that is not worth moving to the cloud can be either removed or downsized. This strategy lets you re-investigate all your applications in terms of their usage, dependency, and cost to the company.
                      Example : Autodesk retired 209 application environments and migrated 239 apps during its migration to AWS to improve efficiency, resilience, and automation through large-scale migration and modernization. The enterprise attained stronger security and better end-user experience.

                      5 Retain

                      If migrating entirely to the cloud is not a current priority, you can revisit some of the critical applications of your digital assets that require refactoring of the architecture and code before moving to the cloud. Eventually, this approach helps to identify which applications are more suitable to on-premise or have been recently upgraded and which need to be retained.
                      Example : Johnson & Johnson curated a hybrid cloud environment to support their AWS migration. It helped them gain the advantages of the cloud while keeping their critical workloads and confidential data on-premise.

                      6 Repurchase

                      This approach is also known as ‘drop and shop’, replacing your existing on-premise application with a cloud-native vendor-packaged software. It could be either transferring your software license from an on-premise server to AWS or completely replacing your existing application with SaaS products.
                      Example : Airbnb dropped MySQL and shifted to Amazon RDS during their migration to AWS. Amazon RDS simplified all the time-intensive administrative tasks and seamlessly managed the database operations. The entire database was migrated to Amazon RDS in just 15 minutes of downtime.

                      A proven 7 step cloud migration strategy

                      Having a cloud migration strategy ensures you do not miss any essential steps during your migration to the cloud. Use the steps below to create a cloud migration strategy and make your transition as smooth as possible.

                      #1Understand and select cloud migration options

                      Each company has its own peculiar scenarios. Understanding these will help you choose from all available options for a smooth migration. These options could range from leveraging an existing application workload environment to rewriting the application partially or even wholly. These options are:

                      #2Set up a cloud management team

                      The first step is to create a cross-functional team to oversee the transition. This team should be capable of managing the migration from start to finish. Cloud migration teams serve as central points of contact. This team includes representatives from each department who would either be hosting or using the applications in the cloud. They must ensure the following:

                      #3Pick the right platform and provider

                      Don’t make the mistake of picking the first option you come across. Before making a choice, compare different cloud platforms and migration models and then pick the one that best suits your business. Here are the three principal levels of cloud platform services:
                      After you choose the cloud service models, pick the cloud provider that works best for your business.

                      #4Collect baseline analytics

                      Ensure to collect baseline analytics before you move anything to the cloud. Such pre-migration data provides you a basis for comparison when you run analytics on your cloud-based applications. This will help you see how metrics such as speed, user experience, and other parameters have improved. This also allows you to understand when something goes wrong during the transition and correct it.

                      #5Gauge and Address Security Risks

                      Implement cybersecurity to protect sensitive data. Ensure security at your end and in the cloud. Most importantly, ensure that the migration is secure. According to Forrester,
                      43% of internal data breaches were from accidental mishandling of sensitive information.
                      Before migrating any applications or data, you must evaluate and address any security issues. This will prevent data breaches.

                      #6Initial strategy : Move a single application as a test

                      Now that everything is in place for a smooth migration, you must be eager to make a complete shift as soon as possible. Hold on!
                      Starting small is a wise cloud migration strategy. First, move one application or a group of applications that do not have a lot of dependencies. Once it starts running in the cloud, evaluate its performance. That first app will help you make pre-migration changes to the rest of the applications.

                      #7Refine and finalize your strategy : Measure post-migration performance

                      Once the migration is completed, measure the performance of all your applications with the help of KPIs. Comparing the performance data will help you see how performance changed after cloud migration. That data can be used to make logging improvements and detect problems. At this point, if you notice errors or low-performance levels, you can address these quickly before they cause any significant downtime.

                      Quick Benefits of Migrating to the Cloud

                      Migrating to the cloud has become increasingly widespread in recent times, and for a good reason. Migrating to the cloud can bring many benefits to a business, including cost savings, scalability, flexibility, disaster recovery, and improved security. By moving to the cloud, companies can take advantage of the latest technology and innovations without the need for significant capital investment.

                      Common Challenges of Cloud Migration

                      There are several common challenges that organizations may face when migrating to the cloud, including:

                      What Cloud Deployment Model should companies Choose?

                      Cloud computing has three main deployment styles: public, private, and hybrid. Each has its own advantages and disadvantages, and the best choice for a company depends on its specific needs and requirements.

                      Public Cloud

                      Public clouds are owned and managed by third-party providers, such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform. They offer a wide range of services and are generally the most cost-effective option for companies. Public clouds are suitable for companies that have non-sensitive data and workloads that don’t need to be kept behind the company’s firewall.

                      Private Cloud

                      Private clouds are owned and operated by the company themself, either on-premises or with a third-party provider. They provide more control and customization options and are suitable for companies that have sensitive data or compliance requirements. They are generally more expensive than public clouds.

                      Hybrid Cloud

                      A hybrid cloud combines the capabilities of public and private clouds, allowing companies to take advantage of both benefits. This deployment style is suitable for companies with a mix of sensitive and non-sensitive data or those that want to take advantage of the scalability and cost-effectiveness of public clouds for some workloads while keeping others on-premises or in a private cloud.

                      Community Cloud

                      A community cloud is a cloud deployment model that is shared by a specific community of organizations with similar requirements and concerns. It is typically operated by a third-party provider and is available to a specific group of organizations, such as those in the same industry or geographic region. Community clouds provide many of the same benefits as public clouds, such as scalability and cost-effectiveness, but with added security and control. They are often used for workloads that are sensitive in nature and have specific compliance requirements.
                      Ultimately, the choice of cloud deployment style will depend on your company’s specific needs, budget, and industry regulations. It’s important to make a careful evaluation of the pros and cons of each cloud option before making a decision.

                      No-brainer

                      Cloud computing is called a “no-brainer” because it offers enhanced security, stability, and greater flexibility. To completely benefit from it, companies must have a successful cloud migration strategy. The success of migration depends on meticulous planning and consideration of every aspect of your business.
                      Fingent can be a perfect solution partner to cater to your cloud requirements with extensive experience in cloud deployments. Partner with us to ensure that your cloud migration strategy goes without a glitch and propels you to success.

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                        About the Author

                        ...
                        Tony Joseph

                        Tony believes in building technology around processes, rather than building processes around technology. He specializes in custom software development, especially in analyzing processes, refining it and then building technology around it.He works with clients on a daily basis to understand and analyze their operational structure, discover (and not invent) key improvement areas and come up with technology solutions to deliver an efficient process.

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                          Cloud and Mobility: The two pillars to recession-proof your business

                           

                           

                          Introduction

                          In just a matter of weeks, the COVID-19 pandemic has chopped off nearly a third of the global market cap triggering panic across the world and shaking the confidence of investors. According to an analysis by the World Bank, the “coronavirus disease pandemic and ensuing lockdowns in several parts of the world have led to a recession unmatched in eight decades.”

                          The coronavirus-inflicted recession which started unfolding itself in February and March of this year has left the macroeconomic landscape in a state of dilemma. For the past six months, business leaders have been trying to navigate shattered expectations and continued uncertainty forcing them to rapidly shift their expectations for the future. During the Great Recession of 2007 to 2009, unemployment soared to almost 10 percent by January 2009. From then on, recession-watchers have been equipped for the reversal of fortunes. 

                          The economic distress caused by coronavirus may be the trigger that leads to a prolonged slump. If so, it is time for workers, investors, and entrepreneurs to seek refuge in recession-proof business practices. This article explains why it is the perfect time to recession-proof your business through cloud and mobility trends. 

                          How Does the Recovery Shape of The Coronavirus Recession Look?

                          Recession is defined as a significant decline in economic activity lasting more than just a few months and is evident in decreased levels of real income, real GDP, industrial production, employment, and wholesale-retail sales. According to the forecast by the World Bank, the global economy will shrink by 5.2% by the end of this year culminating in the deepest recession since the second world war. The World Bank Prospects Group Director Ayhan Kose noted, “the Covid-19 recession is singular in many respects and is likely to be the deepest one in the advanced economies…The current episode has already seen by far the fastest and the steepest downgrades in global growth forecasts on record. If the past is any guide, there may be further growth downgrades in store, implying that policymakers may need to be ready to employ additional measures to support activity.”

                          Thankfully, all recessions including the present recession will not last forever. The economy will reopen at some point and start growing again. Unfortunately, the uncertainty of the times makes recovery shapes more widely dispersed. Recovery shapes are not about speed but more about the eventual return to pre-crisis levels. Therefore, the expectation for the path of recovery is hotly debatable. Perhaps we can confidently say that full return to the pre-crisis stage looks ever more challenging with the passage of time. 

                          This raises a few pertinent questions: 

                          • Can any business be recession-proofed?
                          • What can business leaders do?
                          • How do enterprise mobility solutions help in the current crisis?
                          • How can they leverage technology to recession-proof their business?

                          Read more: Navigate Business Impact Of COVID-19 With These Hot Technologies

                          What is a recession-proof business?

                          Recession-proof businesses are defined as industries that can stay afloat during terrible economic times or somehow survive unscathed or a business that has a better chance of riding out a recession.

                          What can business leaders do now?

                          Debatably, six months into the corona crisis, economic outcomes are not quite certain. Yet, business leaders can take these steps to prepare for the next phase of the corona crisis.

                          1. Prepare early

                          A key to surviving any recession is to act as early as possible. The willingness to make strategic and necessary moves decides if a business is weathering the storm of economic downturn or is sinking their ship. 

                          2. Take stock

                          As economies reopen with varying degrees of success, now is the right time for business leaders to take stock and to reallocate resources appropriately. Take a realistic look at what is possible for your business and accept what is not possible. This is an important step towards creating goals that fit the new normal.

                          3. Build resilience

                          COVID-19 has demonstrated an immense power to surprise and upend well thought out assumptions about how business works and who is likely to win. Businesses should thus actively prepare by creating optionality to maneuver. You may have to shift your mindset from growth to survival. 

                          4. Capture advantage

                          Leaders must leverage all technological trends to reinvent their superpower. Explore crisis-specific solutions to adapt to the new normal faster than ever before. 

                          Read more: Fingent’s Response to COVID-19 Business Implications

                          How Do Enterprise Mobility Solutions Help in The Current Crisis?

                          Enterprise mobility solution services basically refer to solutions for businesses that enable employees to use their personal mobile devices securely from anywhere to enhance productivity for the company. For example, an employee should be able to access any uploaded data at any given point through any device that’s available such as a Smartphone, Laptop, or Tablet, and carry out tasks required by the company and thus increase productivity.

                          What does it offer?

                          Enterprise mobility offers employees flexibility, freedom, and choice. It can make a huge positive impact on their job satisfaction while increasing their work hours. Most businesses practice enterprise mobility in some way. Along with work flexibility, it helps businesses to maximize profits and reduce costs.

                          Five Unique business benefits of enterprise mobility during recession!

                          During the recession, enterprise mobility offers endless opportunities that help broaden the sphere of your customers and your business. 

                          1. Improved employee productivity

                          Mobile applications mechanize paper-driven procedures to streamline work processes. This brilliant approach enhances information exactness and grants clients access to updated and often real-time data. During situations such as a lockdown, it allows companies to build propelled functionalities improving employee productivity.

                          2. Reduces operational cost

                          Since the implementation of enterprise mobility enables employees to work from home, it is bound to minimize the cost of your infrastructure drastically. Also, if it becomes necessary for some employees to come to the office, mobility solutions can enable workspace collaboration for your mobile environment across multiple platforms and devices.

                          3. Efficient collaboration

                          When many employees work on the same project, they will have to coordinate with each other regularly. With enterprise mobility solutions they can easily share data and important information through mobile devices, update their work progress, and collaborate continuously.

                          4. Data security

                          Security is one of the most important requirements of any enterprise. Enterprise mobility management offers businesses the necessary levels of data security and risk management allowing a secure communication medium. 

                          5. Provides customer satisfaction

                          Customer service is the top business priority for all enterprises. Enterprise mobility facilitates quicker customer service increasing the customers’ trust in your business. 

                          Read more: Enterprise Mobility Apps for Faster Business Growth

                          Recession-proof your business by embracing Cloud

                          Though cloud computing was increasingly adopted by large companies and startups in the last few years, the work-from-home culture during the pandemic has highlighted the critical advantages of using cloud-based solutions. Cloud integration services have open, continuous assistance, and discounts for their customers and prospective clients. 

                          Internal cloud services can provide resources and orchestrate the entire application stack across different servers. The external cloud services can easily leverage the scale of application and infrastructure while providing an enhanced computing environment. This way, cloud solutions create several opportunities for both service providers and clients. It eliminates unnecessary spending of resources for work, successfully reducing the costs involved.

                          Read more: Top 6 Reasons Why You Should Move to a Cloud-Hosted ERP

                          Cloud is not a future aspiration rather an urgent mandate

                          Though the concept of cloud is not new, most enterprises remain in on-premise data centers. The current pandemic has reinforced the fact that the cloud is an urgent mandate at the heart of all businesses. You need an intelligent cloud journey that balances speed and value. Each migration should be started by mapping out the journey and determining how the cloud will empower the overall business strategy and goal. Once you migrate the majority of your workload to the cloud, you will be able to realize the full business value of the change. You will see how it makes your business resilient, efficient, and customer-focused. 

                          How can you capture the full value of the Cloud to recession-proof your business?

                          1. Migrate at scale

                          The first step would be to align the entire enterprise including strong leadership from the top to provide direction. Second, focus constantly on realizing value throughout the migration process without getting stuck in a pattern of aimless experimentation. Finally, weigh out the cost savings against application complexity, data-location compliance requirements, and legacy needs. Realize the potential value and innovation that can be unlocked through cloud optimization.

                          2. Modernize

                          For your business to work with speed and agility, you need to think comprehensively about the data flow across all your systems. Hence, carefully consider your modernizing needs and long-term process that are based on a solid application discovery assessment. While planning a strategy, take into account where the organization is headed and why. Doing this will make you a cloud-first enterprise.

                          3. Optimize

                          Constantly monitor and optimize cost and capacity, manage consumption and performance, and leverage the right services from cloud providers to maximize the value/performance ratio and sustainability. 

                          4. Innovate

                          Since the cloud enables experimentation at speed, try out several ideas at the same time and point to the right one quickly and securely. Gain access to cutting-edge technologies by collaborating with your partners. 

                          Read more: Cloud Service Models Saas, IaaS, Paas – Choose the Right One for Your Business

                          Staying Afloat Despite the Crisis

                          Cloud-based solutions eliminate additional responsibilities such as monitoring, managing, or updating your software systems. Moreover, cloud services are far more secure than on-premise solutions as they minimize the risks associated with on-premise software management during a recession phase. 

                          With the help of cloud-based solutions, businesses can easily cut down on IT costs for their organization because it is based on the flexible pay-as-you-go model, an obvious thing to do in the present scenario. Most service providers offer service-level agreements prior to initiating the development. Here are some specific ways the cloud is helping businesses stay afloat despite the coronavirus crisis:

                          1. Provides a remote worker-friendly environment

                          All businesses have the short-term goal of keeping their doors open while planning for long-term recovery. This pandemic has taught businesses that an on-premise infrastructure cannot provide the same level of agility as presented by cloud services. Most businesses would like to keep their employees away from physical offices. Cloud services make this possible without worrying about physically installing hardware somewhere.  The pandemic is presenting an opportunity for business leaders to innovate to keep pace with a changing world while adapting to changing work environments.

                          2. Document sharing 

                          In the present scenario, businesses cannot afford to risk the loss of important documents. Cloud-based document sharing ensures that key pieces of content can be viewed and accessed by everyone involved, without wasting precious hours searching for them. Working together while being in different locations is challenging. Thankfully, document sharing platforms allow for seamless collaboration making it easy to hold the reins on your key content, even if the rest of the world is in a state of flux. 

                          3. Cybersecurity

                          Cyberattacks have posed serious threats to the digitized business world and the pandemic is only aggravating the problem by significantly boosting the possibility of breaches. With many of the best security platforms utilizing artificial intelligence, cloud-powered cybersecurity gives your company the digital muscle to detect and immobilize threats in real-time. 

                          4. Scaling 

                          For most businesses, this is the time of great uncertainty with regard to size. While some digital firms are experiencing dramatic growth rates, most others are facing the possibility of downsizing and furloughs. Since the cloud is not dependent on a physical on-site fixed server to operate, it allows you to use as much or as little computing power as you require. Thereby, it lets you scale dynamically without waiting. 

                          5. Customer service 

                          Along with businesses, consumers are being plagued with uncertainty and reduced incomes. For instance, call center operations have come to a halt as reps cannot be physically present at BPOs or customer care centers to answer calls. Taking your customer service to the cloud alleviates these issues. It carries the benefits of additional speed and bandwidth and makes life easier for your customer service agents. Cloud can ensure that high call volumes function smoothly. 

                          Are You Keeping Up with The New Normal?

                          There is no reason to believe that the cloud services transition will end with the end of the pandemic. This will only make employees and their employers comfortable working remotely and working with the cloud. Soon, this will become the new normal. The pandemic has necessitated that businesses reevaluate the way they approach business applications. It has made it imperative for organizations to show adaptability to cloud-based services. 

                          With time, adopting cloud and mobility technologies will become an inevitable standard. All that the COVID-19 pandemic has done is to accelerate this change. Are you ready to embrace this change? Give us a call top software development company, and let’s get your business recession-proof!

                           

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                            About the Author

                            ...
                            Sreejith

                            I have been programming since 2000, and professionally since 2007. I currently lead the Open Source team at Fingent as we work on different technology stacks, ranging from the "boring"(read tried and trusted) to the bleeding edge. I like building, tinkering with and breaking things, not necessarily in that order.

                            Talk To Our Experts

                              Challenges Your Business Should Overcome in the Post-COVID Phase

                               

                              Introduction

                              The past few months have been an extremely challenging time for communities across the globe as the pandemic continues to take its toll. Amidst all the chaos and anxiety however, the world is trying to return to the new normal. During this unprecedented reality, businesses are witnessing the beginning of a dramatic restructuring of economic and social order. Everyone is looking forward to the next normal that will materialize after the battle against COVID-19 has been won, with hopes that it will be better and more profitable. Challenges lie ahead though. What are these COVID-19 Aftermath challenges and how do we combat them? This article will discuss that.

                              Where Do We Start?

                              With lives and livelihoods in danger, businesses are running a spreadsheet for basics that never mattered so much before. Plans are being drawn how many people can fit into a workplace spaced six feet apart, where the one-way path should begin and end, and what adjustments can and need to be made to the entrance, lunchrooms, and restrooms. 

                              All of these are critical tasks but chalking them down is not going to be enough to mobilize and stabilize businesses. We need an enterprise-wide ability to absorb uncertainty while incorporating lessons into operating models quickly. This might seem like a daunting path beset with challenges, but an action plan can get you through this successfully. This article discusses 7 major challenges and resolutions to jumpstart the recovery.

                              Read more: 6 Hot Technologies that Handhold Businesses Amid COVID-19 Impact

                               

                              1. Challenges in Reopening Strategy

                              The pandemic has impacted nearly every industry including retail. Manufacturing is on a downward slope as production moves at a snail’s pace. Supply chains are being disrupted due to higher air freight costs. This supply shock is having a knock-on effect on retail. Navigating their way out of this spiral is going to need a solid reopening strategy. 

                              Read more: Contact-less Services: The New Normal in Retail

                              What can businesses do?

                              • Restart and reset, not just reopen: Employee and customer behaviors have drastically changed. Be ready to start a new era of business. Build courage and foresight to change for more than just immediate needs. 
                              • Be ready to adopt omnichannel integration: Omnichannel initiatives offer contactless curbside pickup and other features, so be willing to continuously improve services.
                              • Shape your future workforce: Redeploy store associates to fill other roles. Upskill then to achieve the required digital fluency. Cross-train employees so that they can fill in when others are away. 
                              • Act swiftly to radically accelerate in-store integration: Customers may not be inclined to visit stores unless you give them a good reason to do so. Offer your consumers compelling value propositions for store traffic. 
                              • Develop a future-state vision: Adopt an omnichannel view that includes store closure plans or rent negotiations. 
                              • Digitize and automate non-core tasks: Automate labor scheduling. Expand the use of self-checkout and mobile checkout processes. Provide remote-management tools for in-house and field managers. 
                              • Shift tasks: Sourcing and distribution teams must find ways to move certain tasks, such as price tagging and labeling, away from stores. 

                               

                              2. Challenges of Shifting Customer Habits

                              As the coronavirus spread progressed across geographies, customer behavior has also changed drastically. Customer habits are changing, and we can expect them to continue to change in the weeks and months ahead. We can break down their behavior into three phases where each phase shows a distinct behavior:

                              • Escalation: Customers tend to load up on essential goods such as groceries and medicines which include immunity-boosters.
                              • Accumulation: Customers brace for a sustained quarantine by stocking up on everyday personal care products. 
                              • Recovery: Customers will continue to spend on consumer goods. 

                              Also, customers now prefer making purchases online, their focus has shifted more to eCommerce.

                              Read more: Re-Imagining Customer Experience in Retail Industry

                              How can businesses respond?

                              • Enable flexible product flow: Ensure your product inventories align with consumer demand. Make distribution centers more flexible. As more customers purchase products online, make sure you minimize distribution disruptions.
                              • Bolster online presence: Accelerate direct-to-customer sales. 
                              • Maintain close contact with customers: Ensure they know that products are available. 

                               

                              3. Challenge of Operations and Employee Safety

                              One of the main concerns of a company leader during and after the COVID-19 pandemic is its impact on operations. Evidently, the epidemic has adversely affected sales volume and the ability to serve clients and customers as well as manage the business. Companies are faced with the challenge of employees being quarantined for weeks after business or vacation trips. They lack the tools required to organize remote work during the quarantine. 

                              How to reorganize the workplace?

                              • Establish dedicated cross-functional teams: They can coordinate the activities between various business units, provide necessary information to the management team, and communicate with employees, partners, and employees. 
                              • Analyze critical roles and key positions: Develop an effective process for managing decision-making under various scenarios.
                              • Ensure the safety of employees: Review policies for maintaining good hygiene at the workplace.
                              • Ensure that there is no crowding in the office: Decide on which roles can be done remotely and which roles require employees to be present in the office. This will help you optimize the work with only 20-30% of employees at the office.
                              • Easy Transportation: Ensure that transportation is arranged for and accessible by the employees.  
                              • Plans for support staff: Have a written plan on how to stagger the arrival of support staff such as receptionists and security guards. 
                              • Workout checkpoints: Have a series of checkpoints where testing can be done. 

                               

                              4. Impact on Operations for Manufacturing Units

                              Manufacturers face formidable challenges when it comes to restarting their operations. Globally, they are facing workforce disruptions at an unprecedented scale. Most manufacturers are yet to determine how they will function and perform while struggling to cope with the present scenario. They need fit-for-purpose plans. 

                              How can manufacturers respond?

                              • Start with possible scenarios: Start with the current need for workforce and design a workforce approach. 
                              • Tap into technology: Consider the possibility of automating certain aspects of the industry which would avoid too many people at the site. 
                              • Create a roster: Ensure that teams come in at different times during the day depending on the number of workers and the skill required at any given point. 
                              • Focus on a safe work environment: Organize regular cleaning and disinfection of workplaces and tools. Invest in medical equipment such as thermometers and sanitizers. 
                              • Review sick leave policies: Consider the possibility of providing temporary sick leave without the need to provide a doctor’s notice. 
                              • Develop agile workforce strategies: It keeps the global economy viable.
                              • Create your own news channel: Misinformation can create particular challenges for manufacturers. Combat this by ensuring that you put out timely, accurate, and appropriate information for your workers. 

                               

                              5. Challenges of Finance and Banking

                              Economic uncertainty and risk have either directly or indirectly impacted most finance companies. As businesses slow down, companies are seeing lower revenue due to reduced cash flow. 

                              Managing cash and liquidity positions may become crucial in the coming months. This situation is worsened by inadequate digital maturity, staff shortages and immense pressure on the existing infrastructure as companies deal with the impact of the pandemic. You need strategies to safeguard your customers’ financial security while you safeguard their wellbeing and yours as well. 

                              What can finance services do?

                              • Craft a strategic response: Adopting the right digital technologies enables innovations. These must include solutions for analytics and insights to detect and prepare for new risks. 
                              • Enable Automation: Ensure availability of digital banking services through business process reengineering and automation.
                              • Leverage AI capabilities: There has been and will be a surge in call volumes during and after COVID-19. Leverage AI-backed tools and conversation platforms to deal with the surge.
                              • Initiate video banking: Live web video banking solutions can assist your team in serving customers and maintaining business continuity.

                              Read more: How HR and Banking Sectors can Benefit from RPA

                               

                              6. Tax, Trade & Regulatory Challenges

                              There are significant tax provisions and other measures to assist businesses that stakeholders should carefully review. Post pandemic, they should think about the broader implications of their business decisions and strategies. 

                              What can you do?

                              • Business disruption: Develop restructuring plans. Review intra-group service expenses and expense allocations.  
                              • Cash tax savings: Manage cash taxes by potentially reducing taxable income. Obtain available refunds. Work with the treasury function to align repatriation strategies. Model taxable income against the company’s overall tax posture. 
                              • Agile tax models: Supply chains and business strategies need reevaluation, which is best achieved by agile tax models. 
                              • Review all aspects: Stabilize supply chains. Brace for an unpredictable revenue. Reduce costs and increase productivity. 
                              • Meet regulatory obligations: Despite budget constraints, tax compliance requirements must be met. Consider co-sourcing or outsourcing tax compliance.
                              • Stay informed: Understand the expense of various supply chain configurations and opportunities. Make informed decisions quickly.

                               

                              7. Crisis Management

                              Your response to the crisis today can position your business to thrive tomorrow. You need to prioritize incident management along with the safety of workers. It is important for organizations to understand what data is relevant to their business. Some companies are developing new contingency plans while others are using existing ones. 

                              What can organizations do?

                              • Dedicate a team for crisis management: Ensure that every team member knows what their role is. Train each team member in executing the plan to be sure that they are ready at any moment.
                              • Establish facts: Strong data reinforces a central element of crisis planning. Establish facts accurately during the crisis. Use the facts to inform your response strategy. 
                              • Collaborate: Collaborate with the public relations team, legal and regulatory teams, and operational and response teams. Create a small core committee from among them. 

                               

                              Focus on tomorrow

                              The response window for any crisis is measured in months but recovery is measured in years. Create scenarios today to plan for a stronger tomorrow and beyond. Wider and longer-term perspectives can help your business emerge stronger and more sustainable. Data, Readiness, and Empathy are the three vital qualities required to keep people healthy and businesses running. Fingent top custom software development company is closely monitoring the situation and helping businesses return to work with our technology consulting and innovation capabilities. Contact us to know more. 

                               

                               

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                                About the Author

                                ...
                                Tony Joseph

                                Tony believes in building technology around processes, rather than building processes around technology. He specializes in custom software development, especially in analyzing processes, refining it and then building technology around it.He works with clients on a daily basis to understand and analyze their operational structure, discover (and not invent) key improvement areas and come up with technology solutions to deliver an efficient process.

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                                  6 Hot Technologies that Handhold Businesses Amid COVID-19 Impact

                                  The COVID-19 pandemic has had wide-ranging ramifications for several businesses. Forrester predicts that the retail sector will endure a 2.1 trillion-dollar loss in 2020 due to COVID-19. It also said that it will take four years for retailers to experience the growth seen before the pandemic. As COVID-19 continues breathing threats down the neck of businessmen, hot technologies are emerging as a relief to counteract them and lead businesses towards their goals. We will discuss a few of these specific technologies such as cloud, eCommerce, eLearning, automation, virtual collaboration, and contactless services that can help you minimize the effects of COVID-19 on your business. 

                                  Read More: Fingent’s Response to COVID-19 Business Implications

                                  1. Cloud Adoption During COVID-19

                                  With physical interaction no longer being an acceptable form of communication, organizations and institutions have had to swiftly shift to digital solutions to retain productivity. The domino effect of COVID-19 was seen in various sectors, accelerating the adoption of facilities for seamless remote work. Cloud computing has emerged as an essential technology for critical application and scalability of infrastructure in this regard. 

                                  Companies from various sectors are now starting to realize the benefits and value of cloud computing as far-reaching beyond the scenario created by the pandemic. As a result, businesses will have to scale up their digital transformation efforts and invest in cloud resources without delay. If anyone had reservations about investing in cloud computing before this, COVID-19 has proved that its necessity is indisputable. 

                                  Read More: 5 Trends That Will Transform Cloud Computing in 2020

                                  2. E-Commerce

                                  CCInsights reported that as of 21 April 2020, US and Canadian e-commerce orders have seen a 129% increase.

                                  With restrictions on the number of people that can be gathered in one place, gone are the glory days of shopping malls and brick and mortar stores. COVID-19 has changed shopping behaviors overnight, necessitating brands to adapt and be flexible to meet changing needs. 

                                  For example, the Buy Online Pick up In Store (BOPIS) capability has become vital to maintaining sales volume with the restrictions in mind. A good example of this is the mobile phone industry. When foot traffic is curbed, then Mobile Point of Sale programs can be set up to take orders and payment at the same time for business continuity. Membership or Loyalty cards can be now digitalized through mobile applications. 

                                  Read More: How a Smart Product Ordering System Helps Retailers and Wholesalers

                                  3. Virtual Collaboration

                                  Many developed nations are now stipulating that employees of non-essential businesses work remotely for an indefinite time, making video conferencing vital.  Schools, colleges, and universities are also leveraging video conferencing platforms through live or recorded lectures. 

                                  This has brought many virtual collaboration solutions to the forefront that facilitate video conferencing, instant messaging, task and calendar management, work collaboration, file sharing, attendance tracking, and so on. A few examples include Zoom, DingTalk, WeChat Work, Zoho Remotely, and so on. 

                                  At Fingent top software development company, we use InfinCE, a powerful cloud-based enterprise collaboration software that offers support for remote work. 

                                  Read Our Case Study: How Fingent enabled a smarter digital workplace solution for Sony Mobile

                                  4. E-Learning 

                                  During this time of crisis, the entire education ecosystem is coming together to ensure that students do not suffer. Educational applications, platforms, and resources offer functionalities across multiple categories such as:

                                  • Resources to provide psycho-social support
                                  • Digital learning management systems
                                  • Digital systems designed for use on basic mobile phones
                                  • Massive open online course platforms 
                                  • Self-directed learning content
                                  • Mobile reading applications
                                  • Tools for teachers to create digital learning content

                                  Read More: E-Learning Taking A New Front: How Can LMS Technology Help

                                  5. Automation

                                  Automation has been helping businesses mitigate disruption by enabling them to stay connected across teams and systems while maintaining customer support in times of uncertainties such as this pandemic. 

                                  Robotic Process Automation improves the efficiency and reliability of work outcomes and automates the time-consuming, repetitive tasks that weigh down intelligent workers. The benefits are:

                                  • Digital workers do not need to have the weekend off. They can work 24 hours a day, 24/7 to respond to spikes in business activity. 
                                  • They do not have travel restrictions nor are they at the risk of COVID-19 infection or affected by physical office closure. 

                                  During the pandemic, companies that have already invested in automation technologies are doing exponentially better than those who did not. It is obvious, that automation can pave the way for a better future.

                                  Read More: How Automation Ensures Businesses Stay Afloat During COVID-19 Crisis

                                  6. Contactless Services

                                  The coronavirus pandemic has driven a preference for self-service purchasing, boosting contactless services. Consider a few examples available now and upcoming in the future: 

                                  • Dining experience: Technology can take care of everything: reserving a table at the restaurant, pre-ordering your food, digital valet services, contactless seating, contactless payment, and online feedback.
                                  • Contactless payment: It lets shoppers integrate their payment information to their loyalty account through an app and then use a QR code for payment through self-checkouts. 
                                  • Contactless delivery: This ensures end-to-end hygiene because a customer places an order, makes the payment online, and gets the food delivered without ever coming in contact with the delivery agent. 

                                  Read More: Contactless Services: The New Normal in Retail

                                  Grab a Slice of Hot Technology

                                  While the end of the pandemic remains elusive, capturing even a slice of these hot technologies could make a huge difference to businesses. They can even help smaller businesses gain a stronger foothold during this pandemic and into the future. Get in touch with us and help us guide you through this pandemic by implementing the right technology solutions for your business. 

                                   

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                                    About the Author

                                    ...
                                    Aarathy Jayakrishnan

                                    Aarathy is a Senior Digital Marketing Analyst at Fingent. She is majorly into content marketing and focuses on getting the messaging right across a host of marketing collaterals. While not working on content, you can find her juggling SEO, social media, branding and more. She enjoys exploring new frontiers in digital marketing and the associated challenges keep her going.

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                                      The Need for Digitalization

                                      Digital technologies have penetrated into every aspect of our lives, transforming the way we seek and receive information. For instance, today, we search for products and services on search engines rather than in yellow page directories and other offline media. We communicate our experiences with other people through chats, email, blogs, or social media posts. In other words, the media we use, the content we consume and share, the customers we engage with – all benefit from digitalization and digitized data.

                                      Read More: A Road Map To Digital Transformation in 2020

                                      Why is digitalization inevitable for businesses and how can organizations benefit from it?

                                      Before we discuss the advantages of digitalization, we need to understand the difference between digitization and digitalization. According to Gartner’s IT Glossary, “digitalization is the use of digital technologies to change a business model and provide new revenue and value-producing opportunities, whereas “digitization is the process of changing from analog to digital form.”

                                      Digitalization is already influencing the way we do business

                                      Digitalization already has had an impact on our business – from the way we acquire and retain customers to the way we present our business and manage our reputation. While in the past, brick-and-mortar stores were sufficient to establish your business, now consumers want to know what services or products you offer before deciding to make the purchase. 

                                      Today, businesses have to be in close proximity with their customers to find out about their opinions and improve customer experiences. When you know more about your customers, you have more data at hand. Digitalization helps apply this data to make better business decisions. 

                                      With digital technologies, you have more tools that make work easier. This can lead to increased productivity and reduced costs. Digital tools such as dashboards and collaboration tools such as messengers and video chats help align your employees with business goals and improve internal communication. 

                                      What does digitalization mean to you?

                                      Digitalization does not just mean implementing various technologies into daily business. You need to also rethink your business and operating models to implement the technology. Technology is just the tip of the iceberg. Together with it, you need to understand your digital maturity as an organization. Technology does enable digital engagement, but you need to assess the big picture of what digitalization means to your business – whether you are a public organization, a small private company or a global player. To gain control over customer relationships, you need to develop end-to-end strategies to reach customers. 

                                      Top 3 opportunities for digitalization

                                      1. Converting excel sheets to dashboards

                                      In any organization, we find an opportunity gap between the growth of the company on a revenue basis and the growth of the support staff. This part of the company needs to focus on improving automation and scalability to better support the rest of the company. 

                                      Read More: How Automation Ensures Businesses Stay Afloat During COVID-19 Crisis

                                      Most of us still enter information in excel spreadsheets. For example, if we track our projects (work in progress), contracts, savings, etc. in separate spreadsheets, we’re only entering the same data many times. Converting to dashboards can help you quickly view and analyze your entire data in one place. 

                                      Along with consolidated views, dashboards provide opportunities for business intelligence by allowing users to display only what’s required through the use of filters. Once you start adding insights and recommended actions along with the summary, the dashboard becomes more useful by closing any communication gaps between various departments in your company. In short, you save time, provide clear communication, and drive business goals. 

                                      2. Document Management systems

                                      The advent of digitalization has opened up new avenues of data, making its’ management complex. The traditional file and paper methods have become archaic as well as cumbersome. Document management systems have proved themselves indispensable for businesses of all sizes. 

                                      With digitalization dominating the trend in business, enterprises are looking for new ways to streamline documentation by using various automation techniques. The rise of cloud-based document management systems has simplified the creation and sharing of digital documents for enterprises. 

                                      Read More: Top 6 Reasons Why You Should Move to a Cloud-Hosted ERP

                                      Managing huge volumes of data has also become relatively easy. Today you have document management systems that vary in scope from simple systems that cater to small enterprises to more sophisticated ones that cater to large global enterprises. Document management systems reduce physical storage, enable quick access of documents, promote security, make maintenance and customization easy, and reduce monotonous tasks.

                                      3. OCR Technology

                                      Another technology that helps with the digitalization of businesses is OCR. The ability of Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software to automatically extract data from an image file or scanned document has helped businesses to streamline their operations. It reduces the time required in manual data entry and extraction. A robust and accurate OCR can extract data from multiple document formats. Thus, it saves time in data collection, reduces human effort, and aligns business processes with customer needs. AI-powered OCR eliminates manual entry, thereby reducing errors and improving productivity. Businesses that are equipped with AI-powered OCR technology can stay afloat in the digital wave that has swept across the world.

                                      Digitalization can drive recovery from COVID-19

                                      As the coronavirus pandemic continues to take a toll on people’s lives, it has also stimulated change in the social, personal, economic, and corporate forefronts. The focus has now shifted from growth, business development, and digitalization to just riding out the storm, that is, ensuring business continuity. However, organizations should not lose sight of the long-term effects of the crisis. Companies would have to rethink their business models according to changing customer demands. This crisis has forced organizations to invest in their digitalization strategies to establish sustainability. 

                                      Read More: Business Process Re-engineering: Facing Crisis with Confidence

                                      Companies need to direct their digitalization strategies towards increasing resilience and optimization. Rather than just focusing on increasing productivity, a sustainable and comprehensive digitalization strategy should focus on maintaining productivity during future challenges. Write to us to know more. 

                                       

                                      Stay up to date on what's new

                                        About the Author

                                        ...
                                        Tony Joseph

                                        Tony believes in building technology around processes, rather than building processes around technology. He specializes in custom software development, especially in analyzing processes, refining it and then building technology around it.He works with clients on a daily basis to understand and analyze their operational structure, discover (and not invent) key improvement areas and come up with technology solutions to deliver an efficient process.

                                        Talk To Our Experts

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