Digital is only the first part, transformation is the hard part.

The transformation to digital started decades ago.

That transformation was more digitization rather than going digital. With phases such as “Paperless Office” from the mid-1970s where the future was to bring electronic records and transactions. This first major wave of digitization was more a transformation from paper forms into PDFs allowing the first steps towards centralized, single-source data. Over the the past several decades the slow move from paper to mutually accepting digital documents has taken place, moving from signed original copies to faxed copies to accepted digital signatures and personal PINs. These moves were heavy on the digitization of processes and less on the transformation of processes.

Digitization VS Digital Transformation

This latest wave of Digital Transformation has been accelerating with the expansion of technology, data, and speed of access. The automation of a growing number of business processes has pushed the need for true transformation in the way companies run internally as well as how they interact with their customers. These challenges go well beyond the use of technology and automation, change management has become a large part of any of these digital efforts. Moving company processes and workforces into new paths that trigger complete paradigm shifts can implode if all stakeholders and employees are not invested in the transformation. 

“Digital transformation is the profound transformation of business and organizational activities, processes, competencies and models to fully leverage the changes and opportunities of a mix of digital technologies and their accelerating impact across society in a strategic and prioritized way, with present and future shifts in mind.” - i-scoop

Many business owners still assume it’s too expensive or too difficult to embrace Digital Transformations. They struggle to support its foundation for growth with a complete ERP solution. However, best-in-class cloud-based ERP systems and SaaS pricing models have moved this expectation from capital expense to a scaleable and affordable subscription service. This has the effect of lowering the total cost of ownership. Which is something everyone can benefit from.

With manageable investment models in place, your focus needs to be on the key elements of Change Management.

Here's a snippet.

1) Make sure everyone in every role knows why you have to make the change.

2) Listen to your people.

3) Document everything.

4) Incorporate user feedback where possible.

5) Help people understand the value chain of a click.

6) Testing, Testing, and more Testing.

7) Training is a process and not just a project milestone.

8) Watch out for process creep or process backsliding.

If setting the foundation for your company's digital transformation sounds complicated and you need some help, Navigator Business Solutions has been implementing ERP solutions built on industry best practices for more than twenty years. Let’s discuss your business and process challenges. If you want to see how the software looks and runs, you can watch a product demo .