Maximizing the data and digitalization revolution
The global pandemic has forced businesses of all sizes to rethink and restructure their operations, both physically and digitally. One of the most obvious results of this transformation is the increasing reliance on data to preserve business continuity, enhance profitability and improve overall operational efficiency. The radical change in circumstances has also made it clear that leveraging data can provide a swift and effective way to gain a competitive advantage in an increasingly vigorous and dynamic commercial environment.
However, businesses that moved to a data-orientated operational model now need to transition from what was essentially a ‘survival phase’. They have to assess how to maximize the available opportunities in becoming a data-driven enterprise, while also considering the potential challenges.
By thoroughly analyzing how rapid digital shifts actually need to be, businesses can prevent one of the major challenges: inadvertently adopting a ‘tech debt’ of costly quick fixes that don’t deliver future success. Consistently mapping the speed of digitization against agreed objectives is a good first step but it is also important to understand how an investment can be scaled, safely and securely, to ensure business continuity is maintained.
For businesses to reap the optimum benefits from their data it is crucial that they maintain a balance between being data ‘driven’ and being data ‘informed’. The latter helps businesses make the right decisions at the right time through access to real-time information. It makes data accessible and focused on service-level provisions to ensure a positive impact on internal teams as well as customers. A range of technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and big data analytics, have a role to play in enhancing the customer experience through the provision of data-based insights.
Looking again at the concept of ‘tech debt’, a recent study conducted by McKinsey revealed that 60 percent of the CIOs surveyed felt that their organization’s technology debt had risen considerably over the past three years. This problem is being made worse as between 10 and 20 percent of technology budgets for new products are being diverted to resolving issues arising from existing tech debt, according to the research.
The origins of this liability are generally easy to identify by studying how businesses initially embraced technology as a way to overcome various issues and challenges. Back then, many of the implementations used quick fixes and off-the-shelf solutions, which resulted in poorly integrated applications. Technologies from different vendors were also frequently pieced together in an unplanned way, resulting in an execution that didn’t work effectively as a whole.
Rather than providing workable improvements, many executions quickly had an adverse impact on productivity and the customer experience.
