What’s Driving Digital Transformation In The Workplace?

by James McDonald on September 23, 2019
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Digital transformation is a top priority for over two-thirds of enterprise and small-medium companies, according to a recent TechTarget survey.

Of the more than 600 IT professionals who responded to the survey, nearly 70% said their workplace was in some phase of digital transformation, and nearly half (46%) had formal projects underway.

Respondents were also asked what key factors contribute to their digital initiatives, how they plan to achieve those initiatives and how these strategies will affect their budget.

Here’s what they said.

Defining Digital Transformation

Although the phrase “digital transformation” is widely used, there’s no single definition of exactly what that entails.

Salesforce defines it as the process of using digital technologies to create new—or modify existing—business processes, culture and customer experiences.

Bill Schmarzo, the chief technology officer for Dell EMC Services, notes that it starts by clearly defining digital capabilities, which are “electronic, scientific, data-driven, quantified, instrumented, measured, calculated and automated.”

Most definitions seem to agree it involves reimagining and re-engineering traditional methods of storing data and using technology. That includes implementing technology that supports the digital workplace and a shift toward cloud-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) applications, rather than hosted or on-premise software.

The Top 8 Drivers of Digital Transformation In the Workplace

While the reasons for pursuing digital transformation will vary depending on organizational goals, there are some common themes.

Improving internal efficiency and employee productivity are among the top drivers, according to the survey, with customer needs and user experience close behind.

  1. Streamlining Operations, Internal Efficiency and Process Management (47%)
  2. Improve Employee Performance and Productivity (47%)
  3. Enhance Customer Experience and Brand Loyalty (43%)
  4. Enhancing Product/Service Innovation (40%)
  5. Addressing Compliance and Security Requirements (36%)
  6. Accelerating Time to Market (28%)
  7. Enhanced Customer Insights (23%)
  8. Decreasing Skills Gap/Acquiring New Talent (19%)

In comparison to the same survey conducted in 2018, the two drivers of prioritizing an internal efficiency and enhancing customer needs switched places. Why?

IT professionals realized they could not enhance the customer experience without first creating a modern, efficient digital workplace.

The Role Of Cloud-Based Software In Digital Transformation

Survey respondents were also asked what tactics they plan to implement as part of their digital transformation strategy.

Thirty-eight percent of IT professionals selected ‘stepping up their use of cloud services’ as the No. 2 activity, just one percentage point behind ‘increasing investment in technologies that improve employee experience and productivity’.

Moving to software that is 100% SaaS-based is also imperative to managing company budgets.

Compared to legacy on-premise software, SaaS solutions are significantly less expensive to implement, manage, and maintain. Consider the cost of managing updates to an integrated workplace management system (IWMS), for instance.

For a mid-sized to large organization, on-premise solutions require a substantial in-house IT team to support and maintain them in addition to the hardware needed to host them. Updates are time-consuming and costly because they must be deployed and tested on an individual basis, rather than rolled out by the provider. Several of our customers have told us it cost them upwards of $1 million to update their legacy on-premise solutions. As a result, they could only justify making these updates every few years.

By contrast, cloud-based software eliminates many of the large, upfront capital costs involved in deploying and updating it. It’s also much easier to integrate SaaS solutions with other technologies, which is essential to staying agile.

In short, shifting to SaaS solutions means:

  • Less spending on consulting services (a concern for 48% of respondents)
  • Reducing management and support charges (a concern for 38%)
  • Cutting costs for on-premises servers (a concern of 29%)

iOFFICE’s workplace management software was built as a 100% SaaS solution from the very beginning. This keeps the total cost of ownership manageable for IT professionals and their organizations. Our team is continually releasing updates, and our open platform allows us to integrate with virtually any existing workplace applications.

While no one knows for sure what the future of digital transformation in the workplace will look like, we can ensure you’ll be ready for it.

To see how iOFFICE compares to other workplace management software solutions, download the most recent Verdantix product report.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

James McDonald

James McDonald is a sports enthusiast, brother in Christ and once swam in a tank with the infamous TV sharks.

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