Over the course of 2020 and 2021, we have seen our lives change dramatically. This is especially true for how we interact with technology. People are more reliant on digital and firms are considering digital transformation. Here are some trends to come.
COVID-19 has accelerated change for enterprises of every description. In particular, this has been seen in the field of digital transformation. Almost every business is now at some point along the trajectory towards achieving digital transformation – that is, the replacing of manual processes with faster, more efficient digital approaches.
It’s worth noting that this is not a new trend; however, the unprecedented events of the last 18 months have brought digital transformation to the forefront. Companies that had already embarked on this process are finding that they need to kick things up a gear (and potentially replace older digital technology); those that had lagged behind are now racing to catch up.
Here are our top 5 trends in digital transformation in "the new normal" – a world in which remote collaboration and transactions have increasingly replaced in-person interactions.
At EPS, agile business models are part of our DNA. This approach to project management originated in the software development industry, but its advantages are now being recognised by many other businesses. This is something of a ‘chicken and egg’ scenario: becoming more agile makes it easier to achieve digital transformation, while digital transformation is easier to achieve if your company already has an agile business model.
Fluid team structures, advancing in sprints and adopting iterative processes will become the norm as digital transformation flips from ‘must have’ to ‘can’t do without'.
There are distinct advantages to using cloud computing, including reduced costs and admin, improved accessibility and data security, and facilitating remote working practices. However, as the industry matures, the advantages of a hybrid cloud model are being recognised by more enterprises. Whereas previously there was a headlong rush towards outsourcing all data-related services, as the industry has matured it has become apparent that a multi-cloud approach is not just more feasible, but also offers advantages when it comes to negotiating prices and SLAs, ensuring compliance in multiple jurisdictions, and avoiding excessive reliance on a single provider. This trend has of course led to the emergence of applications that facilitate multi-cloud enterprise resource management.
Despite the controversy (much of it very misguided) that has swirled around 5G during the pandemic, it is clear that 5G is about to have its moment. Again, this is a digital transformation trend that has been driven by the side-effects of the pandemic – the shift to working and studying remotely has driven demand for bandwidth everywhere, and deploying 5G technology is the most effective way of delivering this. The demand for bandwidth is not just from laptops and smartphones – smart homes, with their plethora of IoT devices, are also a contributing factor.
The pandemic has been viewed as an opportunity by digital criminals, with significant rises in online fraud, impersonation and data breaches. New, decentralised working practices represent a headache for companies – managing access and controlling data security is much harder when your confidential information is necessarily more disparate. As more territories enact data protection legislation, the consequences of breaches will become even more potentially devastating. These factors will drive demand for enhanced security, and AI and machine learning will be vital components of improved verification and security software.
This is another area where AI will increasingly make its presence felt. The ability to transact in real time offers speed and customer service advantages, and will help differentiate enterprises from their competitors. With AI’s ability to spot trends and anomalies from vast data sets, companies will be able to truly leverage the power of the information they hold and use it to deliver better operational outcomes.
EPS can help you embrace digital transformation, and not just align with the latest trends, but lead them. To learn more about how we can develop bespoke solutions to meet your needs, visit https://www.eps.ch/en/competencies/
