Companies must adapt to the digital era. Their ability to evolve depends on their ability to maintain their market share and grow it by building customer loyalty and capturing customers, and discovering new lines of business thanks to information technologies. When they face their transformation, they will find themselves in a new world, where customers, channels, competitors, employees, products and operations are already digital.

Digital transformation must be addressed through a global strategy that reaches all areas of the company. It is not a matter of digitizing areas without taking into account the needs of the whole group and the possibilities of interaction between them, but must be understood as a set of efficiency. This involves transforming processes in all business areas and making a change from the foundations, thus obtaining all the advantages and benefits that the digital era implies, such as:

• Significant cost reduction and increased competitiveness.
• Optimization of processes and resources through increased productivity.
• Improved efficiency of internal work processes and management.
• Business growth by detecting new models, with new audiences, sales forms, services or products.
• Boosting brand image positioning to increase awareness of products and services in the market.
• Obtaining more satisfied customers by improving the user experience.

To implement the transformation process, there are a number of necessary steps that must be included in the strategy. It is essential to appoint a digital leader, who will be supported by the CMO and the CIO. On the other hand, it is necessary to redefine the values that will enable the right response to the customer. The next step is to nurture the idea that digital comes first , making employees feel involved and participate in the digitization process. And finally, it is essential to maintain customer confidence.

But digital strategy is not enough to successfully face the future. More than half of executives know that IT is central to their business strategy. In fact, 74% of companies have a digital strategy. However, only one-third of those executives are satisfied with that policy, and only 21% believe they have the right people in place to design it. Even among those who have an adequate strategy, only one in six are confident that their company has the skills and competencies to execute it successfully.

We must understand that technological transformation is a never-ending process. The customer will continue to evolve and companies must be attentive to never lose touch with this reality. The involvement of all employees in the process is unavoidable, as well as understanding that it is not a question of changing the system to continue doing the same old things. But it is the responsibility of managers to lay the foundations for the digital transformation of their companies.

The importance of customized software

Undoubtedly, customized software that facilitates this transformation and that adapts to the needs of each company helps to reduce costs and minimize errors. Operational excellence is achieved by designing a strategy that generates synergies between the various areas of a company to improve its efficiency and, consequently, the service provided to the user. Tools such as those proposed by Sage are indispensable allies in achieving this excellence.

From PKF Attest, as a Certified Partner of Sage business solutions, we provide you with all the information about the latest version of Sage Business Cloud X3 (V12), the management system designed for growing companies that need more efficiency, flexibility and control of information and that will allow you to successfully face your digital transformation process.