Business Transformation: Steps to Change your Business in 2023

Now is the perfect time for companies to change their business strategies and focus on creating value and unlocking new business opportunities. Here, we take a look at the best strategies and steps to take to transform your business into a more digital and competitive model.

Business Transformation Framework

For most companies, business transformation is about moving away from the traditional way of doing business and embracing new solutions that drive innovation in how they work, improve the customer experience and stimulate business growth. However, not all companies are at the same point. Whether it’s because they are in one sector or another, the age of the corporation, or the size of the business/employees, the level of digitization can vary greatly.

In fact, according to a study conducted together with IDC, 91% of companies in Spain believe that AI will help them in their growth objectives, but only 22% are using it.

We find two very marked time periods in which the objectives of this transformation have shifted in a different direction. We refer to before the COVID-19 pandemic and the post-pandemic period in which we are currently immersed.

Previously, transformation efforts were mainly focused on customer experience (mobile devices, social media, IoT, cloud computing, etc.). However, the pandemic accelerated everything and shifted the focus to operational efficiency, innovation, and sustainable models.

Digital transformation has become the most talked-about topic among CEOs, whether adopting cloud platforms, seeing the power of data, or contemplating the wide range of artificial intelligence.

According to the study ‘Take the leap, take the initiative,’ it shows that leading enterprise technology companies were growing twice as fast as most companies. And now, by doubling their investment in innovative solutions, they are growing five times faster.

The conclusion is simple: they adopt innovative technologies earlier and reinvest in them more frequently, which translates into more revenue, more growth, and a greater ability to stay ahead of the curve. Companies that want to remain competitive must therefore consider a number of goals:

• Automate business processes
• Embrace a disruptive approach
• Deal with change effectively
• See technology as an ally, not an enemy
• Use the power of data

Digital Transformation Strategy

As companies decide to embark on a digital transformation process, they find that they have to look back and ask themselves whether the path they have taken so far has really been the right one. At this point, a myriad of questions will arise, questions that need a lot of answers and the need to put in place an appropriate strategy for the company.

Let’s take it step by step. Businesses face a changing world that brings new challenges to the table year after year, and a disruptive approach is the best bet to create long-term sustainable value.

Transforming Business Strategy

Digital transformation puts technology at the heart of business strategy, so we could say that managers have now become chief technology officers.

IoT to analyze data in real-time, AI to streamline business processes and automate tasks, cloud computing to reduce costs and allow access to information from anywhere, and digital twins to make better decisions and make changes faster… These are just a few examples.

Being clear about this and implementing an approach supported by new digital solutions can reduce operational costs and inefficiencies. In fact, it will change the direction of your business thanks to a unified model that makes it easier to achieve your goals. The technology path you choose today will determine whether or not the future will be successful for your business.

Aligning Business Operations

The adoption of new ways of working and the transformation of business processes to this new model must go hand in hand from the start of the implementation.

We need to ask ourselves two questions: what do my customers need, and how can digital processes help me? And for my employees? These two questions will help us to create improved processes across the board, whether it is data and analytics-driven customer service, creating a much more sustainable model, or moving key services to the cloud for anywhere, anytime access.

Experimenting to Improve

Change can be scary and scary, but as customer expectations rise at an ever-increasing pace, it is crucial to introduce new ways of working accompanied by modern engineering capabilities.

Successful digital transformation involves a significant change to the approach we’ve come from, but it all comes down to embracing change and innovation.

Making Change Flexible

We can’t just stick to one change or technology. We can foster innovation and drive growth quickly and at scale by remaining agile and flexible.

A modular approach enables sustainable and time-saving change, always putting customer needs at the heart of our transformation.

People First

Digital transformation not only affects business processes but also affects the team in each company. Therefore, they also need to be trained accordingly to develop new skills that allow them to have a good relationship with technology.

While this sounds like a big challenge (it is), technology will also be the key to solving many of them. Employees will need the support of their leaders and a culture that is aligned with this change and facilitates their integration.

Examples of Digital Transformation

We analyze some cases of how technology has transformed different sectors with real examples:

• Research: Tecnalia and the first 4.0 laboratories that achieve a 360º connection between companies and researchers.
• Education: CEU Cardenal Herrera University and its solution to go back to the roots of teaching with HoloLens 2.

• Tourism: Dubai 360 and the largest possible interactive tour.
• Manufacturing: WILLBÖ and innovation in Industry 4.0 with Mixed Reality.

• Architecture and design: Aveva and its GISize to lay the foundations for the future of the sector in 3D format.
• Energy: Acciona and its SCADA system to manage the world’s largest photovoltaic plants.

• Fintech: BBVA and Valora View, the augmented reality app for finding a home.
• Healthcare: Osakidetza and guided biopsies with augmented reality.

These are just some examples of companies that have already started to transform their business and see results thanks to technology. You can see more success stories from other industries here.

Digital Transformation Services

If we were to analyze the digital transformation strategies of a hundred companies, it is more than likely that we would come across 100 roadmaps. The important thing is that to be successful, they must be aligned with your company’s business strategy, start with the customer experience and take a holistic approach to transformation.

That’s why Plain Concepts can help you plan the strategy that carries your name and surname, thanks to our extensive experience in digital transformation. Together we will develop a business model that gives you the best competitive advantage and facilitates the shift to a value model for you and your customers.