By IT Brew Staff
less than 3 min read
Definition:
No matter what the industry, companies must continually evolve their IT infrastructure, especially as their competitors embrace disruptive technologies. Digital transformation is when organizations update their processes, products, operations, and customer and employee experiences to take advantage of the latest technology. As the name implies, these are almost always sweeping changes that touch every silo and team within an organization.
For example, digital transformation driven by AI may help a company’s sales team surface insights about potential customers, give the marketing team the tools for more hyper-targeted media campaigns, make HR’s hiring processes more efficient, or give leadership additional insights into long-term strategy.
Whereas a typical business transformation may reach a clearly defined endpoint (like a company pivoting from selling one kind of product to another), digital transformation is a continuing process. For instance, companies may spend years gradually integrating the cloud or AI into everything from back-office analytics to front-of-house retail operations. A successful transformation requires buy-in from not only the chief information or technology officer and the IT teams reporting into them, but all C-suite executives and their respective reports and teams.
Over the past few decades, the technologies primarily responsible for digital transformations have included the internet of things (IoT), AI, the blockchain, digital twins, and the cloud, smartphones, and other mobile tech. When implemented correctly, digital transformations translate into increased innovation and revenue, a more effective workforce, boosted cybersecurity, and greater resilience to a changing marketplace. However, success also hinges on a clear plan, sufficient resources (including data, as well as in-house talent capable of integrating and using the latest technologies), and an operating model that will scale.
