3 Digital Transformation Challenges Facing Today's Enterprises

Digital transformation strategies are innovative, exciting and comprised of many moving parts. Some enterprises totally nail it, planning, implementing and monitoring new digital technology. However, many enterprises either opt out of attempting a digital transformation, or their digital transformation initiatives fail.

We’ve seen many successful digital transformations, often starting with the implementation of robotic process automation (RPA), which is a great jumping-off point. So, despite the benefits, why do so many of these projects fail?

1. People are resistant to change. We get it, change is scary. Employees who have been at your organization for the long-haul are used to certain processes and procedures and, no matter how clunky or inefficient they may be, there is comfort in familiarity. Digital transformation disrupts these comfortable processes, making it seem like the change will cause more harm than good. Change of any kind seems risky, but not changing can be an even bigger risk and result in lost time and money, and a limited competitive edge. If your organization isn’t innovating, it could also lead to less new talent, as today’s millennial workers look for more technologically-savvy, efficient companies to work for. Innovation can only happen when companies embrace change.
2. No clear transformation vision. When companies jump into a digital transformation project or don’t have a clear plan, it’s difficult to have a successful implementation. It’s vital to have clear goals for current and future digital transformation initiatives, however, many organizations implement new technology without analyzing current procedures, planning for future implementations or researching whether or not the implementation will positively affect customers and vendors. Digital transformation is a process that requires a larger vision of how the technology implementation will affect your company as a whole, and how future implementations will work with it.
3. Integration challenges due to too many antiquated systems. Sometimes the solution for employee resistance to change is just to integrate new solutions with the company’s antiquated solutions. Organizations need to analyze their current processes, procedures and current technology solutions. Do the processes and procedures need to be updated? Eliminated? Do current technology solutions need to be pitched to make room for new ones, or will the new solutions integrate well with them? Stringing software together can cause more harm than good, lead to more inefficiencies and issues with security. It may be time to clean house when it comes to your current processes and procedures.

In today’s fast-moving society, utilizing new and innovative technology is vital for retaining talent, being competitive in your industry and increasing efficiency within your organization. Digital transformation is possible for any company in any industry with the right mindset, company culture, goals and strategies. Ready to take the first step toward digital transformation? Learn more about how paperless automation with RPA functionality is a great place to start!