Businesses Need To Be Digitally Ready To Compete In New Market, Says Phillips Consulting

To remain competitive, agile, innovative and responsive, organisations need to be part of the digital revolution as it is reshaping the world right before our eyes in no small measure, said Jason Ikegwu, Associate Partner, Digital and Technology Consulting at Phillips Consulting Limited.

Ikegwu, who said digital technology is changing how we work, further stated that almost overnight, entire populations are told to stay at home, and a fully digitised environment became a necessity for businesses to continue operation.

“To some extent, this was inevitable with the current rate of innovation, but it is no doubt that COVID-19 has accelerated this process. As society starts to emerge from the pandemic, this new digital reality is here to stay. Digital capabilities will be necessary to perform 90% of jobs in the near future, regardless of the sector,” he said.

According to him, the digital transformation strategy of every organisation needs to be well prepared to accommodate varied aspects of digitalisation.

It requires a defined objective, an all-encompassing business plan, as well as a workforce ready to take on the challenges that come in the way of achieving the digital goal.

Therefore, there are two significant facets to it – a cultural change, starting at an organisational level and trickling down to the individual level, and an actual shift in technology, with an infrastructural update using new technologies in processes and operations.

However, the real power of digital transformation lies at the human level, with people who execute it.

For organisations to successfully transit through the digital journey, he said, “They need to be digitally ready, not only by tackling the associated challenges, but also ensuring they build a culture that supports digital capabilities,” Ikegwu enthused.

Digital readiness, therefore, is the ease in which employees and organisations can transit to digitised work flows, using software and other technologies to enable digital transformation.

He said, “The eventual goal is to streamline the way business is done, and customers are served. For an organisation to completely transform every facet of its business to be in sync with digital technology, its employees have to onboard the digital readiness train.”

“Employees are the building blocks of any business, and it is essential for organisations to proactively train them to undertake the digital transformation, for their personal, as well as professional growth,” he said.

The quest for digital transformation begins with a Digital Assessment to identify the state of digitisation and recognise the next steps in becoming a truly formidable force in the future market.

At Phillips Consulting, he said, “We support organisations in conducting digital assessments (readiness, culture, platforms) and developing a digital strategy for proper alignment between digital journey and business goals.”