The digital transformation of businesses.
Not a leap in the sky but an assisted flight.
Don’t dream, simply change your vision.
Only today is it really possible to achieve the digital transformation of businesses, open to everyone.
The emergency has made us see what has been in front of our eyes for a long time: the last call to make the jump has arrived, which is not a leap into the void.
On the contrary. It is a flight with a soft landing, thanks to proven instruments, accessible to everyone and scalable.
And many of the instruments are already part of our daily life. Now we can consider them not only as part of our business process, but also in terms of their potential in terms of internal communication (processes) and external communication (marketing).
To grow we must learn to use these tools and not let them use us. It is not a tool to solve the problem: no. We must have our own strategy: one that corresponds to our vision, our identity and our sales objectives.
That is the difference.
The company before digital transformation.
The analogue business.
We are in the past century, when most of the companies currently active were established. A new born company lays the foundation of its business in a physical world where products, services and processes are tangible. Offices and warehouse are built. A manufacturing process is developed, with its own specific technology. Machinery is brought in, operations are implemented . A name is chosen, business cards are printed, as well as letterhead and brochures. Its products are good, no doubt. Skilled workers from the local community have been personally selected. The in-house sales department sends and places orders via phone or fax. You can still hear the noise. Competitors are well know, through direct experience or a network of contacts that develops organically. There are territories and markets that need exploring. The sales force travels and meets in person its perspective customers. Trade shows and business trips, especially abroad, are important occasions to meet and make business.
The advent of the internet.
The internet as we know it today was born in 1991. Companies have launched their website, which is often not much more than a catalogue or a virtual shop window; then they forget about it. Emails are starting to change the dynamic of the office. Not just in its pace, that is getting faster, but also in they way people communicate and interact with each other. Scanners help to digitalise documents end manage archives, printers become multifunctional. Meanwhile, someone remembers about that old website and picks it back up. The company starts to redefine how it presents itself and how it communicates to the world. Outside, competition is becoming more and more visible and tangible. To register a trade mark sounds like a necessity, and so does buying a domain. Everyone rushes to spruce up a bit, it is getting harder to be noticed. Market has expanded and competitors have become visible, suddenly and all at the same time. The shop window has opened up to the world and communication is going faster than ever. Borders disappear, the marketplace is the entire world.
Outside the web.
In the last 10 years, another turning point happens under the gaze of the company. While infrastructures and connectivity strengthen, technology has come out of the web and has opened up new communication channels, both external and internal. The web has stopped being a shop window and has become a channel: a tool to promote and sell, to create connections, to reach a global market. But it is also fiercely competitive. The company has to work on the web and on its IT systems at the same time, although the perception of them is still that of two worlds apart. Still, it becomes unavoidable to interact with external players, who are increasingly specialised. It also has to start “talking to itself”; questioning its identity, its products, its market and borders, its customers, as well as its internal processes; these too have been forced to change language and to “talk to each other”, even at infrastructure level. The business model had to be reinvented to face changes and challenges. And if that hasn’t happened yet, it is now time to do it.