As organisations begin the digital transformation journey, their success will depend upon having the ability to meet the ever-changing needs of customers.
This is according to LC Singh, vice chairman and CEO at Nihilent Technologies, who notes every business is about serving customers and everything else is peripheral.
Today's customers are exposed to consumer devices with top-class interfaces and they require the same from corporates' systems, he notes.
Therefore, organisations need to create systems which conform to what customers are used to on their personal devices.
"Today's customers expect organisations' systems to be responsive, intuitive, and interactive like their personal devices."
As organisations change to digital, they must be proactive in meeting their customers' needs, says Singh.
They must go to the market and understand their customers' needs before putting a digital transformation strategy in place, he adds. The systems, processes and architecture should be built to meet those needs, says Singh.
"The time is gone when you could decide on your strategy in the boardroom, you need to get out and talk to consumers and then you can decide what to do."
There also should be seamless interaction between the C-suites in the business - firms cannot afford to have a gap between the business and IT, says Singh.
"It cannot be that the CMO who is dealing with the customers has no interaction with the CIO who continues to develop systems the same old way. That is not going to work."
The World Economic Forum (WEF) says becoming a digital enterprise requires far more profound changes than merely investing in the latest digital technologies.
While it is clear that digital technology will transform most industries, there are a number of challenges that need to be understood, it says.
These include factors such as the pace of changing customer expectations, cultural transformation, outdated regulation, and identifying and accessing the right skills - to name just a few, says WEF.
These challenges need to be addressed by industry and government leaders to unlock the substantial benefits digital offers society and industry, it adds.
Companies will need to search for new business models, fundamentally rethink their operating models, revamp how they attract and foster digital talent, and consider afresh how they measure the success of their business, says the WEF.
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