South African businesses are fast-tracking their digital transformation programmes in a bid to cut costs, operate more effectively and stay competitive, but rushing the job without a solid strategy could be a costly mistake.
This is according to BlueSky cloud delivery experts, who were speaking ahead of a virtual event on digital transformation.
Matt Wright, Chief Technology Officer at BlueSky, says the Covid-19 pandemic has increased pressure on local organisations to move faster on digital transformation.
“The pandemic drove a huge shift to e-commerce for some organisations, which changed the entire nature of the business. But it’s not just retailers who are having to transform: those companies that offer in-person products and services still need new digital ways to connect the customer to the business and streamline services. For example, a business offering repairs needs technology to log complaints, queries and requests, with a booking system to manage services and systems to log complaints.”
Mncedisi Mayekiso, Chief Revenue Officer at BlueSky, notes: “Across many sectors, the pandemic also caused customers to be more dispersed, which is also driving more digital approaches. Think of a simple thing like a trade promo – organisations used to do this at a particular site, where they could engage customers in person. Now, they must understand the needs and requirements of a dispersed market, so there is a greater requirement to understand customer data and personalise digital marketing.”
When it comes to digital transformation – particularly in a tough economy – you need to measure twice, cut once.
Matt Wright, Chief Technology Officer at BlueSky.
While organisations understand the need to transform digitally, many are rushing this transformation instead of approaching it strategically, they say.
“Too many organisations try to deploy a particular technology, instead of looking to deploy the solution that actually delivers the value they need,” says Wright.
“When it comes to digital transformation – particularly in a tough economy – you need to measure twice, cut once. Organisations need to stop, think, work out a realistic plan, then go out and deliver it. It sounds easy, but if it was, our expert consultants wouldn’t be as busy as we are,” he says.
“Many try to do too much at once, making changes simultaneously throughout the business. It is very difficult to make this all happen in parallel and ensure that every solution deployed works together to make the whole greater than the sum of its parts.”
BlueSky’s approach is technology agnostic, says Wright. “We source the best solutions based on the nature of the business, and its budget, timeline and even team size.”
Virtual event: Deploying Digital for Competitive Advantage
Date: 24 August 2021
Time: 10:30 (GMT+2)
Duration: 2 hours
BlueSky, Salesforce and AWS, in partnership with ITWeb, will host a virtual event on Deploying Digital for Competitive Advantage on Tuesday 24 August 2021.
For more information and to register for this event, go to https://www.itweb.co.za/event/bluesky-deploying-digital-for-competitive-advantage/
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