Digital Transformation Unchained

ALTA Digital is passionate about a lot of things. We love the ability that companies have to change their strategies, taking advantage of new methods & techniques. We also pride ourselves in the knowledge that we're able to stay ahead of the curve.

And what is more current and important than getting ready for the digital transformation bonanza? It feels like nothing else matters.

In fact, this technological watershed is of the utmost importance. With the ability to change the fabric of corporations the world over and the watershed impact that can shape entire industries, digital transformation is massive and continues to blaze new trails and expand opportunities.

But what are the most important digital transformation trends that you should take into account to own the future? By reading this complete digital transformation article, you’ll be able to know what is digital transformation, the current impact of digital transformation, and the top 6 digital transformation trends that promise to bring about mind-bending solutions in the years to come.

What is the Impact of Digital Transformation?

You’re probably asking yourself: what is digital transformation?

Digital transformation is the brand-new use of digital tech to solve more or less traditional problems. These tech-friendly digital solutions allow for completely new types of creative innovation, apart from enhancing and providing terrific support to the more traditional methods already available today.

For some people, digital means one thing: the ability to say goodbye to the need for a paper trail. For others, it’s much more about reaching a perfectly cemented stage of digital maturity - a type of economic Utopia in which entire segments of society will be affected by the digital revolution.

What could these segments be? Science, medicine, government, communication, etc.

Even though what is known as digital transformation is already in action, this spectacular change is still moving about at a different pace in different countries. According to the latest data available, the European continent is considered to be operating at only 12% of its full-blown digital potential.

What about the mighty United States of America? The US is operating at a meager 18%.

Even though it seems that this digital revolution still has a long way to go, it’s nevertheless remarkable to think about what this could mean in the long term. Digital transformation will really mark a dramatic restructuring of thought.

It will impact the ways in which corporations use their human resources, influence the mindsets of people, and absolutely reshape processes that will boost business performance like never before.

According to some of the world’s top tech experts, digital transformation in business should be led by the CEOs themselves. That actually requires a cross-sectional and cross-departmental collaborative effort, ensuring that speedy application development models can be coupled with business-centered philosophies.

Current Examples of Successful Digital Transformation

As of today, we know that companies are launching digital-first initiatives in order to expand or even build their awesome digital capabilities with the aim of delivering business-savvy solutions and increase revenue. In fact, according to IDC, 40% of all tech spending will actually be devoted to several types of digital-oriented revolutions.

Moreover, in 2019, corporations are expected to spend a staggering $2 trillion on digital transformation processes alone.

There has never been as much tech buzz as when it comes to this milestone. Indeed, it’s now obvious that the most forward-thinking digital companies get to generate amazing gross margins, a lot more earnings, and a solid net income when compared to those enterprises which fail to go digital.

Leading digital enterprises showcase a three-year average profit margin of 55%, whereas the ones which lag behind can only get to muster 37%.

But what are the successful cases of digital transformation? Porsche, the German auto master, has actually made digital transformation a major goal.

The company wants to involve every employee, relying on ambitious tech to actually transform its cars using the boon of trustworthy automated driving. In fact, it has launched the “Car Connect” app that can handle everything from real-time traffic info to navigation services.

Another example of a digital transformation success story? Disney.

Since consumers seem to be all-in when it comes to tech-enabled streaming video, Disney has decided to acquire a wealth of companies that will help this entertainment giant go fully digital.

BAMTech was bought so that Disney could gain access to streaming tech. Afterward, Disney spent $52.4 billion to buy 21st Century Fox, allowing the company to connect with consumers without needing to think about distributors and sundry advertisers.

Another company which was literally saved by digital transformation? The “New York Times”, one of the most widely-read newspapers on planet Earth.

Print media has been pining away, with print ad revenue falling from $60 billion to $20 billion in the past 15 years.

But how did “The New York Times” manage to bypass this dramatic trend? They did it by actually implementing a super successful subscription model for their incredible online content.

This has actually allowed the news platform to continue delivering high-quality journalistic work without needing to rely on the old friendly allies of print media: ads. Due to the subscription-based model, this New York institution has managed to keep following crucial journalistic principles instead of having to yield to the demands of multiple advertisers.

Is there a number that can prove this extraordinary success? Yes, indeed! According to the “Times”, in 2017, the newspaper managed to make almost $500 million in digital profit, way more than the profits which have been reported by its newsworthy competitors.

Want a list of other companies which are already diving into digital transformation initiatives?

Here it is:

• Rockwell Automation
• SAP
• DBS Bank
• Hasbro
• Pfizer
• Subway

Is there any other company that’s already surfing the digital transformation wave?

Yes! ALTA Digital.

This digital agency is proud to dive into digital transformation every single day.

Working together with digital-first clients, we’ve been able to craft innovative solutions that clearly showcase a tech-oriented and super optimized vision.

From a financial portal for BMW to a brand-new website for Universidade Católica Portuguesa, from a marketing platform supported by a CRM for Virgin Sport to a self-service ad platform for CTT, ALTA has delivered impeccable solutions that have helped different international companies step into the digital transformation realm.

You can learn more about some of the cutting-edge projects we’ve created by checking ALTA Digital’s work.

Now that we know what is digital transformation and have been able to understand which are the companies that are ahead of the digital curve, we can dive into the top 6 digital transformation trends you should bear in mind.

Top 6 Trends of Digital Transformation

1. Blockchain Gets Some Love

According to most experts, blockchain has been termed a “mess.” Indeed, it seems to be quite a complicated thing for most people to understand, since everyone uses it in different ways.

How can digital transformation help out? In the coming years, we’ll witness the creation of a plug-and-play version of blockchain that can be used and understood by every single person.

In the future, major tech companies will invest in blockchain, allowing this incredible tech to get the respect it deserves.

2. Augmented Reality

This is a key digital transformation trend. In fact, it has found a remarkably high number of use cases in workforce training, which means it actually serves a much-needed function.

Even though a lot of tech experts believe the AR boom to be moving at a slow pace, it seems obvious that AR tech will explode in the coming years, especially since Apple is dipping its toe in the Augmented Reality pool.

Don’t believe the AR explosion is coming? Then you should bear the following info in mind: ALTA is a subsidiary of Connect Enterprises, a tech group that showcased how to connect the scientific past with the technological future using AR.

It all happened at Web Summit 2018!

Check the video of this incredible AR experience and see what it was all about!

3. Consumption-Based IT Services

It seems that IT executives have three things on their mind: ensuring they create more efficiency, get more flexibility when it comes to their workload, and have the ability to actually scale up and down rapidly based on specific business requirements.

What does this mean? That the IT-as-a-Service industry has the ability to keep growing. Nowadays, companies can get to choose the services they need, asking for highly-customized digital solutions.

ITaaS will allow for increased scalability, the most recent tech, much shorter procurement cycles, and speedy agility. Corporations will invest in the as-a-Service boom and take maximum advantage of digital.

4. Connected Clouds

Cloud adoption will keep on booming in the years to come. Since corporations are now coming to terms with the fact that going full public cloud might not be the best choice for them, we will start seeing a mix of public clouds, data centers, and private clouds.

These highly connected clouds will be the subject of consistent development and improvement in order to ensure the requirements of companies are effectively met.

We’re already seeing massive cloud providers such as Alibaba and Amazon going all-in, offering private cloud solutions. Microsoft is also doing it with Azure, and HPE acquired Cloud Technology Partners to go the same way.

What does this all mean? In the near future, you must become acquainted with the idea of multicloud, ensuring a seamless, streamlined and safe experience for all cloud aficionados in the process.

Keep tabs on corporations which shall now be using a concoction made of workloads running in private, public, and even hybrid environments.

5. Data is Everything

Another major digital transformation trend? The move towards what is known as data-driven decision making.

What’s happening, you ask? Some of the world’s biggest high-tech corporations are already crafting the means to reliably process data in real-time.

Since people won’t be able to make a data-driven choice based on thwarted data (which can be either incomplete or simply outdated) high-tech enterprises are now focused on ensuring data-driven decisions can be made with 100% certainty. They’re currently developing infrastructure, services, and software that can make sure data-driven ability gets unleashed like never before.

This means there will be an efficiency increase all around.

Here at ALTA, we’ve been able to use different data analytics platforms.

Each of them has allowed us to gather more knowledge, optimize our workload, and gain tremendously important insights that have helped us craft better solutions for international clients.

6. A New Product Development Philosophy

Remember when product development was all about drawing, creating a definite concept, and seeing that concept come to life in the shape of a concrete, tangible product? Those days are over.

Even though creating something from the feet up is still going to be part of the deal, digital transformation will ensure that the game is going to change. Whereas in the past it was all about creating new products, it will now be about developing concrete solutions that will eventually perform specific changes to current devices.

It’s not really about what could be made but about how the experience of an already-existing product could be enhanced and improved.

The goal? To ensure digital transformation helps create a perfect user experience.

Digital Becomes Real

Digital transformation techniques and methods promise to continue changing mindsets and improving processes for companies all over the world.

With Augmented Reality, a new product development mindset, a reliable data set, a group of highly-connected clouds, new consumption-based IT services, and a radical new approach to blockchain’s tremendous capabilities, digital will continue impacting our lives, simplifying our work, and powering the future.

At ALTA, we know that the digital transformation boom is a real opportunity for effective change. Indeed, we’ve already taken specific steps to ensure our digital agency is in tune with the latest product development mindset. Moreover, we take advantage of connected clouds to guarantee we never skip a beat.

What about you? Are you going to follow these tips and optimize your business taking digital transformation techniques into consideration? Let us know all about it in the comment section below!