What is the “new normal?” Is it truly new, or is it just normal? Does it have anything to do with the global pandemic or everything to do with the technological movement called Digital Transformation?
Digitization of business practices has been predicted, debated, and accelerating for well over 10 years, but it was the launch of the first true “smartphone” in 2007 that made the consumer the key ingredient of this process via the mobile device. These powerful computers in our pockets have created a hyper-connected society that races towards new technology almost yearly. So why is it that some businesses have joined the race full steam ahead while others have not? Did these early adopters see the benefit of digital transformation immediately? Does the rest of the business world require ROI proof before implementing new technology as so many do, only to wake up too late and scramble to catch-up? A 2017 World Economic Forum report1 claims that digital transformation “could deliver $100 trillion in value to businesses and society over the next decade.” That sounds like proof to me.
So why with numbers like this are so many businesses still in the laggard position of digital transformation? In fact, in 2017, a study by McKinsey & Company2 showed us that “most industries were less than 40% digitized, despite the availability of technology advancements, especially in the retail and wireless industries.” This study also highlighted the variance in the execution of digital change, making the point that some industries changed core business strategies and grew, while others changed only in minor ways and felt limited impact.
Read the full article in the CCA Voice.
[1] "World Economic Forum Digital Transformation Initiative (DTI)". Website, 2017.
[2] "The case for digital reinvention". McKinsey & Company. 2017
