Can organizations embrace the digital native mindset?

India is progressively moving towards digital dependency and technological development. From businesses to people “digital consumers” across various age groups, are increasing rapidly. With the economic graph set to rise, today’s businesses are adopting new and innovative measures continually, as the time required to fulfill tasks is only taking a steep slope downwards.

New-age business leaders are constantly paving their path towards digital disruption, traditional companies are also taking steps towards their digital transformation journey. It has been evident that the early adopters in the field of innovation and digital management are way ahead in the game. So how does a traditional business champion a Digital Native mindset?

Digitizing can be a small yet relative way for many traditional companies in the country to drive economy and growth for their organization. Digitizing the entire infrastructure doesn’t have to be the first step, rather, taking a process by process approach to ensure smooth functioning is the way to go. With years of running businesses, they have the advantage of legacy, credibility, knowing the market as well as their customer better.

Modernising Business Processes

It is not the lack of ideas but a dearth of inspiration for most of the traditional companies in our country that keeps them from taking the digital route. Despite huge sums being invested in research and development, most of the organizations remain unwitnessed to the endless possibilities that digital intervention can bring to their businesses. Although, they seed research practices and incubators point towards this direction, conventional practices prevent these companies from taking the unexplored route.

In a recent McKinsey survey, many respondents said that parent companies had hindered the development of their start-ups and limited entrepreneurs’ freedom to make decisions.

Scaling up the individual businesses under one umbrella becomes a challenge for many large conglomerates. The transformation needs to start at an operational level with constant awareness to all the stakeholders involved about the change in practices.

The key is to include digital intervention in organizational planning to establish the idea across all levels. Later, the plan should be measured against the outcome to promote digitization in good faith. A crucial mechanism established by companies is an in-house “factory” for building and scaling up disruptive new businesses in ways that corporate accelerators and incubators. This also helps in shielding new enterprises from the bureaucratic burden of the parent company.

Building a Roadmap for your Digital Transformation journey

There is a dynamic shift in approaches adopted by developing nations to ensure competitive advantage. Predictive analysis and proactive methods have surpassed reactive measures. Business models have been modified by inculcating ‘data refining processes’ rather than relying on ‘processes consuming data’ alone. From an on-demand service delivery process, the prime focus has shifted towards creating a demand in the market.

There is a need for creating an ecosystem for intellectual property rights to take the front runner advantage from the deployment of emerging technology systems. Leading through product and services developments in emerging technologies is imperative for enterprise and government led digital transformation.

Embracing the Change

Adoption of new-age technologies to run their businesses will enable planned growth for the brand, better visibility to encourage a faster response to market demand changes, optimization of process efficiencies, better management visibility, and decision support through improved accuracy.

Staying competitive in this highly challenging environment is a necessity of every company to keep the business running productively. Leveraging these technological innovations, will only traditional organizations better understand their consumers, the market and how they can contribute to its overall success.

Traditional enterprises of today, Intelligent Enterprises of tomorrow

As digital disruption is already enabling many traditional organizations to tread on the digital roadmap competing against the new-age technology born companies, they need to realize the power that the ever-evolving technology brings to their business.

Updating systems, getting in new holistic solutions and processes doesn’t mean that the organization is leaving behind an age long legacy. Rather the company is preparing itself for the change, bringing transformations while continuing to be a well-known brand in the market.

The realization of a Digitally Intelligent Enterprise to lead and leapfrog the next wave of technology requires the business leaders to evolve their mindsets collectively. Preferring the ease and convenience of digital methods to do business in this era of digital disruption will enable traditional organizations to stay ahead in the race of becoming best-run businesses.

By Neeraj Athalye, Managing Partner, Platinum Customer Program, SAP Indian Subcontinent