How digital transformation helping businesses in the COVID-19 crisis? | Investera | Investment Portfolio Management Platform

How digital transformation tech is helping businesses survive COVID-19

13April, 2020

Digital transformation was un-doubtfully one of the hot topics for the past few years, where organizations took a giant leap towards the future of their business, by reaching out to their customers via all major digital touchpoints. Organizational strategies like mobile-first, fully automated, online self-serviced, cloud-based, etc… have shifted the business-to-customer interaction towards a fully digital approach.

Did digital transformation help businesses?

Digital transformation was, in fact, an expensive step for many organizations, and the scale of expense was dependent on the gravity of the business’s interaction with its customers. Moreover, the outcome of the transformation was always measured on the cost benefits of the business while running its operations.

For instance, the growth of mobile digital banking platforms has reduced the number of people visiting the branches and even the number of running branches all while increasing the number of customers served per day. So, digital transformation benefits were always backed by the costs saved by the business. That’s what every business demands.

On the other hand, there are also traditional business giants who were forced to take the step towards digital transformation quickly to catch up with fresh competitors. For instance, in terms of the digital banking scenario, traditional banks were forced to launch new banking platforms to compete with the new digital-only banks. By all means, digital transformation was inevitable for businesses.

What no one predicted

For the past three months, people around the globe are witnessing a paradigm shift in their life due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Nations are implementing strict measures to avoid the spread of this deadly virus within the community, by temporarily setting the economy aside for people’s safety.

The COVID-19 outbreak has affected nations, economies, businesses and people in an unprecedented manner by all means -especially businesses that don’t have digital outlets. Businesses were forced to follow regulations by their respective countries, regardless of the nature of their business.

Traditional businesses have seen a sharp fall in their business because of community restrictions. On the other hand, digital-first companies have been experiencing a boost, such as the likes of streaming services companies and delivery services. 

The momentum that digital transformation has given to these businesses remains uninterrupted. At its core, this is mainly because such businesses are not dependent on the physical presence of their customers to a ‘store’; their offerings are available via digital channels, which are beyond any regional or geographical or physical restrictions.

The digital transformation of an organization was considered only as a business booster before the current situation. However, it turned out to be the number one priority for any business to survive the modern-day challenges. The investment made by organizations towards the transformation has paid off at its best by performing in the middle of an unprecedented crisis. 

The impact of new technologies

Technology has played an important role in supporting businesses amidst this crisis. It has reminded the world of the eminent need to adopt these technologies and strategies:

  1. Cloud-Based Approach: Thanks to the robust cloud computing platforms we have today, anyone can manage their core business literally from anywhere in the world.
  2. Virtual Teams: The accessibility of virtual teams also have enabled the business to continue operation regardless of legal or community restrictions beyond borders.
  3. Mobile First: Inevitably, mobile has become the first touchpoint for any business to its customers, which is proved again by the current crisis.

All in all, digitally born or transformed businesses have shown sustainable growth regardless of modern-day challenges. COVID-19 was one such event, where most of the business was fully driven by digital touchpoints because millions of customers locked down. A business should put digital accessibility as the first criteria for any product or service which is either produced or consumed by the business.

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Liju Benzigar
Tech Lead at Investera