By Fatima Hassim, Managing Executive for Vodacom Business
The age of digitalisation has and will continue to transform businesses. Smart devices, applications and machine learning have allowed the customer of today to get what they want, when they want it. New digital technologies have also caused a shift in customer expectations creating a “modern-day buyer” that is constantly connected, aware of what technology enables them to do and the power behind the use of this technology. The most notable transformation, though, has to be the realisation that customers often rate an organisation based on their digital customer experience first.
The Fourth Industrial Revolution has ushered in the era of intersection between people and machines, as more industries embrace new technologies. Historically, the term ‘revolution’ was often associated with hardships, displacement and economic dissonance. The Fourth Industrial Revolution, on the other hand, is often spoken about in an energised, excited fashion, more so among Information and Communication Technology (ICT) professionals.
Digital transformation has the potential to ignite the growth of businesses, and the ICT industry realises and understands the benefits that businesses will gain with access to digital connected technologies. New technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, and Big Data represent some of the most exciting opportunities for our market. Without the full context, it can just as easily cause uncertainty for the public. Herein lies the importance of ensuring optimal understanding around digital transformation.
When tackling the topic of digital transformation, we go about doing so in two ways. The first involves making strategic use of digital technologies, such as cloud platforms, mobile apps, social networks, connected infrastructure and even products. The second involves using these digital technologies to enhance and change the processes and interaction with customers and employees and by changing the nature and at times disrupting the business itself.
Sadly, about 70% of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) fail within the first two years of operation, largely because of issues related to operational administration, finance and accessing customers and wider market reach. This means that there is an even greater need to focus on smaller businesses to ensure they are well-equipped for the digital revolution. The advantage of the digital era is that SMEs can potentially gain access to technology solutions and platforms to help them overcome the challenges that they are faced with.
Businesses need to embrace digital disruption and, more importantly, deliberately plan for it. By keeping an eye on the ball and knowing the signs of digital disruption within their industries, SMEs can get ahead of the game and lead within their industries. Not only does this prevent the wave of digital disruption from wiping away the business’ success, it can also lead to further growth and new opportunities for the business.
Digital disruption typically marks changes in consumer needs and therefore working with the tide allows SMEs to fulfil these emerging needs, keeping existing customers happy and opening up opportunities for new customers to find out what they need from the business.
Digital disruption is where people and companies have used emerging technologies to change the way they do business. Trends over the last five years have proven that technology has disrupted whole industries, putting pressure on the larger more traditional companies and changing customer behaviour by increasing accessibility, making services more affordable and optimising the customer journey for services from taxi’s to retail, holiday accommodation and lately boardrooms & experiences. The impact in manufacturing, mining and agriculture is clearly visible and the change in the market positioning has resulted in the historical “underdog” taking the lead. This is apparent when looking at the World’s top five most valuable brands in 2018. All are technology focussed with Amazon leading the pack.
The future is today, disruption is at the doorstep of every industry, and the on-demand economy means that businesses will have to adapt or run the risk of extinction.
Vodacom Business, in a bid to fuel digital transformation throughout the SME sector, has focused on diverse, hybrid and integrated solutions. At a group level, Vodacom is focused on network quality, excellent customer experience, and future-proofing its customers. By focusing on increasing the service layers, we can ensure that the benefits of these investments can be felt by both consumers and enterprise partners. We need to be relevant if we ever intend on establishing ourselves as a leader in the digital space. We intend on driving investment in intelligent networks and systems. The transformation starts with us.
