Cloudy with a Chance of Management Theory: How Digital Transformation is Changing the Face of Business Management
What is business management? And how is it evolving as the world moves online? Along with overseeing operations, working face-to-face with customers, reviewing contracts, and pushing employees to their brightest performance, business management is also a key part of keeping a company caught up with the times. What do we mean by that? Well, as the world rapidly becomes more digitized, businesses have to adapt. Nowadays we see the cloud affecting management and customer service, and it pushes us to think: how is the cloud and digital transformation changing businesses?
Digital Transformation is Inevitable So How Are Organizations Changing?
We’ve talked extensively about digital transformation in the past (for a recap, read our article on “Digital Transformation in a Nutshell”), so we won’t get into the nitty-gritty, but digital transformation is a looming inevitability on the technology landscape. You see, here at Optimus, we encourage you to look at how you can not only keep up with technological innovation, but also cut down on your workload and overhead costs at the same time. By moving to the cloud, all of these are attainable. And we aren’t the only ones realizing that. Organizations all across the globe are rapidly adapting to this idea.
Digital transformation and cloud computing are on the horizon whether organizations choose to accept it or not. So how are organizations really changing? Well for one, workloads are scaling down, and businesses are scaling up. Or perhaps a better way to describe it is that it is increasingly easier to take on new customers while also increasing the quality of work. Because of this, the way in which tasks are overseen and assigned should change, allowing for mobility within organizations. We see an amalgamation of different sectors. Product design and customer interaction, as well as working with sales, IT, and marketing, creates a web of connections because everything is related to each other now. This comes with the move to the cloud; there is a move towards connectedness. And last but definitely not least, costs are being cut on menial tasks that were taking up valuable time and resources.
How the Cloud Affects Customer Service
We’ve talked about how the cloud affects the inside end of operations, but what about the receiving end? What are customers experiencing? The constant release and uptake of new software creates a relationship between companies and clients like never before. Production time on new applications or products is cut down from many months to mere weeks. Business leaders will have to re-envision their models and also embrace new ways to provide value to customers. Not only does this mean taking on the process of moving to the cloud, but also finding new ways to deliver information, for example interactive dashboards or analytics software.
The Misconception About What Drives Digital Transformation
The future is bold and bright for software services companies as well as non-technology related groups who are looking to apply digital transformation. People tend to focus a lot on the technology that comes with moving to the cloud, rather than honing in on how the people in the organization are taking the change. Tech Intensity is the combination of cultural and social aspects of technology in combination with the tools themselves. With big changes come big reactions. How do you manage people who feel threatened by these developments? It’s important to modify and plan this move to the cloud keeping all relevant parties in mind. New ways of thinking, and adaptation to new processes that come up with digital transformation will have to take place.
Start your transformation small. Don’t focus on turning the whole organization around quickly, forgetting the effects it will have on the community. Instead, look at a more approachable sized problem that you may be facing. Know your “why”. Why are you making this specific change? Why will it be beneficial for the whole team? By looking at the whole process start to finish, you can identify your pain points and work on managing those throughout the transformation. And then you can focus on measuring your success and tackling the next challenge.
So What Now?
We think it’s fascinating to analyze where the future of technological innovation is headed, especially in relation to the rest of the world. Cloud computing is undoubtedly changing the face of business management, and we at Optimus are a part of that.
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