Long-term Project Digitalization: 5 Points you
should pay Attention to

Digitalization is a Long-term Project

The terms “digitalization”, “digital change” and co. have been used so often and so broadly in recent years that they now sound like platitudes. Even if today you sometimes don’t know exactly what someone is referring to with the term “digitalization” - the issue remains highly topical.

Remember: digitalization is not a temporary project that you can implement once and then put your hands in your lap to reap the rewards of this work permanently. No, it is a long-term process that will accompany individual companies as well as the corporate world as a whole in the coming years. And probably also in the decades to come. And it will change everything sustainably in several successive stages. And that’s not all: digitalization technologies are also constantly evolving. Existing technologies and processes will have to make way for new and better developments.

Ensure your Long-term Competitiveness

Ultimately, not all companies will be able to hold their own on the market in the long term. Those that manage to realistically assess their individual need for digital technologies at the respective process level and integrate them into their everyday life will score points here.

On the technical side, digitalization essentially means that your data and process handling is converted from analogue - i.e. paper-based - to digital. This means that your data and processes can be read and processed by computers. This in turn is an important prerequisite when it comes to automating workflows and processes.

In this way, especially those work and production processes that are constantly repeated can be carried out efficiently, error-free and significantly more cost-effectively. If you make savings in this area, on the one hand, your production costs will fall and, on the other hand, you will have funds available that you can invest in the next expansion stages of digitalization. And thus you ensure your own competitiveness.

The following five points show how you can jump on the “digitalization bandwagon” and then stay on the moving train.

1. Digitalization Roadmap

The Roadmap as a Guide - also when selecting your ERP or CRM Solution

Many companies create a product roadmap for their products and services. This gives both existing and prospective customers an overview of how the products and services will develop over the coming months and years.

However, a product roadmap can also serve as a valuable guide for the company providing these products and services. A software vendor can use it to plan the development of its software in the long term: for example, with a view to the periods in which new features are to be added or support is to be discontinued.

A roadmap can also be useful for your digitalization strategy: it should contain all the important key points and show everyone transparently how the process in your company should proceed over the coming months and years.

Set Priorities, increase Motivation and make the Right Decisions

Using a digitalization roadmap will help you to set your priorities correctly and protect you from making costly mistakes, such as trying to digitize all areas at once. A well-thought-out digitalization roadmap prevents you from investing too much in solutions that you may not need at all or only much later. It can also prevent the really important areas from being neglected in your investments. And as a nice side effect, you will also increase the motivation of your project team: if your employees understand what they are doing and have a clear, tangible goal in mind, it works wonders.

2. Push the Collaboration

It depends on the Perspective

Traditionally, the relationship between IT and business has not always been straightforward. Even today, the IT department in a company often sees itself as the sole guardian of standards and the all-powerful administrator of software and IT infrastructure. The business department, on the other hand, views IT and software more from the customer and market perspective. It is therefore primarily intended to support business activities.

Both perspectives are important for your long-term success, but in the age of cloud computing and SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) it is becoming increasingly important for the IT department to react more flexibly and quickly to the needs of business users.

Together instead of against Each Other

Your IT and business managers should see each other less as spoilsports and more as partners at eye level.

An unbureaucratic and planned approach is very important. The parties involved should meet as required and at regular intervals. In this way, a process can be developed and set up according to which SaaS applications can be implemented in the company. Certain applications whose use affects only slightly critical data or existing processes in the company can be released for use following an accelerated procedure. This procedure is also suitable for preventing the proliferation of shadow IT in the company.

3. Cloud, SaaS and Platform Solutions

Invest in Cloud/SaaS and Platform Solutions

Cloud/SaaS and platform solutions are at the centre of the digitalization of data and processes in the company. This means that you should increasingly include these technologies in the planning of your future IT architecture.

The SaaS Platform Approach as the Supreme Discipline

If, for example, you are thinking about implementing the next CRM or ERP systems, then consider solutions from the cloud. With cloud solutions, you can increase and decrease computing power and storage space much more quickly and flexibly than with on-premises solutions.

We recommend that you go even one step further and opt for SaaS software solutions. These are even more advanced in terms of digitalization than software solutions that are only hosted in the cloud. You then have nothing more to do with computing power, storage space, etc. - it all happens fully automatically in the background. And costly updates are also a thing of the past. Because these also take place automatically in the background.

Now we come to the king discipline: SaaS software solutions as part of a holistic platform approach. Your solutions run on a single platform, which makes digital networking much, much easier.

4. Change Management

Transformation does not happen Overnight

When it comes to successfully mastering the challenges of digitalization, the right technologies are very important. Even more important, however, are the people who work with these technologies. Always keep in mind: technology in a company can only be as good as the employees who work with it. This also applies to digital transformation. Realistically developed and clearly communicated visions of the future, interpersonal trust, clearly defined milestones and full support from top management are required here. It is also important that both senior and middle management in the company set a good example. In a nutshell: digital transformation cannot be bought.

Prepare your employees step by step to work with digital data and processes and also plan helpful training measures.

Focusing on
the People And anchoring Changes in the Long Term

Keep your Eyes open when Recruiting

When looking for new employees, make sure that they can not only work with certain software solutions and master the usual day-to-day business, but also have a thinking outside the box. Digital transformation goes hand in hand with rapid change, increasing complexity and interdisciplinary expertise, making it all the more important to have employees on board who are innovation-driven and knowledgeable enough - and can therefore anticipate future market developments.

5. Business Partners

Competent Partners who think and act Digitally

Your business partners should support you in your efforts to become more digital. Therefore, choose partners who are open to digital transformation and preferably already have experience with it - especially when it comes to software and IT partners. We also advise you to pay greater attention to the selection process for your CRM or ERP partners, as these software systems generally combine the majority of company processes and are therefore crucial for a successful digital transformation.

Digitalization as a Competitive Advantage

Keep in mind that your existing or potential customers will also attach increasing importance to the degree of digitalization in your company in the future. For more and more companies, digitalized processes on the part of their suppliers are already a necessary prerequisite for working with them.

It is therefore crucial that your business partners support you as competent contacts, for example when one of your strategically important customers asks you to bring one or more of their business processes to a certain level of digitalization.