Top 10 Digital Transformation Tech Priorities For Enterprises In 2020

The last few years have been groundbreaking for enterprises, with digital transformation becoming the key differentiator. As 2020 is here, the adoption of digital technologies is expected to become a norm for enterprises of all sizes. In fact, small and mid-sized businesses are also likely to step into this realm as there is a widespread wave favoring tech investment of all kinds. Even though digital transformation is a holistic concept that comprises multiple technologies, some tech investments are considered more valuable than others. While the prioritization of these investments can be based on the individual needs of businesses, it is also dependent on the existing trends in the industry landscapes. If you are not sure about the tech priorities you should embrace as a part of your digital transformation initiative in 2020, here is a list that can help.

Digital Transformation Tech Priorities 2020

1. Consumer Experience
Organizations that aspire to move forward need to focus on delivering connected and personalized experiences to their consumers, be it customers, employees, partners, or developers. A large number of applications used in organizations can have a downside in this context. They stand in the way of providing a connected experience expected by the consumers for a consistent journey across diverse channels. Hence, it becomes essential to have connected experience in your digital transformation agenda. The objective should be to eliminate friction from the customer journey and be accessible anywhere, anytime. At the same time, businesses should pay attention to consumer expectations and requirements and ensure that the experiences they deliver are fine-tuned accordingly.

2. Multi-cloud Environments
Enterprises will witness a gradual shift towards a multi-cloud or hybrid computing approach rather than staying with a single cloud vendor. With this omni-cloud approach, applications are bound to be more portable. This is definitely an advantage but everything about the hybrid cloud is not as amazing as you may expect. The challenge related to managing multiple clouds is always there because you may face several complexities while moving the workload within the cloud environment of the organization. Containerization, API-led application development, dockers, micro services, and Kubernetes are the solutions they will have to embrace to resolve this challenge.

3. Artificial Intelligence
Artificial Intelligence will be the key to delivering strategic business outcomes with digital transformation in the future. It will permeate all business functions, from customer experience to sales and marketing, to finance and HR. As a part of the journey, businesses will need to build or buy applications that are based on machine-learning algorithms to empower their operations with automation. Once systems and operations become intelligent, the dependence on human intervention would increase. At the same time, IT leaders will be able to leverage them for creating result-oriented business-driven data analytics strategies to synthesize and present actionable insights gleaned from the huge volumes of enterprise data more quickly and effectively. This will definitely provide business stakeholders with a competitive advantage in the respective landscapes.

4. Big Data and Analytics
Big data is all set to get even bigger in 2020 and ahead. However, this technology comes the challenge of handling the increasing volume, variety, and velocity of data that enterprises get on a daily basis. Additionally, data also comes in unstructured formats that make integration and synthesis a difficult task. For this reason, Big Data and Analytics is another tech investment that every enterprise-grade business must absolutely invest in the future. Building an insight engine is one side of the picture while ensuring that the data collection, storage, and usage practices adhere to the regulatory requirements is the other. With the new regulatory compliance rules such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), there is even a greater need for solutions that encompass careful data management.

5. Internet of Things
Without any doubt, networking is the lifeblood of digital enterprises and IoT is going to have a bigger role to play. IoT creates a network of physical devices, sensors, operational technology (OT), vehicles, and other objects that are combined with data collection and analytics to bring innovation in the business process. The technology can deliver a range of benefits for businesses, from enabling asset tracking to automating operations management to driving better customer experiences, and more, there is much that can be done with IoT as a part of your digital transformation initiative.

6. Enterprise Mobility
Though enterprise mobility has been around for quite some time, it must now be woven into the digital transformation strategy for businesses. Even if you have already embraced the Bring Your Your Device (BYOD) culture, you need to have a fresh look at your enterprise app this year and give it a feature revamp. It is now time to look beyond mobile apps and invest in connected solutions that enhance the user experiences at an enterprise-wide scale.

7. Robotic Process Automation
Though Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is nothing new, it is likely to come ahead as a key technology for enterprises that want to make it big with digital transformation in the coming time. With RPA-based applications, businesses will get the opportunity to unlock the potential of automation for handling mundane tasks. When this happens, they will be able to create wiggle room for upskilling and augmenting the value of their existing workforce. This is possible because the repetitive tasks will no longer require human intervention so that the burden on the manpower is reduced and they can move over to more business-critical tasks.

8. Connected Vehicles, IIoT and Smart Offices
With the futuristic concepts like connected cars and smart offices becoming a tangible reality now, they are gaining a place in the enterprise digital transformation wish list. Businesses in the transport and supply chain domains would want to empower themselves with connected car solutions. Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) is fast becoming a popular technology for industrial units and manufacturing concerns. At the same time, smart offices are being leveraged to make operations smooth and streamlined for all types of enterprises, big and small, with no constraints of industry verticals.

9. Blockchain
Next on the list of top digital transformation technologies for enterprises in 2020 is Blockchain. Surprisingly, the applications based on the technology will no longer be confined to cryptocurrency and payments, which was the original use case of blockchain. Rather, they will find use in myriad applications across diverse industries. For example, it can be used for managing contracts in the real estate industry, safeguarding intellectual property and royalties in the entertainment domain, and ensuring food safety in the FMCG segment.

10. XaaS
Everything-as-a-Service, popularly known as XaaS, will gain more momentum in 2020 and you must have it in your digital transformation priority list. The foundation of this journey lies in strengthening one’s IT core and outsourcing these services appears to be a smarter approach as compared to investing in massive infrastructure. While the evolution of onsite, offsite, hybrid, and cloud models will continue, IT services will now be available as a holistic package. Whether you want big data, analytics, block chain, and more with on-premises service models, you can easily get them from expert providers.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a digital transformation strategy?

Typically, a digital transformation strategy involves the integration of digital technology into the entire areas of a business. The strategy fundamentally changes how the organization operates and delivers value to its customers. It also encompasses a cultural change that requires business organizations to challenge the norms, experiment, and be comfortable with failure.

What is the objective of digital transformation?

Digital transformation refers to an intensive change of a business and its organizational activities, processes, operations, and competencies to improve the way it works. The key objective is to open new opportunities for growth through process optimization and modernization.

What are the key areas of digital transformation?

Essentially, digital transformation comprises four key areas, namely:

• Business model
• Business process
• Business domain
• Cultural/organizational changes
• Typically, corporations focus on process or organizational transformation.

What are the components of digital transformation?

Companies that want to avail of the benefits of digital transformation think about digitally transforming the customer experience. Here are the building blocks they consider.

• Customer understanding
• Customer touchpoints
• Process digitization
• Top-line growth
• Workforce enablement
• Performance management

What is a digital transformation framework?

Essentially, a digital transformation framework is a formal plan which defines how and when an organization wants to make strategic upgrades to its core systems and processes. By having a structured plan in place, businesses can go have greater control over technology adoption and timelines.

Conclusion

Embracing these tech priorities is just one aspect of moving ahead on your digital transformation journey. Managing security and curbing cyber risk is equally vital. The growing incidents of data breaches, coupled with the new data privacy regulations, are going to be the key drivers for the increase in demand for cybersecurity in the time ahead. In fact, every business needs to have cybersecurity on the top of their tech wish list in 2020 and beyond. Any risk to your IT infrastructure, software applications, and customer data is the last thing you can afford to ignore.

Whatever strategy you have for becoming a digital business, this is one element that absolutely has to be there. You need a partner that has expertise in the latest technologies and understands the significance of cybersecurity as well. At AppMomos, we are a leading digital transformation partner that can assist you on your journey to innovation. With an industry presence of more than two decades and a team that has an extensive skill set, we emerge as a partner you can trust. Connect with us and we will help you embark on the growth journey.

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