Top 8 trends shaping digital transformation
As the crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic prompts companies to consider tough measures to cope with the impact of their growth prospects, many are looking to digital transformation to meet the new challenges. According to Global Trade Magazine, rampant restrictions on the movement of people and goods, strict lockdown measures, office closures and interruptions in the supply of raw materials are driving companies towards digital transformation.
How will this digital transformation take shape in the coming year? Well, this is what we want to explain here. As a startup, you need to have an idea of these future trends, corresponding to the digital transformation of companies. Here we present the key digital transformation trends for the coming year that are already unfolding.
Key Digital Transformation Trends
1. Switch to virtual interaction
This is becoming the new normal for employee communication. While coping with lockdown measures, most companies allowed their employees to work from home, so they resorted to virtual tools for live interactions. It seems that this trend will continue in the coming year and beyond. In the coming year, to address the problems posed by the lack of face-to-face interaction, companies will have more advanced video conferencing capabilities. Social media posts and interactions will also flourish.
2. Business Process Automation
An increasing number of companies are testing automation for their processes across multiple units or functions. According to research by MuleSoft, 30% of IT strategists and top decision-makers believe that automation will be the driving force behind future digital transformation. As innovative automation tools and robust ERP and CRM systems are already turning traditional businesses into smart businesses, automation of business processes and operations will continue to gain momentum in 2022 and beyond.
3. Improved emphasis on omnichannel marketing
Omnichannel retail marketing continues to grow and will likely continue to do so for the coming year. The main advantage of omnichannel marketing is that it has a multi-faceted approach, bringing both the online and brick-and-mortar stores within the same supply chain. Omnichannel marketing, by breaking down internal barriers and process silos, can enable unparalleled visibility across multiple platforms. In 2022 and beyond, more marketers and businesses will reap the benefits of omnichannel retail.
4. More focus on predictive analytics
An important factor that caught people’s attention during the COVID-19 crisis is the specific way in which medical scientists were able to predict the growth rate of the virus infection and the peak of infection spread in different regions. The power of predictive analytics was visible to everyone. Hospitals and healthcare facilities used predictive analytics to analyze the location of infection and the time frame of infection spread with remarkable precision, and they were able to do this easily thanks to predictive analytics. While predictive analytics and data-driven insights are becoming increasingly important, companies will also use prescriptive analytics, or analytics-based precise regulations, to deal with various constraints and problems.
5. More investment in cloud technologies
In recent years, cloud technology has become increasingly popular. Cloud computing will be key to digital transformation in 2022 and beyond. Thanks to the emergence of several leading cloud platforms and their pay-per-use model, cloud adoption is becoming easier and more affordable. Cloud applications will replace legacy applications, providing greater ease of collaboration and easier ways to hire remote workers and remotely located talent.
6. Cyber security will be very crucial
If you are well informed, you already know that hackers from all over the world have used the pandemic to their advantage, leading to several security attacks around the world. The number of attacks on websites and apps of banks has increased by no less than 238%. Cyber attacks also increased by 600% on cloud servers around the world. Of course, stronger cybersecurity measures will be a more dominant trend in the coming years.
The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning technologies will help build more powerful tools and algorithms to tackle equally sophisticated cyber threats. In 2022, companies embarking on a digital transformation journey will face increasing cyber threats and will face more sophisticated security measures based on intelligent algorithms.
7. Headless technology will play a more disruptive role
The headless technology, which represents a scenario where companies can separate the front-end presentation layer of their digital solution from the back-end data management and functionalities, has already permeated eCommerce apps and business websites. For example, Amazon Alexa and similar virtual assistants can now purchase products and services on behalf of customers.
This is one of the reasons why customer acquisition costs for eCommerce apps and solutions are steadily rising. On the other hand, customer retention is becoming increasingly important for companies to sustain growth, and this is an area that is driving the growth of omnichannel marketing. Headless technology will continue to disrupt e-commerce.
8. Personalized shopping experience
Since most customers who buy and browse from their smartphones prefer personalized shopping experiences, companies adopting digital transformation should consider this an important factor for a satisfying customer experience. Personalized shopping has already permeated most leading eCommerce stores as a key competitive factor, and will continue to be so for years to come.
As we have already experienced, a smooth and highly personalized mobile shopping experience itself can create such a satisfaction that the products and services can even take the back seat of the priority list. This means that while embracing digital transformation, businesses must provide highly personalized shopping experiences as a key value offering. Many small businesses that set their foot in the digital space can embrace this digital transformation.
9. Work from home
It has been a long-standing demand for workers and workers across the industry to enjoy the flexibility to perform their duties from their home environment. But all companies that embrace the ‘work from home’ protocol for their employees have actually been branded radical. Now the pandemic has completely changed this scenario. Working from home has become the new norm in most industries, except those dealing with essential goods and services.
This year, the flexibility of working from home will be an important pillar in the digital transformation of companies. Greater use will be made of flexible remote work processes, with staff connecting through a multitude of digital platforms and solutions. In the coming years, the adoption of digital solutions for remote collaboration and communication will increase enormously.
Conclusion
Obviously, there are several other aspects of digital transformation that we cannot cover in this short article. But of course, the trends mentioned above give us an almost complete picture of how this digital transformation will take place in 2022 and beyond.