A recent article by KMWorld states that digital transformation is inevitable for businesses. Here at Dajon Data Management, we are inclined to agree. We have found companies that avoid implementing a digital transformation are likely to follow in the footsteps of the cassette player, videos and a favourite 20 years ago, Blockbuster.
In this article, we will cover the current barriers to digital transformation and pinpoint some of the methods that can be used to overcome these distinct obstacles.
Gaining Buy-in From Key Stakeholders
One of the most obvious challenges in implementing a digital transformation strategy is getting buy-in from key stakeholders. Often key stakeholders and decision makers see the business as functioning well as it is and look to avoid costly changes to how the business is run.
As the saying goes, if it’s not broken, why fix it? But in this case, decision makers are often unaware of the limitations in their current processes as they are not dealing with problems on a day to day basis.
To achieve buy-in from key stakeholders research should be carried out to gain an understanding of the issues affecting the business and the limitations that staff face when carrying out their day to day activities. Once everyone is aware of the problems affecting the organisation, they will be more open to change.
Change Management
In many organisations there is often a lot of paper documents, these documents are required to manage the day to day activities of the business, and it may be overwhelming for employees to imagine carrying out their day to day duties without using paper every day.
With an ageing population in the UK, many members of staff may be less comfortable using electronics. Even 20 years ago when many people were just beginning their careers, business was carried out in a vastly different way. This can make it harder for organisations to implement a digital transformation strategy, because decision makers and lower level members of staff carrying out the work, initially began their careers in a non-digital world.
At Dajon, we recommend beginning your digital transformation in the most paper rich departments. After delivering wins in these departments, your staff will be more open to implementing changes in further departments. We have found that for some quick wins it is best to begin your digital transformation in the finance or HR department.
Document Preservation and Storage
As mentioned earlier, businesses often rely on using large amounts of paper to carry out their daily activities; this can make it harder for organisations to imagine what they would do if they decided to digitise these records. What if they needed the documents for a legal matter? Many firms still fail to believe that scanned documents are legally admissible in court.
Not only that, but many companies struggle to comprehend how they will store the documents, often worrying that they will be more vulnerable outside company walls.
This isn’t the case however as many storage facilities such as Dajon’s are more secure. We are experts in storing files and have adequate processes in place to ensure that documents are not vulnerable to theft and damage.
Long Term Document Storage and the Cloud
Many people have fallen in love with the idea of being able to access their documents wherever they are – free online storage options such as DropBox and Google Drive have meant that files which can only be accessed in one location are now seen as an inconvenience. Employees want to be able to access their documents when they are out of the office and in the modern day world we rarely ‘switch off’, further driving the need for information needing to be accessed anywhere.
When one person is storing their documents in the cloud, it is easy to imagine how their files will be organised, but when you begin to take into consideration a large company which may be storing thousands of documents in the cloud, it can become overwhelming to imagine how they will be organised.
There are many documented best practices for classifying documents, such as by department, by staff member, by client or by date just to name a few. Most document management systems will index your documents; however, a quality document management system will take this further and provide user level access – this will enable staff only to see documents relevant to their role. Searching will further enable staff to find documents relevant to their tasks.
We hope you have found this article useful if you are looking to implement a digital transformation, why not get in touch with Dajon? Our friendly team can be reached via info@dajon.co.uk and offer impartial advice on implementing a digital strategy.