The concept of digital transformation has been a talking point for many businesses for quite some time. At its core, the idea revolves around the ever-changing expectations of the technology sector. Companies must always stay on top of these transformations or else face the possibility of significant losses. However, staying on top of these transformations now is more important than ever. COVID-19 has changed what these transformations look like on more than one level. Below, we examine the various ways digital transformation has changed due to covid.
Changes in Work Delivery
One aspect of transformation that stands out to many business owners is delivery. Delivery of goods – whether they be physical goods, virtual goods or merely providing a service – is always high-priority for companies. Customers often base their impressions on how quickly companies can provide a turnaround on their orders or requests.
During the coronavirus pandemic, however, the expectation for delivery of work rapidly changed. In fact, many customers and individuals stated that they were nervous when turnaround times were still relatively low. To them, this indicated that the company they were working with was not taking proper safety precautions during the pandemic.
Ultimately, companies had to find a way to maintain an average turnaround while utilizing as many virtual or remote delivery methods as possible. These measures included implementing options such as contactless delivery, bulk ordering and secure dropoff sites, as well.
Adaptation of Remote Work
Now, many goods, services and communications take place online. Processing times are slower, but individuals still expect high-quality work, simply delivered remotely. It poses a new problem for companies to overcome, as many organizations did not have their workforce prepared to work remotely consistently. Many companies had to find new digital solutions to bring their organizations together online while ensuring customer satisfaction.
The rapid digitalization of the workforce was daunting for many IT departments, who, on short notice, had to migrate their employees safely to work-from-home solutions. This process involved quite a lot of work, including providing computers, software, and reliable internet connection for hundreds, if not thousands of potential employees.
IT and Software Solutions
One of the biggest impacts on the transformation here involved the hybridization of physical and cloud-based media. Work-from-home employees often require 100% cloud-based software, which posed a real challenge to many IT departments. These individuals had to migrate software to the cloud as quickly as possible to ensure services continued amid nation-wide shutdowns.
Additionally, software companies faced the challenge of providing reasonable and affordable services remotely, as well. Many companies spent several weeks creating cloud-based software that allowed accommodations for work-from-home offices.
Conclusion
Ultimately, there have been many impacts on workforces across the world as a direct result of COVID-19. However, digital transformation – an already rapidly changing business expectation – took a huge toll as a result. Many companies found themselves scrambling to meet the expectations of clients and employees alike. More than ever, the dependability and reliability of these organizations became necessary for their overall success.