Digitalization is no longer optional, but rather a process of adaptation that all businesses must undergo if they want to survive. Many businesses around the globe have already found themselves in the midst of a large transformation process. They are updating their departments to achieve digital maturity, allowing them to optimize costs and increase productivity. In fact, the International Data Corporation (IDC) anticipates that in 2017, the worldwide expense in digital transformation technologies will be more than $1.2 trillion – a 17.8% increase from 2016.
One of the more direct consequences of digitalization is that the general business environment has become more volatile. IDC defines digital transformation as "the continuous process by which enterprises adapt to or drive disruptive changes in their customers and markets (external ecosystem) by leveraging digital competencies to create new business models, products, and services."
Despite its name, there is much more than technology involved in the "digital" transformation process; this evolution affects companies of all sizes at an individual, social, and organizational level. In this new and changing digital scenario where competition is increasingly intense and unpredictable, businesses must be prepared to proactively adapt to changes in their market.
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In preparation for these changes, organizations must focus on establishing solid relations with their stakeholders. Businesses that rely on digital communication channels such as chats or videoconferences can maintain collaborative partnerships with different stakeholderswithout the need to be in the same location. Simplifying the ability to "see" your stakeholders whether they work in the same state or in a different country allows employers to focus on developing rapport with their colleagues and clients alike.
Collaboration through digital tools is transforming business processes and the ways in which businesses operate overall. Traditional office hours can be substituted for more flexible hours, adapted to the requirements of each professional. This is not a fad or an office policy that only affects freelancers; it is a new labor trend that will help employees to improve their work life balance.
Driven by new technology, digital communication channels favor collaboration between professionals from different departments, subsidiaries, or businesses, thanks to options such as screen sharing, which allow them to work together in real time from different locations. Long term, these technologies will result in great benefits like reducing expenses, greater operational efficiencies and the potential for expansion into new markets.
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