Top Transformation Champions: Harnessing the power of the virtual world

In an ever-changing digital landscape, adopting digital and business transformation solutions has helped regional enterprises keep up with the speed of change and succeed. From increased revenues to better customer service, it has made businesses more efficient and effective at what they do.

With digital technology, data and analytics, and a new digital business strategy, regional enterprises get a clearer insight to further improve and enhance their services. In manufacturing, supply chain costs are reduced with predictive analytics. Banking trends have evolved to cardless payments and branchless banking. Digitisation in retail and healthcare has improved customer experiences and patient care.

By 2027, the sixth generation of connectivity solutions will be taking over the tech sector paving a path for mixed and extended reality to become a norm across various industries in the region as well as further construction of smart cities. There is potential for technological disruptions in healthcare with game-changers such as gene technology, telehealth, human-computer interfaces, and automation and robotics.

Among the new technologies, the metaverse is the next wave that businesses need to use to their advantage. The world has only just begun to understand the vast digital world and the opportunities that it has to offer for individuals and businesses alike.

The metaverse will encourage changes in consumer behaviour, more investments and an increase in the use of cryptocurrency. This disrupts the business as we know it as they will now have to exist across two different worlds, the physical and virtual. This will increase global connectivity and accessibility to education, healthcare, retail, business, and other services, virtually.

Implementation of the new business models has helped reduce costs while optimising operations and improving organisational capabilities. However, the implementation of new solutions also tends to be a hurdle to jump over for many enterprises. It usually boils down to the process, the people and the culture at the company.

Siloed ways of working, limited funding or technological resources can also drive the transformation to a halt. Enterprises may also lack the skills required to see the business and digital transformations through from start to end.

For the success of any digital and business transformation initiatives, the team must be willing to incorporate the new solutions with the business model and adapt them. Resistance to change and risk aversion can hinder the process.

Organisational changes are usually difficult and complex. To streamline the process, there needs to be effective user onboarding and a well-thought-out strategy, including a digital-first culture so that the employees can be prepared to adopt new technologies. They also need to be aware of the role, importance, and benefits of digital and business transformation to assimilate new solutions into the business model.

Enterprises must also invest in learning and development to train the team to combine the new knowledge of data analysis with their existing knowledge of machines and processes. It is crucial to support the team through the transformation process to reduce organisational aversion and adopt newer technologies and methodologies faster.

Similarly, organisations need to conduct internal workshops to engage employees at various levels to share plans and progress and discuss how their respective roles can contribute to the adoption of digital technologies.

The lack of a change management strategy is a key challenge as any organisation needs to have clear change management in place for better adoption of digital and business transformation solutions.

Like with all new processes and solutions, the top executives may face challenges when it comes to executing and adopting new business models. They will need to consider the skills of the team, hybrid working environments, cybersecurity threats, internal changes, and technology shortages.

The introduction of new transformational solutions calls for individuals with specialised technical skills to drive digital transformation. There will need to be tighter cybersecurity solutions to account for any hybrid working environments and larger digital infrastructures to manage cybersecurity threats. With the global IT chip shortage currently, executives would need to prepare their resources and plan as well.

For businesses to embrace the new virtual world, investing in upskilling and recruitment to have a specialised team with the right technical skills is important. They will have to keep up with the latest technologies in the market and stay ahead of the curve. Access to 5G, cloud computing and supporting technologies will be a necessity.

A strategy needs to be in place to identify the gaps and opportunities in the metaverse for the business. Enterprises need to finetune their presence and have a policy around virtual assets to enable ownership of virtual items and services within the metaverse. Besides, organisations must put in place a framework to prepare and protect the business from cyberattacks, cyber fraud, and privacy threats.

Companies across industries also need to focus on environmental issues. Global business is a major cause of climate change, but it is also a driver of solutions. In assessing business performance, resilience and sustainability must be considered. As the world moves toward a circular economy, technology can play a key role in managing carbon emissions and accelerating progress.

The roadmap for incorporating sustainability in business is fairly simple. The journey begins with defining the vision, mission, and values, followed by benchmarking and assessing the current performance.

To plan and set sustainability goals, organisations must engage employees and set up a sustainability team. Implementing the plan, however, requires effective communication policies and practices. Analysis of results is equally important for celebrating successes and communicating them, as well as setting sustainability goals and improvement paths for the future.

It is recommended that regional enterprises adopt an annual sustainability goal and make visible achievements on the same with their employees and by engaging with communities at large.

Key takeaways

• 6G will take over the tech sector by 2027, paving the way for mixed and extended reality to become a norm.
• Gene technology, man-machine interface, automation, and robotics can transform the healthcare sector.
• Among the new technologies, the metaverse is the next wave that businesses need to use to their advantage.
• Siloed ways of working, limited funding or technological resources can halt the transformation drive.
• Businesses must put in place teams with the right technical skills before they embrace the new virtual world.