In 2020, a year of upheaval and unparalleled challenge many companies are belatedly coming to the realization that they need to undergo digital transformation through API integration to thrive in the next decade. In spite of the tragedy and disruption caused by the pandemic, the old adage of a crisis spurring a new wave of innovation rings true.
Businesses around the world are embracing a new way of working, a new way of collaborating, and a new way of growing. A Deloitte survey found that businesses with high digital maturity were three times more likely to report higher than industry average net profit than lower maturity businesses. From accounting to shipping, embracing an API strategy as part of a digital transformation initiative will make processes run more efficiently for all aspects of the business than ever before. Managers and business owners will be able to accurately track performance levels, identify issues, and increase productivity.
Digital transformation is a term that marketers love, and it can be easy to underestimate the complexities involved in the process. Therefore, it is essential for companies to understand what it means for their businesses and to identify priority areas within the organization that can be digitized in alignment with their goals.
There are two aspects to digital transformation:
Digital transformation will look different for individual businesses. Some will already have some of the latest technology in place, while others will be starting further behind. Industry will also have an impact on requirements; for instance, a manufacturing plant will have a very different set of priorities than a service provider.
These variations make the definition of digital transformation challenging. In general terms, it can be defined as:
“Digital transformation is the integration of digital technology into all the processes within your business. It requires fundamental changes to the way your business operates and delivers to customers. It is also adopting a mindset shift in terms of embracing risk and continually reviewing whether your business is running as efficiently as possible.”
One of the key themes that emerged from the pandemic is the resilience of companies that have already embraced digitalization. Ecommerce is a good example of an industry that has thrived during the pandemic, seeing 16.5% year on year growth worldwide. It is evident that digitized businesses, and those that have adapted quickly, have fared much better than their non-digital peers.
The World Economic Forum has recently published a stark warning for businesses: Go digital, or go bust. The article cites the example of gyms that offered live online classes to members continuing to thrive, while gyms that failed to embrace technology have been left behind.
It is important to look beyond the pandemic and understand which businesses will be thriving. They will have not only embraced digitalization but also implemented the right technology in the right areas.
Getting this right is a matter of business survival.
To gain a significant edge over competitors, businesses are embracing API strategy to connect and enable the Internet of Things (IoT). It’s a term that has been repeatedly mentioned, but what does it mean? According to the Cambridge Dictionary, IoT can be defined as: “Objects with computing devices in them that are able to connect to each other and exchange data using the internet.”
For example, IoT has been proven to transform the accuracy and efficiency of local, national, and global supply chains in the following ways:
With minimal paperwork, updates in real-time, and integrated processes via API integration, it is clear those businesses that embrace digitization will gain a competitive edge.
A recent survey of UK and German businesses found that only 5% of British respondents felt they were fully digitized. By comparison, a quarter of German businesses claim to be fully digitized. These numbers demonstrate that there is a huge opportunity for companies who embrace digital transformation today to get ahead in both these countries and around the world.
The first factor to consider is data protection in order to protect your business, partners, and customers. Legislation on data protection has become increasingly stringent globally. As shown by the EU’s GDPR, these laws have proven to be far-reaching and can impact all businesses.
Fortunately, digitizing your business will bring you into line with those legislations as it fulfills the requirements around transparency and traceability. However, it is worth checking with your legal team for guidance before pressing too far ahead with the transformation.
The other factor to consider is business goals, and whether the technology or products exist in order to help you achieve those objectives.
In more general terms, undergoing digital transformation can be a complicated process for businesses. Here’s how you can do it right:
The key here is to take a holistic approach and a broad view of the process. It’s vital to bring together the tangibles (business processes, operational transparency) and the intangibles (employee morale, ease of use). The mechanisms of the processes, the technical solutions, and the human input all needs to be in synergy.
The digitization of businesses and commerce is an inevitable consequence of technological progress, with the pandemic forcing businesses to undergo digital transformation earlier than anticipated. While the initial costs may seem high, it’s clear that this investment will pay off – if the transformation is handled in a diligent and effective manner.
It is critical to keep the goals of the business in mind when implementing the digitization process. The general objective of digital transformation is to make the processes more automated, efficient, and transparent. The real-time analytics capabilities of IoT can be transformative in terms of revenue and cost savings.
There’s no better time to embrace digital transformation. The value of process automation and digitization has been increasingly evident in 2020, and with 2021 looking increasingly like a year of opportunity, now is the time to embrace an API strategy as a method towards acceleration digital transformation initiatives.