What is the digital transformation? It’s not just a number of changes oriented to embrace technology within the organizations, it’s also a change in the business culture. It’s a human transformation. 

Worldwide spending on digital transformation (DX) technologies (hardware, software, and services) is expected to be nearly $1.3 trillion in 2018, an increase of 16.8% over the $1.1 trillion spent in 2017, according to International Data Corporation (IDC).

If you want to be part of the digital revolution, we recommend you to follow these 5 steps:

• Understand how to take advantage of technology 
• Get digitally educated
• Embrace change
• Hire top digital talent
• Adopt these 5 technologies now

1. Understand how to take advantage of technology 

Technology is there to transform your life. You gotta go out and look for your ‘Uber moment’, not just your ‘Kodak moment’. What does it mean? Technology is no longer just about making a great product (like Kodak cameras were) but about creating solutions that can completely change the way we behave.

When you and your company start exploring a new technology, try to understand how to take full advantage of it.  “Your digital culture can’t be defined until you have narrowed down the technology you want to focus on and have explored all the opportunities that technical stack can bring to the organization”, said Jeanne W. Ross, principal research scientist at MIT Sloan Center for Information Systems Research, at the conference  “Creating a Digital Culture“. 

2. Get digitally educated

Technology evolves fast. Education is not optional. Keep learning every day. Even if you think that you know it all, probably your knowledge won’t be enough in a matter of months. 

Take advantage of the thousands of sources of knowledge that you have at hand. Online courses, ebooks, youtube lessons, e-learning platforms, and more.

“Don’t get caught up by digital transformation. Learning is the solution. And now it’s easier and cheaper than ever. There’s no excuse, learning is the way to stay on the top“, says Freddy Vega, co-founder of Platzi.co, one of the most successful e-learning platforms in the world.

3. Embrace change

Some of the biggest names in the industry failed to succeed because they didn’t embrace change. Or when they did, it was too late. That was the case of the Canadian firm BlackBerry (formerly known as Research In Motion). They used to be the leaders of the smartphone market. But, they failed to understand the importance of the standards imposed by the iPhone in 2007. They got stuck with an old concept and took too long to embrace the changes brought by the new era: multitouch screens, apps, and a friendly smartphone thought for everyone and not just a niche.

They ended up losing all of the smartphone market. They had 20% of the market share by 2009. By 2016, they had 0%.

If you want to embrace the digital transformation, be risky, be bold. Don’t be afraid of the ‘new kids on the block’. Be an early-adopter. You never know, you might find gold where others only see dust.

Check out our new and most complete Kick-ass guide to boost Productivity!

4. Hire digital top talent

Hire people digitally-oriented. Look for specialists. Don’t settle with local talent. Freelancers are more reachable than ever and they can work on your project from the other side of the world.

That’s the case of Giga Chkhikvadze, our VP of Engineering. We first hired Giga (who is from Georgia, Eastern Europe) through a freelance platform just to complete one particular task. His performance was so great that we kept hiring him to complete other tasks. Now, almost 2 years later, he’s part of the family and manages a team of developers who work with him.

Use all the platforms available wisely (LinkedIn, MeetUp, TechHub) to attract the talent that you need.

5. Adopt these 5 technologies now

If you haven’t adopted any of these technologies, you’re already late:

• Mobile
• Internet of Things
• Social Media
• Cloud
• Analytics

Mobile: As of March 2017, 80% of top Alexa websites were mobile adaptive, says Mobiforge. By 2019, mobile advertising is expected to represent 72% of all U.S. digital ad spending, says MarketingLand. 68% of companies have integrated mobile marketing into their overall marketing strategy, according to SalesForce. Those are just some of the numbers that SCREAM: get mobile now!

Internet of Things: The wearable devices market is growing at an exponential rate. In 2016, 28.3 million units of IoT devices made it to the market. According to IDC forecasts, this number will rise to 82.5 million by 2020, showcasing a 31% growth. Though businesses are leading the way, consumer IoT is not lagging far behind. By 2019, 1.9 billion smart home devices are expected to be shipped. This could bring a potential revenue worth $490 billion. Internet of Things is one of the biggest, not just trends, but realities, of the industry.

Social Media: If you haven’t embraced social media as part of your strategy, take a look at these figures:

Cloud: The 2018 State of the Cloud Survey reveals that
Public cloud adoption increased to 92 percent in 2018 from 89 percent in 2017.
Private cloud adoption increased to 75 percent in 2018 from 72 percent in 2017.
81 percent of enterprises have a multi-cloud strategy.
Enterprises with a hybrid strategy (combining public and private clouds) fell from 58 percent in 2017 to 51 percent in 2018, while organizations with a strategy of multiple public clouds or multiple private clouds grew slightly.
Read more here.

Analytics: “We have millions of devices collecting data. What is that data for? For making better decisions. How do you make better decisions, by analyzing the data”, those are the words of Martin Hagelstron, IBM head of Blockchain, during the BBVA Open Talks Bogota (Colombia). One of the advantages of the digital transformation is that you can decide based on the numbers. And if you know how to do it well, you’ll be the champion of your industry.

IN CONCLUSION: be brave, transform your company to take full advantage of the new technologies. Be inspired by the digital world.

If you’re interested on the evolution of Project Management through technology, check our blog on How the Internet of things is impacting Productivity!