Digitalization – an imperative for the new age India

By: Preethi Menon, Enterprise Applications Practice Head, Clover Infotech

Every once in a while, a new technology or innovative practice takes the world by storm, but soon the technology or practice becomes more of a fad than a way of life. It changes the pace and the scope and disrupts for a while, after which another trend takes over. Digitalization stands out because it has shown that it can be a real equalizer, a fast-track to growth and development and could solve problems hitherto not touched yet for want of even a semblance of a solution available.

For a country like India, which has 70 years of freedom behind it, digitalization could be a real game changer. Its extensive reach, seamless connectivity, and mass digital literacy are aspects that can truly ring in the dawn of a digitalized India. With the IoT revolution and the upward graph of economic growth, a truly digital India in the next five years is not an unreachable goal. The seed of a massive revolution that digitalization holds within it has potentially opened up unlimited opportunities for businesses – to pioneer this transformation, achieve increased profitability in the process and enable businesses achieve customer delight.

I have listed a few critical aspects that all businesses, startups or proven industry leaders need to lay emphasis on in order to attain their digital best and help the nation’s goal post of a digital India.

With transparency we will see value

The modern consumer who has embraced eCommerce, needs, expects and demands transparency. We have always had an uncaring attitude about the lack of transparency prevailing in most government services. However, the government has begun to take key steps to digitize its services for the public, because it sees the value in the services. Digitalization can help in the transmission of the government subsidies and benefits to the last mile, thereby reaching our remotest areas and truly democratize. This opens up the possibilities of digitizing all the public services offered to a common man. The difference it would make to governance could be overwhelming.

While information and process clarity is visible across web and portals, these can be extended to mobile devices as well. Business are changing their strategies to get their services out through mobiles and to a heavily mobile-using audience. Also, digital channels and social media are leveraged to promote the existence of such government services and enhance its usage. The Digital India is one such initiative which has gained traction through it.

The freshness of innovation

Everyday niche products and services are thought of and brought to market, thanks to innovation, due to which the sustainability of businesses hangs by a thread. The benefits of efficiency in production and operations has given innovation that status. A simple thing as connecting rural and agrarian communities with internet is making a vast difference in the quality of lives of the people there. Mobile money and digital healthcare services are few areas which are making inroads to help marginalized communities.

Innovation results in solutions that would transform the way businesses and government bodies communicate with the customer/stakeholder contextually and ubiquitously. This almost magical quality of omnipresence and omniscience is exactly what governments and businesses can achieve through a structured digitalization strategy.

Empowering business and government to transcend to the next level

While the India growth story has been providing good sources of funding for new age businesses, they need to find their feet faster than their more established counterparts. Their longevity is subject to the vagaries of markets, the dynamic consumer psyche and the disruption caused by new technologies. An optimal digitalization approach is the only solution that will spur the zesty startups to sustain and cross over to establishments that can make a mark in history.

As the way things evolve with services and business, enterprises seek the digital revolution as an opportunity to create new age solutions and take the customer experience to the next level. This is being mobilized in order to address these evolving business requirements. Firms are introducing a dedicated ‘Enterprise Business Applications and Digital Transformation’ practice, under which an attempt is being made to help customers gain a technological edge over competitors, by deploying essential business solutions and enhancing their business processes.

“Digital Transformation” changes everything

“Digital Transformation” has changed the way technology companies think. Today, we know that the heads of marketing, finance and even human resources would seek digital services as much as the technology heads. Digitalization has impacted the way organizations work, set their internal processes and interact with their employees, as much as how they interact with their customers.

Today, digitalization is not an option or even a need, but an imperative. Adopting “Digital Transformation” practices in all aspects is what differentiates the best companies from the rest, irrespective of the sector they operate in. “Digital Transformation” by itself, is a paradigm shift in mindset, technology adoption, process and people alignment. It cannot happen overnight, but is ushered in through a series of steps, just like industrialization in India took long, hard years. The only difference here is digital transformation would take a lot less time and impact a lot more.

While talking about digitalizations, organisatons or for that matter governments need to ensure customer satisfaction and a delightful end-customer experience. If the solution or service does not create value for the customers or end-users, it may end up being just a fad.

The automation of business processes across an organization is demanding and requires a robust and a well-connected application ecosystem. Whatever ERP offering is used, it should seamlessly connect all business functions to facilitate the exchange of information and collaborative working. Also important for organizations would be to excel in creating a seamless online experience with their UI and UX capabilities to capture the interest of their target audience and keep them constantly engaged. Keeping it together would be integrated digital initiatives to help maximizing resources and deliver better outputs.

The goal of a digital India, with a focus on connectivity as a wifi symbol in its logo suggests, is not that far. With more investments and better services, we could be at a cusp of a true revolution here, because businesses in a nurturing ecosystem, powered by digitalization are creating the change that we hoped for this long.