FACT CHECKED
Do you want your organization to succeed?
You say you do. But unless your digital adoption process is a top priority right now, you don’t.
IDG’s 2018 Digital Business research reveals that 89% of organizations plan to adopt a digital-first business strategy. However, only 44% have fully implemented this approach.
Which camp are you in?
If you want to be in the winning 44%, you’ll need a strategic digital adoption process to get you there.
Why is digital adoption so critical?
IDG’s research shows that enterprises can increase revenue by 23% by relying on digital-first strategies.
It doesn’t matter whether you’re in finance, utilities, or FMCG. Consumer behavior has led the way for businesses.
Smartphone penetration is at peak levels. Consumers can bank, pay their taxes, and manage their health online. Their appetite for doing things digitally is not dissipating.
In fact, it’s increasing.
In healthcare, it’s not enough anymore for consumers to be able to book appointments online. They want to be examined via video link.
Banking customers want to be able to make international transfers cheaply and at the drop of a hat. And all customers want to be able to interact seamlessly with any brand, whenever and wherever they want.
The people demand digital. The brands supply digital. Then it comes back around to the people, who must fully adopt digital.
Herein lies the challenge.
And it’s not just customers that must properly adopt digital tools. It’s employees too.
Why is the digital adoption process so challenging?
The digital adoption process is challenging because we’re all different. People approach digital from many different standpoints. And we all learn and understand in different ways.
So a one-size-fits all approach to digital adoption never works.
These are the most common hurdles encountered by organizations:
1. Resistance to change
Even though people may demand digital tools, they can still be resistant to change.
For example, patients might complain that it’s difficult to make an appointment. But when a booking app is introduced, they might be hesitant to use it.
Adopting new behaviors involves a learning curve. In general, people don’t like learning curves, because they prefer to feel familiar with what they’re doing.
Within organizations, this resistance can be even more potent.
“Culture is organizational ‘dark matter’ — you can’t see it, but its effects are obvious.” Marcus Blosch, Gartner research vice president
When resistance to change is embedded within organizational culture, it’s a major challenge to overcome it.
Blosch explains that, “many organizations have developed a culture of hierarchy and clear boundaries between areas of responsibilities.
“Digital innovation requires the opposite: collaborative cross-functional and self-directed teams that are not afraid of uncertain outcomes.”
2. Not ready
Often, the digital adoption process is unsuccessful because the organization doesn’t have the skills or resources to make it happen.
“CIOs should address the digital readiness of the organization to get an understanding of both business and IT readiness,” says Blosch.
“Then, focus on the early adopters with the willingness and openness to change and leverage digital. But keep in mind that digital may just not be relevant to certain parts of the organization.”
3. Outdated methods
So, you’re rolling out a new application or product, or amalgamating several processes into one system. You’ve got customers or employees all over the country, maybe even all over the world.
How do you train them how to use it?
The digital adoption process can be costly, inefficient, and labor intensive when training resources and methods are outdated. Not only that, they’re often ineffective.
This is where technology itself can lend a hand.
A Digital Adoption Platform (DAP) is a digital tool that simplifies, accelerates, and improves the digital adoption process.
Pioneered by WalkMe, the DAP places a guidance layer over the top of existing applications, software, or digital systems. It learns user behavior and provides contextual guidance right at the time of need.
Some final words of advice
Ultimately, the digital adoption process is a tough one. It can be expensive and technically challenging. Oftentimes, it’s just too hard for organizations to implement.
Enterprises today need to be nimble, flexible, and adaptable. Change is the one constant we can all rely on. So businesses need to get comfortable with it.
“Over the long term, enterprises should build the organizational capabilities that make change simpler and faster.
“To do that, they should develop a platform-based strategy that supports continuous change and design principles and then innovate on top of that platform, allowing new services to draw from the platform and its core services.” Gartner
Don’t discount the digital adoption process as something that will “just happen,” because it won’t. Anything you can do to simplify the change or adoption process is potentially your silver bullet solution.
