Digital Adoption Solutions FAQ

In this digital adoption solutions FAQ, we’ll explore digital adoption solutions inside and out.

We will learn:

• What they are
• Why they are becoming so popular
• Their benefits and drawbacks
• How they are used

And much more.

Let’s dive right in…

Digital Adoption Solutions FAQ

Here are some of the top questions asked about digital adoption solutions.

We’ll start with the most basic question:

What are digital adoption solutions?

A digital adoption solution (DAS) is another term for a digital adoption platform (DAP).

This term was coined (or at least popularized) by Gartner. 

In their report on the topic, they identified these platforms as important tools for improving sales productivity.

According to Gartner, digital adoption solutions:

• Improve productivity and adoption
• Save time and money
• Enhance the user experience through analytics 

Among other things. 

Digital adoption platforms, such as WalkMe, do a few things:

• Offer in-app guidance and tutorials to new software users
• Analyze user behavior and engagement
• Automate repetitive tasks

These platforms are already being used by some of the world’s largest companies, from Amazon to PayPal.

What are their benefits?

Benefits of digital adoption solutions include:

• Streamlined user onboarding, customer onboarding, or employee onboarding
• Decreased learning curves for new software programs
• Greater user productivity and engagement
• Decreased technical support calls
• Lower costs for software implementation

To name just a few.

How are they used?

There are a wide number of use cases for these platforms, including:

• Digital transformation. Businesses that are digitizing their business processes, company culture, workflows, and tools.
• Employee training and productivity. Automated employee training that occurs inside software, helping to simplify workflows and technology stacks.
• Customer care. Online self-service that reduces the need for technical support calls, cutting support costs and improving the customer experience.
• Software implementation. Rolling out new software within a business, helping to ease the transition and improve time-to-competency for employees.
• Customer or employee onboarding. Automate and speed up onboarding communications and initial training.

To name just a few.

Who should use them?

Any business that can find value in the solutions mentioned above can generate ROI from a digital adoption platform.

Here are some examples of companies that could consider using these solutions:

• Businesses undergoing digital transformation
• Companies that need to improve their digital skills training 
• Those who want to improve customer onboarding ROI, through decreased costs and improved user experiences
• Organizations that want to improve customer growth rates across the entire customer life cycle, from conversion to retention to expansion

To name just a few.

When should organizations use digital adoption solutions?

A digital adoption solution can be used at any stage of an organization’s growth.

As mentioned, their training and automation features assist with the entire user life cycle:

• Onboarding
• Training
• Feature adoption
• Retention
• Expansion

And, because these solutions can automate tasks, they also benefit organizations look for process automation.

What are the drawbacks?

As with any business investment, there is a risk-reward balance.

Potential concerns include:

• Not fully utilizing the solution – in other words, not maximizing potential returns from the investment
• Investing in the solution when it’s not really needed
• Failing to manage the platform once it’s installed – they can provide massive returns, but they are not “set-and-forget” solutions – they must be actively utilized to gain benefits

If an organization has a real problem that these platforms can solve, then there is no reason why the ROI would be excellent.

What are some best practices?

As mentioned, digital adoption solutions must actually be used in order to benefit from them.

Here are some top techniques and best practices:

• Develop a dedicated digital adoption function – dedicate time and resources to digital adoption efforts, technology adoption, and software implementation
• Assign a digital adoption manager – this person is responsible for working with digital adoption solutions, overseeing new software implementations, and managing digital adoption projects
• Treat digital adoption like any other project – assign goals, set objectives, use metrics, and perform regular evaluations of your progress
• Be proactive – a passive stance towards digital adoption will, as mentioned, produce lackluster results, so it pays to be aggressive

Correct usage of a digital adoption platform is essential to maximizing results.

Where can I find more information?

There are a few places to look:

• Our own digital adoption blog
• The aforementioned Gartner report, linked above
• The websites for major digital adoption platforms, such as WalkMe

It is also important to remember that the digital landscape is constantly changing.

And, as a result, there may be some confusion over terminology.

Major business publications, for instance, may use the following terms interchangeably:

• Software implementation
• Technology adoption
• Employee adoption
• Digital adoption

So you may be able to find some more information about digital adoption on other sites – that use different terms.

To find out our perspective, you view our list of digital adoption terminology.