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In the present digital world, most of the organizations worldwide are undertaking transformation strategies centering around their customers. As a result, such activities have led to a rise in expectations including enhanced business performance, new revenue stream, higher productivity, automation of mundane tasks, increased employee productivity and improved customer satisfaction score. The world is currently seeing extraordinary changes brought on by digitalization and organizations are focusing on creating frictionless, efficient, and relevant online experiences for their people and customers. Organizations who can meet the expectations of both the worlds – digital as well as people – are expected to stay at the forefront. The amalgamation of personalization, prediction and experimentation which is being undertaken by businesses are expected to provide humans services beyond imagination.
Technology savvy customers are judging businesses more and more on the degree of digital services being offered to them. According to a McKinsey businesses with more digital services have higher customer satisfaction scores. Additionally, customers are more likely to use their services and refer about them to the others.
The benefits of digital technologies have transformed consumer habits and demands. There are various benefits poised for a consumer when a business undertakes several digital strategies and offers unique services. These include:
- New products and services
As businesses continue to reinvent and innovate, adoption of next-gen tools and technologies often leads to new products and services to be offered to the customers.
- Personalized customer journey
With the intent of treating their customers unique, businesses worldwide are putting a lot of efforts to understand their customers and offer services tailor-made as per their needs. Organizations are expected to harness the customer data and use them wisely to offer bespoke services best suited to the demands of the customers.
- Seamless customer services
Business are not just limiting themselves to selling their products and services to the customers but to stick to them through their entire purchase lifecycle. After sales services and customer services is an area where organizations are putting a stress on to retain their customers. Technologies such as analytics, automation, AI in the form of real-time interaction service such as chatbots, speech assistance, speedy redressal, survey forms, go a long way in building healthy customer relationships.
- Multi-channel experience
The biggest boon of services delivered these days is its ubiquity and its availability across different digital mediums and platforms. Thanks to cloud solutions available these days, one can access its important documents from any device within seconds.
There are some key technologies and elements which are expected to find a commonplace in every human’s life going forward. These include the following:
- Cloud
Cloud technology enables users to access the same files and applications from any device since computing and storage takes place on servers in a data center. Cloud helps reduce overhead costs and is user friendly. In the long run most of the businesses are expected to adopt cloud technologies and offer various innovative services centered around it.
- AI
AI, ML, deep learning, natural language processing (NLP), and predictive analytics, is a major driving force behind digital transformation. Each of these technologies aids the development of intelligent enterprise systems that can analyze data, predict the future, automate repetitive processes, etc. These technologies are expected to be in-grained in daily activities of human beings, making their lives simpler, easier, and fun.
- Automation
Automation as a technology application helps minimize human intervention and digitizes simple, rudimentary tasks. Automation makes machines mimic human tasks and repeat the actions once humans have defined the machine rules. Automation has tremendous scope in the coming years to automate laborious, mundane tasks, thus reducing human load and effort.
- IoT
IoT is one of the most sought-after technologies of the 21st century. IoT or sensors when applied to machines helps increase interconnectedness and record, monitor, and adjust each interaction between machines to simplify a task. Further, IIoT is expected to create the fourth wave of the industrial revolution, or Industry 4.0 and is expected to find common application across smart manufacturing, smart power grids, smart cities, connected logistics, etc.
- Blockchain
Blockchain is a type of shared database that facilitates the process of recording transactions and tracking assets in a business network. Its decentralized nature of record-keeping enables secure, safe, and transparent transactions. This technology is expected to be applied across various industries and is already gaining momentum in financial services, logistics and supply chain, gaming, and healthcare verticals.
The APAC region has huge scope in terms of digital adoption and services used. Most of the businesses within the region have embarked on their digital transformation journey which further has been propelled due to the pandemic, in the wake of business continuity. Leading technology houses and large corporate hubs have their innovation centers in the region. The region is witnessing a huge influx of investment in key technologies which include the following:
- Explosive adoption of cloud technologies
Post the pandemic, the APAC region is witnessing a tremendous boom in its cloud services market. Cloud solutions offer seamless, flexible, and agile services which enable an organization to scale as per the market needs. According to Cisco and Boston Consulting Group (BCG) overall cloud spending in the APAC region is expected to reach USD 200 B by 2024, growing at a CAGR of 20% between 2018-2024.
- Increase in the usage of edge computing
This technology refers to storing data as close as possible to the source where it is collected and analyzed, removing barriers to data latency, and improving reliability and security. This technology is pivotal in the development of smart cities and is expected to be widely adopted across the region. As per GlobalData edge computing in the APAC will reach USD 5.8 B by 2024, representing a CAGR of 21% (2019-2024), making it one of the most sought after technologies in the region.
- Growing market potential of the AI market
According to Tractica the AI market in the APAC region, including software, hardware, and services, will grow from USD 6 B in 2017 to USD 136 B by 2025. The technology is expected to transform the traditional healthcare, agriculture, and education industry where the technology will be deployed to find better cures for diseases, democratize access to healthcare, improve crop yields, and help personalize education for all. Further, the technology is expected to revolutionize the banking industry helping provide bespoke services as per the needs of the customers.
- Implementation of automation and hyper-automation at a fast pace
Hyperautomation, using AI and RPA, accelerates growth and business resilience by rapidly identifying, vetting, and automating processes. The key reasons for adopting hyperautomation includes – improved quality of work, faster business processes, and enhanced agility to make decisions. The technology is also gaining importance as it helps identify process bottlenecks improve customer satisfaction, drive revenue growth, and improve cash flow and operating margins
Various organizations in the APAC region are witnessing the benefits of the next-gen tools and technologies being used by them. Every industry vertical is trying to stay ahead and gain maximum customer market share with their innovative products, services, and ideas. Some of these include the following:
- Accelerating business processes with automation
The ability to automate processes that take up employees’ time is one of the most important benefits of digital transformation. Tasks that previously required the time and attention of the team can now be completed by RPA solutions. A completely automated smart store in Seoul, South Korea, was launched by a leading convenience store franchise operator. The smart store incorporates modern technical features like computer vision, weight sensors, and cloud POS, enabling frictionless shopping experience for its customers.
- Improving the customer experience
True omnichannel services can be provided to customers from the convenience of their smartphones, live chat, email, mobile apps, or support forum. Providing services across every client touchpoint including tracking, feedback, or returns ensure increased brand loyalty and higher satisfaction rates. A leading Chinese bank introduced a new chat feature which provides a direct connection to the company’s retail virtual assistant. It offers assistance related to bank’s services – credit cards, mortgages, personal loans, insurance products and various special offers; directions to nearest branch and ATM locations; foreign exchange or market outlook updates and reports, etc.
- Enhanced decision-making
Software-driven processes make it possible to see more clearly what functions well and what needs to be improved. Digital tools enable managers to easily see patterns and spot possibilities for improvement since they can collect and evaluate data in real-time. To improve operations, an Indonesian bank is developing an enterprise data hub in partnership with a leading technology vendor. The solution offers visibility to data in one dashboard for real-time action, eliminating the need to wait until the end of each business day to access data.
- Greater agility, flexibility, and scalability
The flexibility to ditch antiquated technologies and adopt cutting-edge, scalable alternatives is another benefit of digital transformation. Numerous current corporate procedures are based on antiquated systems that demand manual input. These areas become process bottlenecks when teams are overloaded with work. A leading bank in Malaysia places digital banks squarely within their ongoing plans to support technological development in financial services. It is adopting solutions which ensure agility, elasticity, and scalability for efficient operations.
Thus, digital transformation initiatives are poised to have a huge impact on human lives. Customer-centric services are expected to be drive the market for innovation. This is enabling most of the organizations to re-work on their digital strategies and adopt those which offer more relevant, tailor-made services suiting to the needs of its people.
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