But what is SaaS spend optimization? What is the business value of the SaaS spend optimization process? And why is SaaS spend optimization crucial for companies today? We will explore all of these questions, beginning with a definition.

What Is Software as a Service (SaaS) Expenditure Optimization?

SaaS spend optimization involves a proactive approach to SaaS optimization  to reduce the quantity of SaaS licenses or apps. The spend optimization process helps companies avoid SaaS waste, cost accumulation, and avoidable security risks. It tracks all existing SaaS software licenses and detects under and over-licensed SaaS applications. It also balances subscription costs and SaaS licenses against organizational needs to reduce software spend.

Companies consider cloud services superior as they offer better customer advantages due to the flexibility and scalability of features and pricing with better business outcomes, enhanced competitive edge, and boosted revenue. The cloud revolutionized how companies purchase software licenses, and most companies now focus on SaaS applications. On-premise applications are now rarely utilized, and this is likely to continue.

The issues occur when too many SaaS solutions are purchased, as the cloud infrastructure becomes less managed. A SaaS optimization  platform is needed to optimize SaaS spend strategies, reducing financial waste.

The most significant reasons for wasted money on SaaS and cloud services are:

• Unclear ownership.
• Automatic renewals of unused licenses.
• The lack of visibility of overlapping SaaS subscriptions.

These issues occur because of a lack of policy on SaaS application procurement, leading to companies paying fees for tools with the same purpose or ones they no longer use.

SaaS spend optimization helps organizations track which subscriptions they own and use, but in what other ways is this crucial for business?

Why SaaS Spend Optimization Is Crucial

Without SaaS spend optimization, companies waste enormous amounts of capital in over and under-subscribed and unused SaaS solutions. Using technology value optimization to define the values of currently utilized technologies and manage them efficiently is key to optimizing resources.

Reduce costs

Companies can save vast resources by optimizing licenses and accounts efficiently when they carry out spend optimization. The main reason companies implement SaaS spend optimization is to reduce their costs. When you set the right processes in motion, you can control and manage your software spending as you see where companies create waste within unused licenses and underutilized or unused apps.

Establish priorities

Success is defined by understanding what software you use, how you use it, and what needs it fulfils. This feedback supports prioritization plans as you review the benefits of tools you use against new tools. Reports and spend tracking allow your company to see how much is spent by collecting usage data of the apps and services you use.

Boost productivity

Eliminating duplicate software helps your employees get the most out of their digital tools by increasing the efficiency of workflows via actions that streamline spending. A company-wide meeting must take place to discuss business needs and if the current software serves these needs optimally. Organizations benefit from monitoring employee digital adoption rates and encouraging cross-departmental collaboration to share skills and learning. All of these actions boost employee productivity and efficiency via cost reduction.

Minimize security risks

SaaS optimization  allows IT team members to add or remove software users based on role to reduce security risks and unnecessary access and lower costs. Complete visibility of all SaaS spending and licenses allows you to track employees’ subscription habits. This action makes it clear when employees are using apps when they shouldn’t be using them.

These are the many reasons SaaS spend optimization is crucial. But how can your company create a strategy to implement all of these critical features?

10 Strategies To Optimize Your SaaS Expenditure

There are many ways of achieving SaaS optimization for your SaaS expenditure. Here are the best ten strategies to ensure you are doing everything possible to approach SaaS spend optimization most effectively and efficiently.

1. Make your SaaS stack visible

The visibility of the SaaS stack is essential to the SaaS spend optimization process. You can achieve this by taking stock and making an expenditure inventory, including all expenses, contracts, and the number of licenses your company has. Doing so allows your business to see what they are using and why. This action supports decisions on future optimizations.

2. Regularly take stock

Take stock of your SaaS usage to optimize the SaaS spend. The needs of large businesses with various software and subscriptions will change often. Monthly audits ensure the company is utilizing all SaaS applications effectively and remind you to review which are needed.

3. Identify unauthorized applications

Unauthorized apps may not be apps that have been installed without permission but simply software that all carry out similar functions. It can also mean that an employee has unauthorized access. Communication is essential to establish and review who needs access to what software.

The existing users of your company may utilize Google Workspace and store documents on Google Drive. On discovering that an employee has purchased a Dropbox account, you can remove the unauthorized account and consolidate unnecessary SaaS licenses by putting it all on Google Drive. 

This action saves the Dropbox fee for the company, increasing communication as IT or HR lets the employee know of this change and reminds all staff that document storage should be via Google Drive only.

Any security vulnerabilities should be dealt with quickly to mitigate risk, especially for attacks on HR systems that store sensitive employee information. Companies must develop policies to ensure that unauthorized application use is dealt with quickly and securely, with communication at its core.

4. Promote organization-wide adoption of apps and productivity

If an app is helpful for your organization, encourage widespread company-wide adoption by promoting the app adoption on a smaller scale to bring it to the broadest user base. Information is key to informing staff of why the SaaS software is vital to the technology value optimization of the company.

Team champions for specific software can be learning points for staff wanting to know more about the basic or advanced features of new software.

5. Negotiate contractual agreements

Many factors influence your ability to get the best deal from a SaaS provider. Examples include future business, terms, usage, volume, and loyalty. These factors come into play when renewing software subscriptions, touching base with the SaaS apps vendor, and asking about a lower rate.

6. Plan regular subscription adjustments

Create a review and adjustment schedule to ensure you only have the SaaS solutions you need and use. Eliminating unused licenses is at the heart of the SaaS spend optimization  approach, and a schedule is a structured way of effectively cutting waste and optimizing SaaS spending.

7. Integrate workflow automation

SaaS optimization  platforms can establish which licenses are needed for employee accounts, driving account setups with usage patterns and data. Automation ensures the system automatically assigns the correct licenses to the appropriate staff.

8. Regularly collect employee feedback

User analytics are essential to inform SaaS leaders on what apps are helpful and easy to use and reduce efficiency and productivity due to frustration or lack of employee training. Companies must act on this feedback by removing unused paid premium features to drive the business forward using the software budget for essential software features.

9. Make the SaaS application inventory available to employees

Increase SaaS adoption and reduce unwanted user access by making the SaaS application inventory available to employees. Doing so means that employees use accounts properly because the staff knows what apps to use.

10. Plan for future growth

SaaS spending plans must look to the future to ensure that resources are always available to invest in new technologies. Ensure that technology research staff collaborate with the finance team to build a plan for growth and development to make SaaS spending the core of business sustainability and expansion.

Now that we have looked at strategies for SaaS spending, we must consider the business value of these tools.

The Business Value of Software as a Service (SaaS)

Organizations need to assess the business value of a SaaS solution before investing. The factors that affect the business value of SaaS applications are:-

• ARR, which is business size
• Gross margin, or profitability
• Net revenue retention, which represents the product quality
• Growth rate, which is the company’s momentum

Companies use metrics to measure these factors, the first churn.

Churn

• Churn is a crucial metric for investors. Typical SaaS business models depend on a monthly subscription, and the churn metric determines how many subscribers cancel the services purchased, monthly or annually. A simple formula can calculate churn:

(Canceled customers/ total customers from the beginning of the year) x 100

CAC and LTV

• CAC represents the sales and marketing cost of acquiring a new customer. CAC is the customer acquisition costs, and LTV is the lifetime value of the profitability of your SaaS applications business. The CAC formula is:
• (Marketing/ potential new customers)
• LTV shows the average revenue a company can be generated from a customer. When a company’s CAC is half the LTV, it has good potential for growth. Conversely, if the LTV is half the CAC, the metric becomes a minus number, showing a business not to be profitable.
• Growth potential exists when the formula’s (LTV-CAC) outcome is positive.

MRR vs. ARR

• MMR is a company’s monthly recurring revenue which shows the revenue of a SaaS business over a specific month on a recurring schedule. ARR is the annual recurring revenue, offering the same amount over a year.
• Investors can be interested in MRR more than ARR because it can more accurately predict future income. ARR could be considered a less reliable metric for predictions as many market disruptions, such as new competition and regulations, can happen in twelve months.
• However, some investors believe that ARR presents a broader revenue perspective, with a more accurate and comprehensive view of a SaaS company’s present and future health. ARR is best suited to companies with seasonal subscription models.

These are examples of how companies can measure the business value of a service, but what SaaS optimization software is available that fulfills specific needs?

Software Solutions For Optimal SaaS Expenditure 

Looking at the highest-rated SaaS applications to get the best software for your needs is the most effective way of procuring the most appropriate and highest-value solutions.

SaaS Cost Optimization

Airbase

Airbase is a comprehensive spend optimization  platform that scales as companies grow from startups to large enterprises.

Airbase’s market segment is 83% mid-market and 15% small-business units.

Mesh Payments

Mesh is an all-in-one spend optimization  platform that offers total visibility and control of every transaction to help you optimize your SaaS spending.

Mesh’s market segment is 61% mid-market and 38% small business.

Vendr

Vendr is an intuitive SaaS buying platform that seeks to change how companies find, buy and manage SaaS solutions.

Vendr’s market segment is 63% mid-market and 23% small business.

SaaS Apps Support

Help Scout

Help Scout platform offers multi-channel support for customers and businesses. It provides a shared team inbox, knowledge base capabilities with Google Docs, a self-service employee portal, and a real-time live chat feature with Beacon integration.

Help Scout market segment is smaller or growing companies.

Zoho Desk

Zoho makes Zoho Desk, a large company is known for its CRM software, which also makes support platforms. Zoho Desk offers features like a shared inbox, phone integration, and chat. Some features like chat are only available with the higher tier option.

Zoho Desk offers a free trial version.

Kayako

The company developed Kayako in 2001 as a highly intuitive help desk ticketing system, but it has continued to expand. Users can offer support across several communication channels, like chat and self-service support. However, these features are available with higher-tier plans only.

The vendor designed Kayako for larger companies.

Key SaaS Applications

Salesforce

Salesforce is a SaaS-only company and has a single flagship platform. The company adjusts the package to companies based on their needs and company size and type, for example, consumer products, education, or financial services.

Salesforce SaaS software caters to all market segments as the company adjusts the software based on requirements. B2C Companies often utilize software this vendor provides, such as banks and other CPG organizations.

Google

Google is known for its leading browser and many other web products, but it is not a SaaS-only vendor. Google is known chiefly for SaaS-based productivity apps alongside the Google marketing and optimization  platform. Google offers infrastructure products like Google Cloud and the Kubernetes engine and free apps like Google search. Older products like G-suite have been rebranded as Google Workspace, presenting it as a seamless SaaS product instead of grouping unrelated tools.

Google products are perfect for SMEs and developers who seek to build products within the cloud.

Microsoft

Microsoft now offers SaaS services after its successes in being the most popular operating system and providing Office suite software. Microsoft now offers their previously license-based productivity apps within the Microsoft 365 package of SaaS tools. This suite includes well-known apps like Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Excel and web-native SaaS solutions such as Teams and SharePoint.

Microsoft 365 suite is very diverse, as it is equally helpful for individuals and users in large enterprises. Microsoft SaaS is ideal for companies with existing infrastructure built around Microsoft tools.

Once you have selected a software solution to optimize your SaaS spend, it’s essential to look at best practices to ensure you get the most out of the SaaS apps.

Best Practices To Optimize SaaS Expenditure

There are three primary best practices to ensure your SaaS spend is optimized, beginning with complete visibility of your apps.

Complete Visibility Of Your App Portfolio

Create a clear visualization of all your app subscriptions, user licenses, SaaS costs, and contracts. Ensure that all apps managed or unmanaged by the IT department are included so an incomplete picture of app usage does not create that waste. When you achieve high visibility of your app matrix, you can make better-informed decisions about cancellations, future investments, and renewals. Doing so allows you to optimize your SaaS spend, increasing SaaS ROI.

Identify Your SaaS Owners

Ensure that the owner of the SaaS solution, the person responsible for procurement, is known to finance and IT for queries regarding renewal or cancellation. Companies must assign ownership to each app due to the high amount of apps that companies procure in today’s rapidly changing market. Knowing the app owner allows companies to act on optimization opportunities that present themselves as part of the process.

Monitor Your SaaS Usage

Automating SaaS adoption and usage is essential for efficiency and eliminating human error, as staff can miss schedules to monitor, review and act on usage rates. Companies must use metrics to measure app adoption and usage rates. They can use these data to generate analytics to inform future decisions about which SaaS apps they must renew for a particular subscription and which they should terminate to reduce costs.

When companies follow these best practices, it is no surprise that they can benefit from SaaS spend optimization . But how much investment goes into the SaaS portfolio for companies globally?

How Much Do Businesses Spend on SaaS?

Investment in SaaS increases yearly due to the flexibility of features, updates, and pricing, reflecting the rapidly changing needs of the tech business market. Statista predicts that SaaS spending will increase to $208.1 billion in 2023. And based on Flexera’s 2021 report, Workday, Google, ServiceNow, and Salesforce are the largest providers of SaaS, with Microsoft taking the largest share of 47%.

Flexera also reports that the leading spend optimization challenges companies faced in 2022 were too many processes (49%), increased vendor prices (59%), and maintaining spend efficiency (55%).

These percentages show how many companies felt that these challenges were somewhat of a challenge. Vendors must take note of these statistics to ensure that they provide competitive products at acceptable prices to remain sustainable. Companies using SaaS apps can learn from these statistics in prioritizing their SaaS optimization  choices from these statistics.

SaaS apps are already used for nearly every business function, so what trends will emerge next year as SaaS utilization increases?

What 6 Emerging SaaS Trends Will We See In 2023?

With the rapidly progressing technology of SaaS, we will be seeing some significant changes over the next few years. The first of these involves Vertical SaaS.

1. Vertical SaaS

Vertical SaaS is a targeted solution for certain supply chains and industries. This form of SaaS will become more prominent as organizations try to find more specialized solutions that demand fewer resources.

Because vertical SaaS is industry-specific, it allows the service to provide a higher quality of embedded customer intelligence. Other features include predefined KPIs and metrics, improved data governance, and boosted business value.

2. AI

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is becoming more widely utilized in many fields, especially business, as PwC predicts it will contribute $15.7 trillion to the global economy by 2030. So what part does AI have in SaaS?

AI is one of the major disruptors within the SaaS market for several reasons. SaaS-AI integration allows companies to personalize and automate services better, collect more insights from their data, and boost process efficiency, allowing staff to focus on more complex tasks.

3. Capabilities For Integration

SaaS products today include integration to prevent users from expanding their SaaS portfolio with an excessive number of third-party apps. This trend will likely continue into 2023 as SaaS vendors prioritize integration when updating existing software solutions and designing new ones.

4. Pricing Changes

Studies show that nearly every SaaS business noticed positive results when they changed their pricing plans. In the past, SaaS companies offered flexible pricing based on their business model. Today, factors like the rapid progress of SaaS, industry saturation, and increasingly challenging competition are forcing SaaS providers to transform their pricing models based on the needs of customers or clients.

In 2023, SaaS vendors will likely offer more diverse pricing plans for different companies. Vendors base these plans on usage, where companies are charged based on usage only when they use the service, based on what value the consumer thinks the product is worth or the number of registered users.

5. Branding And Thought Leadership

Today, SaaS companies focus less on the technical product and more on thought-provoking, creative content. This content’s forms include interactive applications, eBooks, landing pages, blog content, and videos.

Today’s SaaS audiences seek to be educated and inspired, and SaaS vendors must fulfill this need to maintain competitiveness. Vendors need to be an appealing and dynamic source to continue to attract customers. Organizations need to adopt the same approach to branding. Companies must establish a mission, define values and develop inspirational visual media to differentiate themselves from competitors and prove to audiences that they understand their needs.

6. Re-Disruptors

SaaS companies must maintain an agile workforce that utilizes the newest tools to move with the changing market. ClickUp is one example of a surprising success story that sprung out of nowhere to take on large companies like Basecamp, Trello, and Asana by offering the highest number of online features for collaboration in one solution.

SaaS Spend Optimization Is The Key To Growth

To optimize their spending on SaaS-based products, businesses can utilize SaaS optimization  tools that help them identify waste areas and create cost savings. This allows companies to builddigital resilience when expanding into new markets and increasing customer satisfaction through increased marketing campaigns while optimizing resources. 

The post SaaS Spend Optimization: The Essential Handbook appeared first on Digital Adoption.

Cloud cost optimization is a significant challenge for cloud-centric businesses. The pay-as-you-go model of cloud computing can lead to unforeseen costs, which can quickly spiral out of control. Adequate digital adoption solutions and governance practices can help avoid these issues, but they need to be tailored to the specific needs of each organization.

But what is cloud cost optimization? Why is it essential for the modern enterprise scale of business? And what can a brief history of cloud cost optimization tell us about this service today? We will explore these questions, beginning with a definition. 

What Is Cloud Cost Optimization? 

A proactive cloud cost management strategy lowers the number of cloud licenses or apps, preventing waste and security risks. This approach also aids in the reduction of operational costs by identifying underutilized software that companies can optimize for their operations to identify instances of cloud waste.

Cloud services are better for customers than on-premises cloud infrastructure due to the flexibility and scalability of features and pricing, improved business outcomes, enhanced competitive edge, and increased revenue. The cloud revolutionized how organizations buy software licenses, and most firms now focus on cloud applications. On-premises apps are increasingly rarely used today.

The problem with too many cloud solutions is that it creates infrastructure tension. A cloud management strategy can help to lower financial spending by optimizing strategies.

The most significant reasons for wasted cloud resources are:

• Unclear ownership.
• Automatic renewals of unused licenses.
• The lack of visibility of overlapping cloud subscriptions can lead to waste.

These issues occur because of a lack of policy on SaaS application procurement, leading to companies paying fees for tools with the same purpose or ones they no longer use.

SaaS spend optimization helps organizations track which subscriptions they own and use, but in what other ways is this crucial for business?

Why Is Cloud Cost Optimization Essential For Modern Enterprise? 

Without SaaS spend optimization, companies waste enormous amounts of capital in over and under-subscribed and unused SaaS, IaaS, and PaaS solutions. Using technology value optimization to define the values of currently utilized technologies and manage them efficiently is key to optimizing resources.

Reduce costs

When businesses optimize licenses and accounts, they save a lot of resources. When you implement cloud spend optimization, you can control and manage your software expenses as you see where businesses create waste with unused licenses and underutilized or unused applications.

Establish priorities

Understand what software you use, how you use it, and what needs it fills. This information aids in the prioritization of solutions as you compare the benefits of tools you utilize to those of new ones. Reports and expenditure logging help your firm track how much money is spent by gathering usage data from the apps and services you employ.

Boost productivity

You can help your employees make the most of their digital tools by eliminating duplicate software. They’ll work more efficiently because streamlined spending will create better workflows. To see if your company needs new software, hold a meeting to discuss business needs and if the current software meets these requirements satisfactorily.

If you want your organization to be more productive and efficient while saving money, start by monitoring employee digital adoption rates and encouraging cross-departmental collaboration. By sharing skills and learning across departments, employee productivity will increase.

Minimize security risks

Cloud cost management lets IT team members change or delete software users based on the function to minimize security concerns and extra access while lowering costs. Complete insight into all cloud spending and licenses allows you to monitor employees’ app usage. This procedure exposes when workers use applications when they shouldn’t be doing so.

These are the many reasons cloud spend optimization is crucial. But what historical approaches to cloud cost management brought us to today’s cloud marketplace?

A Brief History Of Cloud Cost Optimization 

When software developers saw hundreds of applications migrating to the cloud, they realized companies could manage infrastructure as code more efficiently with robotic process automation (RPA). The AWS Trusted Advisor tool makes cost-saving suggestions to help you run your application in the cloud more effectively.

Developers wrote scripts as needed for essential cloud resource management, but digital process automation allowed organizations to report and take action upon resources much more efficiently. Teams involved in developing early cloud management software ensured there were no unused resources as a priority. They also noted that cost controls would be necessary eventually, so they implemented them early on.

For example, since most companies only utilize development environments during the day, developers allowed the automation capability to shut down and restart resources in bulk at the end of the business day and restart them the next morning.

The capability to report resource properties, usage, and Cloudwatch metrics for resources allows IT staff and team managers to locate and tackle inefficiency and waste. Reviewing the pricing models is now considered the best practice to create savings from hundreds or thousands of cloud resources, which can total millions of dollars over a year.

We will now explore strategies to reduce cloud costs since we understand the background on which cloud optimization occurred.

10 Cloud Cost Optimization Strategies 

These are the ten best strategies to ensure your business goals align with the lowest possible cloud costs. The first is making the cloud technology stack visible to all employees.

1. Make your cloud stack visible

The visibility of the cloud tech stack is essential to the cloud spend optimization process. You can achieve this by taking stock and making an expenditure inventory, including all expenses, contracts, and the number of licenses your company has. Doing so lets your business see their use and each cloud service and app’s purpose and provides data to support decisions on future optimizations.

2. Regularly take stock

To optimize cloud expenditures, consider your current usage and make adjustments. Businesses of all sizes with numerous software and subscriptions have varying demands regularly. Monthly reviews ensure that the firm effectively utilizes all cloud applications and serve as reminders.

3. Identify unauthorized applications

An unauthorized app may be any software that performs the same tasks as authorized apps. It can also imply that an employee has unlawful access. Communication is needed to establish and maintain who has access to software, communication is required.

If you find that an employee has purchased a Dropbox account, you can remove the unauthorized account and consolidate unnecessary SaaS licenses by using only Google Drive. This action is possible because your company’s existing users likely utilize Google Cloud services such as Google Workspace and store documents on Google Drive.

By taking this action, the company saves on Dropbox fees. In addition, communication improves as IT or HR reminds all staff of this change and encourages them to use Google Drive for document storage.

Companies must address security flaws as soon as possible, especially when an organization’s HR systems store sensitive employee data. To reduce risk, companies must establish rules to deal with unauthorized application usage promptly and securely, with communication at its heart.

4. Promote organization-wide adoption of apps and productivity

To ensure that your organization reaps the maximum benefits of a helpful app, promote it on a small scale to get as many people using it as possible. Then, provide employees with information about why cloud software is important for optimizing technology value in the company.

Assigning team champions for specific software may provide staff members a place to go if they want to learn more about the basics or nuances of new software.

5. Negotiate contractual agreements

Many factors influence your ability to get the most valuable deal from a cloud service provider. A few examples are terms, usage, volume, and loyalty. When it comes to software subscription renewals, these elements are essential because they influence whether or not you will receive the same price or the vendor will offer a discount.

6. Optimize Cloud Costs and Pricing Review

Eliminating unused licenses is the best way to optimize your cloud spending, and a review and adjustment schedule will help ensure you only have the cloud solutions you need and use.

7. Integrate workflow automation

Cloud management platforms can ensure that employees have the correct licenses for their accounts by allocating them based on usage patterns and data. Automation ensures that the system automatically assigns the correct permits to new staff members as they join.

8. Regularly collect employee feedback

User analytics indicate which apps are successes and failures. Leaders use this data to stop frustration, wasted time, and low productivity by decreasing or removing features that staff doesn’t use. Companies save money by only paying for what they need.

9. Make the cloud application inventory available to employees

Encourage employees to adopt cloud resources such as SaaS, PaaS, or IaaS by making the cloud application inventory available and reducing user access. When staff members know what specific app to use for their duties, they will be more likely to comply with company protocols.

10. Plan for future cloud growth

Cloud spending plans must create a vision for the future to ensure that resources are always available to invest in new SaaS, IaaS, and PaaS technologies. Successful companies conduct research continuously to invest in new cloud cost optimization tools. Ensure that IT staff collaborate with the finance team to build a plan for growth and development to make spending the core of business sustainability and expansion.

Ensure that IT personnel work with the finance team to create a growth and development plan. This plan will ultimately lead to an optimized cloud bill as a core business sustainability and expansion component.

Software and Automation Needs

Automation is a massive part of many business processes today, and this is especially the case with cloud cost optimization strategies. Automation supports productivity, reliability, and data governance, principles of a successful cloud cost optimization strategy. Cloud cost intelligence is also supported by automation, as a lot of data can be generated faster than staff can create manually.

Automation can help manage hybrid and multi-cloud systems by uniting them under a set of processes, improving scalability, consistency and speed. The financial aspect is the first to automate to control cloud costs.

Financial

By graphing cloud expenditure over time and by expense type as well as a cost center, it is possible to understand trends and create cost savings to reduce the cloud bill. If companies make data and graphs available daily, monthly, and yearly, they create healthy transparency within the organization leading to friendly competition.

By constructing an automated central application development and deployment platform, Ascend Money streamlined operations among different geographical areas. This action also increased consistency and the ability to handle more scale and reduced task completion time by 57%.

Monitoring 

To optimize your resources most effectively, you need metrics for every area of cloud resource utilization versus capacity as part of a robust approach to cloud cost intelligence. Capital One created a tool by factoring in history for “the four corners of utilization metrics”: CPU, memory, disk, and network usage. This system generates instance-type recommendations based on past data and sends alerts if there are unusual spikes in costs or activity levels.

Management, Reporting, and Clean-up

Keep track of everything in your cloud so that nothing goes unused or gets forgotten. By examining the overall composition of your cloud fleet, you can also gain insights into capacity reservations and potential ways to optimize costs further.

Now that we have established the automation capabilities, what are the best practices to ensure the best cloud cost optimization?

20 Best Practises For Cloud Cost Optimization

These twenty best practices will help optimize your cloud spending, beginning with understanding usage patterns to forecast future cloud environment needs.

1. Understand Usage Patterns & Forecast Future Needs

Vendors of cloud services give billing details describing the cost. Leverage these details to identify high-cost areas and save money. Analyze and prioritize high-cost workflows and services. Track and create analytics from usage reports to inform and forecast your future needs.

2. Compare Pricing Models

Communication is vital when sharing information with all relevant parties about costs measured against the type and scale of business requirements. Executives, product leaders, engineering leaders, and other appropriate parties must communicate their needs as part of the best cloud cost optimization practices.

3. Automate Resource Allocation 

Automating resource usage reports makes cloud cost optimization strategies efficient and allows staff to focus on higher-level tasks. Human error can often lead to inaccurate data on usage data of premises infrastructure or the cloud, such as when developers and administrative staff overlook de-provisioning a temporary server after they have provisioned it.

When such instances occur, Azure or AWS reserved cases result in the vendor overcharging the company for resources it no longer utilizes. Best cloud cost optimization practices, such as automated resource allocation, help establish available or unused resources and remove them to reduce unnecessary expenses.

4. Utilize Reserved Instances 

Companies can purchase Reserved instances (RIs) from cloud providers to give significant discounts. When purchasing an RI from a company like Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure Cloud Service, or Google Compute Engine, they offer instance types that suit your needs. In exchange, you pay upfront without being charged monthly fees, unlike other services.

This action results in using fewer resources than expected during any given month, then this money is saved, and there is less strain on their infrastructure.

5. Take Advantage of Discounts & Credits

Cloud vendors often reward loyal customers with discounts or credits. When renewing subscriptions, ask your vendor about a discount if you pay more than one year in advance or if other reduced rates are available.

6. Delete Unused Resources 

An essential aspect of optimizing costs is consolidating unused technology resources and deleting them. Cloud vendors charge for idle resources even when companies do not use them. If your company uses a CPU at 10% of its capacity, consider better utilizing it to save costs, such as merging them across different systems.

Leveraging cloud features such as on-demand options, auto-scaling, and load balancing allow you to scale up capacity when you need.

7. Make An End-To-End Budget

Ensure everyone understands their budgets and objectives for each project, as this is a considerable element in lowering costs. Engineering executives should have talks with CEOs and product leadership to learn about cost needs.

Vendors should base product requirements and features on how they will ultimately be delivered to customers, for example, as part of a free trial or enterprise plan. Companies must reference these requirements during later planning and development stages, alongside other important factors such as speed and resiliency.

8. Implement Complete Visibility Of Your Cloud Software Portfolio

Create a clear visualization of all your app subscriptions, user licenses, SaaS costs, and contracts. Ensure that all apps managed or unmanaged by the IT department are included so an incomplete picture of app usage does not create that waste. When you achieve high visibility of your app matrix, you can make better-informed decisions about cancellations, future investments, and renewals. Doing so allows you to optimize your SaaS spending, increasing SaaS ROI.

9. Identify Idle Resources

Optimizing cloud costs can be as straightforward with a few clicks. It is essential for administrators, developers, or anyone responsible for managing your account on AWS or Azure to make sure they de-provision any temporary servers after jobs have finished. This practice avoids inflated bills from resources purchased but unused.

10. Right-Size the Services

Right-sizing your cloud computing services can be difficult. But it is necessary to ensure that you use the most efficient amounts of memory for each instance. If there’s anything left over after right-sizing, consider removing unnecessary capacity from these resources, so they work better with what remains.

11. Use The Best Storage Solutions

Amazon S3 is an easy-to-use, reliable cloud storage service. It has almost unlimited capacity and allows users to store their data quickly, partly because of its user-friendly interface and integration capabilities across multiple platforms. These capabilities include AWS or external services, which companies can quickly implement into any existing workflow with minimal time.

Pricing options depend on the type you choose, so check how much space Amazon gives per month and which plan is the least expensive before signing up.

12. Use Savings Plans

The Savings Plans pricing model is an innovative way to save on your AWS usage. Sign up for a one to three-year commitment, and the prices will be consistently low monthly. This method can also help you reduce your AWS spending by 70%.

13. Leverage Spot Instances

Unlike reserved instances, spot instances can be purchased at a low price and are more reliable than their counterparts. Those who need the service quickly but don’t plan on running long-term jobs or processes through them are perfect because it is difficult to judge when a batch job will end.

14. Choose a Single or Multi-Cloud Deployment

The single-vendor approach is typically cheaper and easier to manage, but multi-cloud solutions can provide benefits like increased availability. Evaluate your organization’s needs before deciding how many vendors you would like to handle data storage.

15. Monitor Cost Anomalies

The AWS Cost Management console is essential when managing your cloud costs. The feature load monitoring and cost analysis tools help you stay on top of what’s happening with AWS bills, so your budget stays within the parameters set by company leaders.

A great way to optimize overall spending while minimizing surprises down the line is to use machine learning in conjunction with human intuition.

16. Eliminate Unused Elastic IP Addresses

Eliminating unused elastic IP addresses is a way IT can reduce new resources to save money.

You may detach an Elastic IP address from a running instance or network interface at any time. You can then reassociate the Elastic IP address with another resource after disconnecting it.

17. Review and Reduce Software License Costs

License management is a challenge. Companies can find commercial and public AMIs (Amazon Machine Instances) on the AWS Marketplace with easy license tracking tools. This tool helps reduce spending by identifying idle or unneeded licenses.

18. Implement a Cloud Native Design

When you’re looking to build a new system or upgrade your legacy system, there are plenty of ways that using the cloud can save time and money. One example is designing with auto-scaling capabilities for when demand increases unexpectedly – which often happens in today’s data-rich environment.

The Well Architected Tool provides best practice recommendations on how exactly to do so while still leveraging AWS’ extensive documentation. It also utilizes expertise during implementation, which helps reduce costs significantly as it understands what parts need updating from legacy environments.

Design choices should consider what’s most important to your organization, such as speed or cost savings. For example, a quick DevOps pipeline might not save money. Being practical and finding a balance of needs is critical.

19. Track Cost Center Spending

Given the wide range of cloud providers, keeping track of your spending is difficult. Each cost center may have its AWS account for ease of reporting. If multiple teams with various budgets share one account, tracking expenses is more complicated.

Implement a standard identification method like applying resource tags to identify cloud resource ownership quickly. This way, you can align cost centers to the required reporting granularity using fewer resources.

20. Optimize Costs At Every SDLC Level

Including cost optimization in the software development lifecycle (SDLC) is vital to ensure financial stability. A plan for how much you’re willing to spend on each project and when they will be paid back with interest or profit margins eliminates the need for a contingency fund.

There are four steps to integrating cloud cost optimization into the SDLC:

• Plan: Create a rationale for the budget and ensure it is data-driven to guide technical, debt-related decisions as part of the product roadmap. Doing so helps minimize unexpected costs and adjust the budget using flexibility and agility.
• Operate and deploy: Identify unexpected costs quickly and adjust budgets with agility.
• Design and craft: Record all necessary data to inform architecture decisions based on optimal resource usage.
• Review: To report operational expenditures and return on investment (ROI) with business initiatives and break down costs by team, feature, and product.

These steps allow your company to optimize cloud costs in the software development lifecycle to save resources. 

Saving Money and Time In The Cloud

Consider how your business is presently functioning in the cloud. Is there a transparent Cloud Operating Model for your firm? Have you established a FinOps organization or a Cloud Center of Excellence?

When you have answered these questions, it is easy to see that although cloud cost optimization might seem daunting, it simply requires two things. These two components are nurturing and maintaining good habits and recording metrics and analytics to monitor your progress and continuously lower your end bill. If achieved successfully, a cloud optimization strategy can support digital resilience in the future. 

The post 20 Best Practices & 10 Strategies for Cloud Cost Optimization appeared first on Digital Adoption.

Client expectations from professional service firms have changed in recent years due to the impact of the pandemic. Increasingly, they prefer digital delivery over face-to-face interaction. They also want professional service firms to help them manage their cybersecurity risks and restructure their businesses in ways that respond effectively to the changing digital world. 

Rather than viewing new technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, and blockchain as threats to the profession, clients look at them as opportunities and want professional firms to assist in achieving these digital goals.

With Gartner reporting that remote workers will make up 32% of the global employee workforce by the end of of 2021, both firms and employees are speeding up their digital transformation efforts. A large share of employees recognize the need to adapt and change their selling style, and they also have confidence in the ability of their firms to equip themselves digitally.

Forbes states that 84% of business digital transformation initiatives fail due to a lack of operational dynamism, and poor visibility of the drivers and challenges of digital transformation. 

According to the 2020 Harvard Business Review, 84% of business executives say that the introduction of digital transformation initiatives has led to the emergence of new and prospective business opportunities.

Firms in this scenario take swift action to invest in new technologies, leading them down a fast track to digitization. Evidence also shows that such firms have recovered better from the impact of the pandemic than those firms where IT executives and business leaders do not see eye-to-eye.

Client Expectations From Professional Firms

A Financial Times survey was conducted across eight countries among 289 respondents after the outbreak of COVID. The respondents “worked for an organization that has contracted professional services firm over the past 12 months”. The respondents were from Canada, U.S., U.K., France, Germany, India, Singapore, and Australia. The Financial Times is one of the world’s leading news organizations. 

The survey results revealed that clients are now looking for professional service firms to be digitally equipped and able to help their companies break through the digital barrier. As shown in chart 1, over 65% of clients wanted their professional service firms to deliver their services digitally. 

Chart 1

Clients’ expectations are understandable, given that nearly half expected advice on data privacy and cyber security from their professional firms after the pandemic. About half also want professional firms to advise them on strategies and restructuring their organizations. As both strategy and restructuring require a digital outlook, increasingly, clients prefer professional firms that are more tuned toward modern needs. Chart 2 shows clients’ expectations from professional services firms. 

Chart 2

About 52% of all respondents — the second highest percentage among the answers — said that modernizing their digital infrastructure will be an essential strategy for their firm in the next 12 months. Nearly half of the clients (49%) — believe that using artificial intelligence technology is an important next step. Both strategies require the support of a digitally sound professional services firm, reinforcing the need for accelerated digital adoption in such companies. Chart 3 shows the essential strategy clients of professional service firms will follow in the next 12 months. 

Chart 3

Professional service firms must recognize that clients do not view adopting emerging technologies as a threat—quite the opposite. 68% of clients see new technologies such as AI, blockchain, quantum computing, and cloud computing as major or minor opportunities. This trend is unique as a relatively higher share of clients treats other changes as threats to their growth. For instance, only 40% consider economic volatility and increased pressure to cut costs as opportunities. Only 48-55% consider industry consolidation and revenue diversification opportunities. So, professional services firms are uniquely positioned to leverage their clients’ positive attitudes towards adopting new tech and give mutually beneficial solutions for the problems at hand. Chart 4 shows the views of professional firms’ clients on various factors.

Chart 4

Challenges Faced by Employees of Professional Firms

From May 13 to June 30, 2020, Salesforce conducted a double-blind survey of sales representatives and sales leadership professionals worldwide that attracted 6,000 responses — including 655 from professional services. Salesforce, Inc. is an American cloud-based software company headquartered in San Francisco, California.

The survey found that most business-side employees in professional firms understood that they needed to adapt their selling styles quickly. Chart 5 shows that an overwhelming majority of the respondents said they needed to learn new ways of selling. 

Chart 5

Interestingly, 76% of business professionals surveyed said they feel confident that their professional service firms will remain agile enough to get through the pandemic crisis. Chart 6 shows that nearly 70% of business-side employees were entirely or primarily confident about their firms’ agility.

Chart 6

Data from the American Time Use Survey analyzed by McKinsey concludes that nearly 70% of employees in professional and business services are now working full-time from home. This was just a tad below the share of working from home from the IT services. Such a drastic change in the work pattern of the employees needs digital infrastructure support and a technically savvy organization that is not afraid of experimenting with new tools. Chart 7 shows the % share of employees working from home in the U.S. across sectors.

Chart 7

Aspirations and Challenges Faced by Professional Service Companies

The Digital IQ Survey conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers in the second quarter of 2021 sought responses from more than 1,250 global executives. The survey differentiated the global executives into two types — those firms where the Chief Information Officer and their business partners see eye-to-eye were referred to as Digital IQ leaders in the report. Those who were not in sync were segregated separately. All the metrics in the following graphs follow this pattern. 

Chart 8 shows that among a small group of IT executives (1/5th of all tech executives in the PWC survey) who see eye to eye with their business peers, close to 50% want to do the existing things faster and more efficiently than before. Close to half of them also want to modernize their brand with newer capabilities. Among those firms where IT executives do not see eye to eye with their business partners, the will to update and to do existing stuff quickly and better was seen only in around 25% of companies — half of the Digital IQ leaders. 

Chart 8

Among Digital IQ leaders, the share of firms that expanded training on remote working to its employees was seven percentage points higher than other firms. A higher share of Digital IQ leaders aligned their digital investments to the organization’s purpose. Also, a higher share hired and upskilled their employees based on new technologies. These conclusions show that the organization performed better in its digital goals in firms where the CIO and business partners think alike. Chart 9 displays these conclusions

Chart 9

The most damning evidence that Digital IQ leaders were far ahead of their peers came in cloud computing. More than 65% of firms classified as Digital IQ leaders invested in cloud computing, whereas only 33% did. When adapting new technologies, a similar difference was observed between these two types of firms. Chart 10 shows that firms where IT leaders and business professionals are on the same page invest better in digital products. 

Chart 10

Apart from investments and best practices, a company aims to earn profits. So, it becomes crucial to determine whether having IT executives and business partners on the same page have paid off with higher yields. Chart 11 shows that Digital IQ leader firms had better revenue growth during the first year of the pandemic and the past three years. The time spent on innovation and employee productivity, too, was miles ahead of the other set of companies. 

Chart 11

Conclusion

The charts above indicate that companies with solid working relationships between their technology leaders and business partners see faster digital transformation and reap financial benefits. Such companies also inculcated digital values in their employees, who rose to the challenge and equipped themselves in a fast-changing world. And last but not least, the clients expect such a digital transformation from their professional service firms, making this a necessary change. 

The post Does Digital Adoption Lead Professional Service Firms to Better Growth? appeared first on Digital Adoption.

Digital Transformation (DX) refers to integrating digital technology to achieve organizational growth. Organizations apply digital technology to increase business process efficiency, manage workflows, and boost employee productivity. Digital technology also has a significant impact on customer-facing services too, such as customer support.

While digital technologies have the potential to transform an organization, technology alone isn’t enough. A comprehensive digital transformation strategy is the only way an organization can achieve its desired results. Digital transformation roadmap is essential for successful organizational change.

A digital transformation strategy is a step-by-step plan for implementing new technologies across the business. Every digital transformation strategy focuses on how technology can add business value to specific areas. For example, automation platforms can streamline the customer experience. Customers can access information and receive help through online chatbots, reducing the support staff’s burden.

Why Is Digital Transformation Important?

Digital transformation fundamentally changes how an organization operates. Companies can use digital technologies to shift to new business models, offer customers improved services, and reach new consumer bases.

According to Gartner’s 2021 Digital Business Acceleration Survey, ‘65% of executives reported accelerating the pace of their digital business initiatives. Business leaders are opening their eyes to the possibilities for growth through digital transformation.

Digitalization enhances data collection, meaning companies get better customer insights. It leads to higher profits, increased return on investments, boosts employee productivity, and makes a business more agile. Agility is crucial to surviving disruptions in the digital age.

Digital technology helps companies adapt to evolving customer demands and trends. A successful digital transformation strategy encourages a digital-first company culture. Businesses help their employees embrace new technologies and convey the benefits.

What Does Digital Transformation Look Like In 2022? 

Digital transformation is a high priority for ambitious companies in 2022. The pandemic forced digital transformation leaders to increase their efforts. Technologies such as artificial intelligence, cloud computing, machine learning, and other digital tools are at the forefront of global digital transformation initiatives.

Here are the digital transformation trends you can expect to see in 2022.

New Digital business models

Digitalization creates opportunities for new business models. Companies shift business models to reach a new consumer base and strengthen customer relationships. For example, automation platforms provide new ways for customers to access information online or seek support through online chatbots. Many companies have adapted their business models to cater to modern customer expectations.

Netflix famously shifted to a digital business model, transforming from a mail-order DVD service to a global streaming giant. Many companies followed in Netflix’s footsteps by shifting to digital. Embracing digital tools is vital for any business to gain a competitive advantage in the digital age.

Predictive data analytics

As data collection technology improves, companies can get better insights into their customers. For example, the insurance industry uses customer data to assess risk levels and provide more accurate claims. Predictive data analytics helps companies meet evolving customer expectations.

Companies will also battle with the privacy paradox. Customers gravitate towards companies that offer a more personalized customer experience. Companies have to collect more customer insights. At the same, customers are wary about giving over too much information. Businesses in 2022 must find a balance between personalization and privacy.

Cybersecurity

Organizations become more susceptible to hacking as they improve their data management capabilities. Companies will prioritize cybersecurity in the next few years to protect customer data from cyber attacks and breaches. This involves investing in cybersecurity technology and training employees to manage data correctly.

Having the best defenses in place to protect company databases is essential. Effectively handling customer data builds trust and leads to better customer interactions. In the event of a cybersecurity attack, companies need a crisis plan in place to mitigate the damage to their customers.

Hyperautomation

Hyperautomation is a new development in automation technology and a rising digital transformation trend in 2022. Hyperautomation makes automation even more effective. It uses digital technologies like machine learning, artificial intelligence, and robotic process automation. Organizations use these tools to analyze data on different business processes and find new ways to improve them.

Automation reduces employee workload, boosts productivity and performance, and optimizes business processes. Automation also streamlines the customer experience through digital platforms. Customer expectations have changed over the past decade. Now customers expect seamless online platforms to manage their information and get in contact with customer support.

How To Get Started On Your Digital Transformation Journey?

Many business leaders feel the need to update their company’s digital technology capabilities, especially after the pandemic shifted everyone’s focus to online orders and remote work. Now, businesses view digital transformation as a requirement. But how do you begin your transformation journey?

Before investing in expensive digital solutions, you need a comprehensive plan. The success of any organization’s digital transformation strategy depends on its program. Without a comprehensive plan, you risk your transformation falling apart at the first hurdle.

A digital transformation plan should focus on the following areas:

• Cost. How will you keep costs low while getting maximum value from technology investments? 
• Risk. Identify potential risks early to reduce the likelihood and mitigate any impact.
• Application. Evaluate the application of new technology. Is your digital transformation initiative addressing redundancy, criticality, and business value?

What Are The Three Classes Of Digital Transformation?

The digital transformation process can be broken down into three main components: 

Strategy

Creating a comprehensive strategy is the most important aspect of any digital transformation initiative. The first step involves assessing your company’s current technological capabilities and asking how they can improve. Take a targeted integration approach to ensure technology investments don’t go to waste.

Your strategy should contain realistic and achievable goals. Employees must understand business goals, too, so they can see the direction the company is heading in. A successful digital transformation must outline a plan for collaboration between executives and employees. 

Collecting regular feedback from employees using a feedback mechanism like a digital adoption platform is essential. This will help your organization make necessary adjustments based on what works and what doesn’t. 

Speed & Scale

Companies struggle to scale up and accelerate the digital transformation process effectively. Finding cost-effective digital solutions that can grow alongside the company is challenging. The problem often lies in organizational structure.

To achieve scalability, organizations must nurture a digital-first culture in which employees actively seek improved ways of work. Successful digital transformations require engagement from all employees. Otherwise, change initiatives become superficial and don’t have any meaningful impact on the business.

Achieving enterprise-wide digital transformation means setting out a clear mission. As McKinsey describes in a recent report, the answer to how to scale your digital transformation is relatively straightforward. ‘To truly change the company, organizations need to reshape project portfolios into clearly defined missions that link directly to corporate strategy.’ This means that employees should know how their responsibilities intersect with business objectives. 

Data Alignment

Aligning data and strategy is crucial to achieving full digital maturity. This means collecting the right customer data and knowing how to leverage that data. More industries are increasing their capacity for data collection. However, collecting large amounts of data isn’t enough. 

The key is hiring the right specialists and teams to translate data into actionable insights. Companies align data with digital transformation efforts to get the most value from digital technologies. You must identify the most valuable data assets and create a system for reusability. 

Without this approach, data analytics become siloed, leading to inefficient processes. Focus on reusable data assets for increased speed and scalability. This way, you can get the most out of data analytics for optimal customer insights. 

How Has The COVID-19 Pandemic Impacted Digital Transformation?

After the Covid-19 pandemic, many organizations began embracing digital transformation. Global trends indicate that customers expect companies to offer digital services as more people become tech-savvy. 

During the pandemic, there was a massive increase in online shopping. Business leaders invested heavily in automation platforms to improve their online customer experiences. These digital platforms created a seamless interaction, allowing customers to receive support from online chatbots, view all their account information online, and order products remotely at the click of a button. 

Even after the return to in-store shopping, customers still flock to online services for convenience. This is just one of many examples of digital transformation creating lasting change across industries. 

Other trends within the workplace indicate a shift in employee attitudes to work. The pandemic caused a surge in mental health issues related to work-life balance. Companies have taken different approaches to integrate workers back into the office. But Gartner’s research on 9 Future of Work Trends Post Covid-19 shows that ‘75% of hybrid or remote knowledge workers [agree] their expectations for working flexibly have increased.’

Many employees feel a sense of betrayal because they don’t want to return to the office. Employers make the wrong decision by forcing staff back to the office when they aren’t ready. Looking past the pandemic, it’s clear that employers will need to prioritize a strong support network for their workers. 

What Is A Digital Transformation Framework?

A digital transformation framework is a set of guidelines for achieving meaningful organizational change. Frameworks are like blueprints that digital transformation leaders use to help companies thrive in the digital era.

A digital transformation framework provides a proven method for leveraging new technologies to provide better services for customers. Frameworks are beneficial for organizations that are unfamiliar with digital transformations.

They include key performance indicators, standards, and checklists that digital businesses use to secure their place in the digital economy.

How To Create A Robust Digital Transformation Framework

Many companies get distracted by modern technologies during their digital transformation journeys. They neglect the human side of change and fail to encourage a digital-first culture. The best digital transformation frameworks focus on achieving customer value by enhancing business operations.

It’s up to business leaders to find the right solution by focusing on the right problems. The first step to creating a robust framework is identifying weak areas of the organization. Ask how technology will integrate with and improve business functions. Find a framework that guides your company through each crucial stage, including conceptualization, planning, communication, and technology investment choices.

A digital transformation framework isn’t the only tool that improves a business’ technology strategy. Many organizations hire a Chief Digital Officer to enhance digital initiatives. Their role is to leverage emerging technologies like artificial intelligence, digital data, cloud computing, and others to achieve strategic objectives.

Culture & Digital Transformation: Seeing Business Through A New Lens

How can you ensure your digital transformation efforts lead to better business outcomes? The answer lies in the intersection between culture and digital transformation.

Many digital transformation initiatives fail because business leaders neglect the impact of change on their employees. People guide organizational change, and without adequate support, employees won’t engage with new ways of work. This leads to a poor return on technology investments and wasted time.

Organizational culture affects a company’s ability to adapt to digital disruption in the future. After the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s clear that agility is an essential business trait for modern organizations. Companies must focus on changing culture to gain a competitive advantage in a constantly changing environment.

But how can business leaders engage employees in transformational initiatives?

5 Factors That Incentivize Digital Change

Digital transformations are complex processes consisting of many moving parts. Business leaders must focus on the people side of change to see results. This concept is known as change management. Change management is a set of best practices for guiding employees through organizational transformations. 

1. Cultivate a Digital-First Culture

Resistance is a natural part of any change initiative. Instead of pushing back, employers should plan for resistance by encouraging cultural change. It’s not about getting over a hurdle at a time. It’s about enabling organizational change by shifting attitudes to digital technology. 

Helping employees see change as a good thing means communicating the benefits of digital technology. Digital transformation will enhance workflow, make their jobs more rewarding, and improve their performance. 

2. Leverage Technology Effectively

Getting the most out of technology goes beyond simply investing in new software and hoping it sticks. It’s essential to focus on the user experience. Consider how each employee will interact with new technology. Is the software intuitive? Does the technology enable seamless collaboration? Will employees require consistent training?

You get to the core of your technology strategy by addressing these issues. Workers determine the success of digital solutions. Source the best technology that fits the needs of your workforce. 

3. Focus on Labor-Intensive Tasks

Improving business processes is often the main focus of digital transformations. But many organizations neglect small and repetitive tasks that end up wasting a lot of resources. Focus on activities that take up most of your employees’ time. Automating repetitive and simple tasks will free up labor and resources for more critical tasks. Automation also helps employees understand how digital transformation impacts them positively. 

4. Align Employees and Strategy

The priority of any digital transformation project should be to improve employee experiences. Not only will digital technology improve productivity, but it will also boost overall worker satisfaction. 

When creating a transformation strategy, ensure that any proposed changes will improve work for employees. This will ensure your employees become digital advocates and embrace future change. Aligning employees and strategy is a crucial component of change management.

5. Provide Effective Training

Many companies conduct a comprehensive training program during their onboarding and early adoption stages of their transformation initiative. But they often make the mistake of stopping or slowing down training once employees begin using new technology. 

Often this leads to delayed resistance further down the line. Employees feel incompetent and don’t typically seek out help when learning something new. It’s crucial to provide ongoing training.

A great way to improve training is using a digital adoption platform (DAP). A DAP is software that integrates with other software to guide users through tasks. A DAP also streamlines the training process by collecting feedback on employee progress. 

Key DX Trends Moving Into 2023

As organizations rebuild after the disruption caused by the pandemic, they look to 2023 for potential new investments. 2023 will be an excellent opportunity to accelerate enterprise digital transformation. 

Here are some key trends to watch out for:

Sustainability and DX

Companies will look for new ways to combine sustainability projects with digital transformation initiatives. In 2023 sustainability will be the core focus, enabling innovation and delivering more business value. 

A rise in digital platforms

Organizations have already begun leveraging digital platforms for an improved customer experience. This trend is set to accelerate in 2023, with many businesses adapting their value chains to meet the demands of new markets and ecosystems.

Reinventing business models

An increasing number of organizations are overhauling legacy systems to reshape their business operations. They incorporate technologies like artificial intelligence, machine learning, and cloud computing to optimize business operations. Digital innovations will drive more organizational reinventions than ever before. 

4 Key Areas Of Enterprise Digital Transformation

Every change leader has a different approach to digital transformation. However, many agree that digital transformation consists of four key areas. Enabling enterprise digital transformation requires a holistic approach, targeting all areas simultaneously. 

Empowering Employees

A business strategy is only effective if everyone contributes to achieving desired outcomes. Empowering employees means motivating them to adopt new ways of working and providing them with the necessary skills to thrive in a digital landscape. 

Improving the Customer Experience

Improving internal processes always leads to a better customer experience. This involves integrating digital platforms to respond more effectively to customer requests. In the digital age, tech-savvy customers expect a certain standard of digital proficiency from the brands they interact with. 

Enhancing Business Operations

The purpose of digital technology is to increase efficiency. Your business strategy should identify areas of improvement and prioritize those areas when introducing new software. Enhancing business operations makes your business a well-oiled machine. If a business wants to adapt to disruption, digital transformation must be a priority. 

Innovation

Digital transformation leads to business innovation. It opens the door to new business models, reinvention, new domains, and new ways to expand the business. Replacing legacy technology is a top priority for companies looking for new ways to innovate.

What Roles Drive Digital Transformation Projects?

Creating the right team of talent will determine the success of your digital transformation project. From IT experts to customer service specialists, which are the best roles to prioritize?

Change Managers 

Digital transformation significantly impacts the status quo and often leads to employee resistance. To address the problem, your company needs the expertise of a change manager. Change managers are experienced in leading transformations and affecting positive growth. They take a targeted approach to affecting change, enabling personalized training and support. 

Customer Experience Experts

Every digital transformation project should lead to an improved customer experience transformation. Their role is to optimize, measure, and drive effective customer experience strategies. They work with data analysts to retrieve essential customer insights. They focus on emerging market trends, customer expectations, and ways to impact revenue growth. 

Digital Product Managers

A digital product manager is responsible for leading the production of digital products to market success. These products include apps, software tools, and other digital solutions. The role of a digital product manager involves delivering products through digital channels to improve the user experience.

Cloud Security Specialist

Securing a cloud-based solution is much more complex than handling your current data servers and requires the input of a cloud security specialist. Your organization remains vulnerable to breaches and attacks without the right cloud security talent.

What Digital Technologies Drive Digital Transformation?

Digital technologies are at the core of digital transformation. Investing in smart technology is a complex process that requires a targeted approach. Business leaders must know how each technology impacts specific business areas to achieve desired results. 

Here are some emerging technologies currently driving digital transformation:

Internet of things

The internet of things refers to a network of connected systems that collect and share information. This includes physical devices that contain software, sensors, or processing abilities, like mobile devices. The internet of things has become an invaluable source of data. The insurance industry, for example, collects more accurate data from a customer’s mobile device to improve claims processing. 

Robotics

Companies use robotics to digitize simple and repetitive tasks. Robotics free up staff and resources for more critical business tasks. When combined with other new and emerging technologies, like artificial intelligence, robotics can enhance efficiency, improve productivity, and lead to a better user experience. 

Artificial Intelligence And Machine Learning

Artificial intelligence exists in almost all smart technologies, from smart devices to natural language processors. Businesses use artificial intelligence to automate processes, make better business decisions, and provide improved online platforms for customers. 

Machine learning is a type of artificial intelligence that mimics human learning to increase accuracy. It gains valuable insights from data and algorithms to help make predictions and perform actions without the need for human input. 

How Can I Gauge ROI On Digital Transformation?

Many organizations fail to track the progress of their digital transformation effectively. Gauging a return on investment (ROI) is more than recording profit. To determine the success of technology investments, you must also look at employee engagement. 

How satisfied are your employees using new technologies? Creating a feedback system is necessary to understand how employees feel about the change initiative. This will show your current digital solution’s effectiveness and highlight future improvement areas. 

Another way to gauge ROI is by conducting a cross-benefit digital transformation analysis. For example, how much money has your company saved by implementing online chatbots? How effectively can your organization meet its business goals? Measuring success is a crucial component of digital transformation. It ensures that the process can continue and the benefits of digitalization are lasting. 

Why Are Businesses Seeking Digital Transformation Strategies More Than Ever? 

The level of enterprise digital transformation is at an all-time high. There are several reasons for this rise, but many experts believe the pandemic was a major accelerating force for most business leaders. 

The unprecedented effects of the pandemic ultimately shifted attitudes to work for many employees. For the first time, remote work was a real possibility, and digitalization played a big part in making it work. Organizations realize that disruptions can occur anytime, and preparing is not always possible. 

However, not enough organizations are actively crafting business strategies around future trends. They don’t have a robust system for detecting trends and disruptions. A recent Gartner survey shows that ‘only 38% of organizations have a formal process for this type of trendspotting.’ This research shows there’s still a long way to go before businesses adopt the right attitude to managing disruptions. 

Digitization VS Digitalization Vs. Digital Transformation 

Many business leaders use the terms digitization, digitalization, and digital transformation interchangeably, which can be confusing. But what does each term mean, and how do they differ?

Digitization

Digitization refers to the process of creating a digital representation of a physical object. For example, scanning a paper document to save it as a digital document. This can be useful during manufacturing to convert mechanical measurements into digital ones. 

Digitalization

Digitalization refers to introducing digital technology within an environment or system. Businesses utilize digital technologies and digital data to enhance internal business processes. Digitalization reduces labor costs and boosts productivity and efficiency. Digitalization takes an existing process that requires human input and makes it a software-driven process. 

Digital Transformation

Digital transformation is a business-wide transformation project that uses digitalization to achieve business growth. Any digital transformation initiative aims to change business processes by introducing digital technologies. This process differs from digitization and digitalization because it involves a wider-scope business strategy to change how the business operates using digital solutions. 

CIO Digital Transformation Initiatives Guide: Everything You Need To Know 

What should Chief Information Officers know when crafting the best digital transformation initiative? The role of a CIO comes with a lot of responsibility. They ultimately guide the entire digital transformation process, and it’s up to them to ensure their company’s strategy is effective. 

Here are some essential tips for creating the most effective initiative.

1. Assess Organizational Structure

The first step to planning a winning strategy is to assess problem areas. Identifying weak points early on is a great way to avoid problems down the line. CIOs must be naturally reflective and analytical. Outside of assessing current technology capabilities, CIOs must analyze the organizational structure. They should focus on how the business fosters collaboration, the business culture, and attitudes to change.

2. Communicate Effectively

The best way to motivate the workforce is to tell a compelling transformation story. All successful CIOs are storytellers at heart, capable of convincing employees that digitalization is fundamentally transformative. The role of the CIO also requires communicating with executives to ensure buy-in on key technology investments. 

3. Identify the Right Talent

A practical CIO understands that success depends on finding the right talent. Delegating key roles to influential team members relieves pressure from top management. When looking for the right talent, ask yourself, what skills are required to affect change? Will you train existing employees or hire new talent with the necessary expertise? Whether hiring IT specialists or customer experience experts, finding the right talent is vital to achieving desired results. 

How DX Empowers People To Learn In New Ways 

Digital transformation essentially gives your employees a new set of digital skills. These skills are becoming more valuable and sought after in a digital world. Empowering employees to learn is also an essential part of any digital transformation. If your employees aren’t learning, your organization won’t transform. 

Employees often resist the unfamiliar, especially when it comes to training. Business leaders have found a solution to training through digital adoption platforms. Many organizations are still asking how digital adoption platforms increase technology adoption rates.

These platforms integrate with chosen software to guide employees through the training process. They enable a personalized approach to training, tailoring materials to the needs of individuals. Training becomes less about mastering digital tools and more about developing as an employee. 

Creating A Playground For The Workforce Of Tomorrow 

When business leaders think about improving the workplace, they often don’t consider the term ‘playground.’ Associations with childishness are hard to escape, but perhaps a playground is precisely what today’s employees need the most. 

As organizations push for digital transformation, employees are under a lot of pressure to change. As a result of the two-year pandemic, the workforce lacks motivation and enthusiasm for any more change. Increasing employee engagement requires a new approach to workplace culture. 

A big part of making work more enjoyable is to tackle the areas employees usually dislike the most. Perhaps the most significant of these areas is training. Digital transformation requires ongoing training throughout the process and after it ends. This deters a lot of employees. 

Digital adoption platforms are a great way to make training more accessible and enjoyable. Adapting to employees’ learning styles is essential for addressing the concerns of tomorrow’s workforce. The future of the workplace is a more inclusive, considerate environment where employees can continuously learn in ways that fit them. 

Digital Transformation Strategy Trends For 2023

Looking forward to 2023 can help change leaders prepare for potential disruptions caused by future trends. Here are some key strategy trends for next year: 

Democratization of Innovation

As digital technologies become more accessible, we’ll see an increase in the democratization of innovation. This means the users of digital tools can innovate for themselves. Instead of relying on manufacturers, users will determine changes that better fit their needs. 

The user-centric innovation process is an alternative to the traditional approach to development. It will change how organizations create digital transformation strategies. Employees will feel more involved in digital transformation efforts as they hold more of a stake in the outcome. 

The Expanded Cloud

In 2023, CIOs will focus on the cloud to accelerate digital transformation. Companies that embrace the cloud achieve faster innovation, bringing more value to the market quicker than their competitors. 2023 will be the year that many CIOs prioritize cloud integration to get the most value. Organizations will target specific business domains where cloud computing has the most impact.

Real-Time Data Processing

Many experts agree that real-time data is the driving force behind enterprise digital transformation success. Real-time data processing is vital for improving business efficiency through automation. Compared to standard data, real-time data is more resilient and available. It often leads to better insights and improved performance. CIOs will prioritize real-time data processing to optimize employee workloads and automate critical business operations. 

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Interestingly, the increase in teleconsultations has continued even after two years, despite relaxations in Covid-related movement restrictions. This shows that while the Pandemic was the catalyst needed for boosting online consults, people did not stop using it when the pandemic subsided.  However, concerns remain with most consumers worried about data security and, more importantly, the privacy of their health data. While health apps continue to increase their customer base, U.S. patients are particular in their doctors approving the usage of such apps. 

Digital Technologies Used 

In 2016, when U.S. residents were asked about their preferred digital technology for monitoring their health, about 33% of them said they used mobile apps. In contrast, virtual consultation with the doctor was cited by only 12%. 

In just over four years, things took a wild turn. In 2021, when the same set of residents was asked the question, only 18% said they relied on mobile apps, while 32% were interested in a virtual consultation. 

The change is directly related to the Covid-19 pandemic, which led to a unique situation of an increasing number of patients and high restrictions on movements, and fear of getting the disease while in close contact. 

The growing disease burden and reluctance to have physical contact meant that doctors and patients increasingly preferred digital consultation. This led to the surge in such consults, as seen in the graph below. 

The sudden demand for digital health-based tools also led to innovations such as digital therapeutics and health chatbots. 

Reasons for Digital Adoption

While U.S. consumers quickly adapted to digital health, 33% said their medical provider should validate such technology. The proliferation of health apps and wearables has made U.S. consumers cautious about their choice. 

This is also reflected in 30% of them insisting that confidence in data security and privacy will help them use digital technology more. It is important to note that consumers are least bothered about the software quality or cost of the device. When it comes to health, their primary aim was to ensure that the apps had no security issues and that their physician recommended them. 

Digital Technologies Used 

Concerns about digital security and privacy were chief issues for digital health enthusiasts in the U.S. About 44% of U.S. consumers strongly agreed in 2021 that they should have the right to approve collecting and using personal health information for purposes beyond their treatment. 

About 35% strongly agreed that the increase in virtual care due to the Covid-19 pandemic has made them consider their data privacy and security needs. 

Telehealth Claims

An analysis of telehealth claim volumes in the U.S. showed that such claims had spiked to 78 times the pre-Covid levels in April 2020 after the cases started to spread like wildfire. The severe movement restrictions on the initial days and the sudden surge in ailments meant that tele-consults were the only way out. The safety of the patients and the doctors also played a vital part in this surge. 

Though the restrictions eased and fear of catching the virus subsided a bit in the following months, telehealth claims continue to be 38 times more than what it was before the pandemic. 

Specialization-wise Penetration

While telehealth consultations have drastically improved across the U.S. after the pandemic, the increase was not recorded across all specializations. The psychiatry specialization, which requires negligible physical contact, recorded the biggest surge in telehealth penetration. In February 2021, at least 50% of psychiatry outpatient claims were made online. 

The telehealth penetration was higher among patients getting treated for substance use disorder. However, the share decreased to less than 5% when it came to specialties such as general surgery, orthopedic surgery, and ophthalmology, as physical examination of the patient is a must in such cases. 

Modality of Appointments

When the U.S. customers were asked about their most recent type of appointment on June 14, 2021, only 31% of psychiatric/psychological patients said they met their consultant in person. This further shows how the penetration of telehealth has been disproportionately higher in the psychiatry specialization. 

Digital Health Adoption Rates

When the U.S. residents were asked about the adoption of telemedicine, only 4.7% of patients said they attempted it before Covid-19. The share increased to 18.7% after the pandemic. Before the pandemic, only 10.7% of patients consulted doctors over the telephone, while 23.7% made phone consults after the advent of the pandemic. 

When a similar question was posed to doctors in the U.S., stark differences were observed before and after the pandemic. Only 20% of doctors consulted patients over the telephone before the pandemic, and the share increased to 85% after Covid-19. A similar sharp spike in doctor consults was also observed in video consults. 

Top Reasons for Digital Adoption

When asked to list the top three factors which helped U.S. customers consider digital health technology, 48% said they were drawn towards it as it helped reduce wait times. Convenience and cost savings were also quoted as the main reasons. 

When the same question was posted to U.S. doctors, 73% cited workflow efficiency as the reason. Patient safety and insurance coverage were also among the top three reasons. 

Conclusion
It is evident from the survey results that U.S. patients are overwhelmingly happy to switch to digital consultations and virtual disease management. However, their data privacy and security concerns should be adequately addressed in the coming days. Policies and regulations which assure U.S. citizens that their personal health information will not be leaked without their permission and won’t be sold without their knowledge will help boost this trend further.

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It’s a transformation that will have to occur sooner or later, with McKinsey reporting that 64% of business executives need to enhance their digital channels or build new digital businesses if they want to future-proof their organization and remain economically viable through 2023. Regardless of the pandemic, organizations around the globe have been “going digital” in recent years. 

Digital communication fosters collaboration by improving internal employee engagement. Forging digital-based alliances are essential for businesses to start improving workplace culture. It also helps to boost company-wide adaptation and leads to a heightened employee experience. It’s important to remember that employees adapt to digital transformation differently. Training employees to make digital improvements will enhance company-wide communication and creates a dynamic environment with tangible benefits.

Digital has been ingrained deeply into the way business is done that the question of digital transformation is only a matter of when. If your company isn’t prepared for the changes a digital transformation initiative brings, 

Four Steps to Prepare Your Organization for Digital Transformation

Digital transformation isn’t as simple as some might think because it affects everybody across the organization. Everyone has to be on board. Employees must have the proper mindset before embarking on their digital transformation journey. 

We’ve outlined four steps below to help make your organization’s transition as seamless as possible. 

1. Evaluate Employee Skills

Before determining what digital skills and specializations your organization needs, look first at what skills your employees already have and what value they bring to the business. Not all companies have the human resources, skills, and infrastructure for big data, cloud computing, and even eCommerce. These are the top priorities today, and the sooner your company adapts to these technologies, the better. 

Being open to continuous learning is also vital because these technologies constantly evolve, and new technologies are always around the corner. You should consider artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and cybersecurity.

2. Identify Talent Gaps

After identifying your workforce’s skills, you should look at your business as a whole and see where there are gaps skill-wise. Today’s economy is digital, and ensuring there are no digital talent gaps will help provide a competitive edge to your organization. 

Your digital strategy should address your business objectives, and digital talent needs to ensure a sustainable solution. If your workforce isn’t prepared to handle digital transformation, you might need to seek outside talent. 

3. Offer On-the-job Training to Employees

If your employees lack the necessary digital skills, it doesn’t mean they have to stay that way. Short of attracting digital talent, you could also promote continuous learning programs for employees wherein they can learn the needed skills that will help in your digital transformation initiatives. Encourage ongoing employee training by fostering an environment that prioritizes and incentivizes learning. It would be best if you also created a clear career development path for employees to track their progress and see where they’re going.

4. Promote From Within 

Promoting deserving employees boosts employee morale and helps save money on recruitment and hiring costs. Internal promotions are also significantly less expensive than hiring someone externally for the same role. Providing your employees opportunities for training and career development also develops loyalty and encourages them to give their best for the continued success of your organization. 

One thing you can do to prove you trust your employees’ capabilities is to make them part of the organization’s digital transformation initiatives. This will empower them to be instigators of change and innovation within the organization.

5 Ways to Help Employees Keep Up with Digital Transformation

To help employees keep abreast of digital transformation trends, they should be made aware of the current consumer products landscape. Through the years, consumer products have been leaning toward digital approaches that call for tools and skillsets that can respond to the needs of the always-connected consumer. Below are a few ways you can help your workforce respond to the call of the times.

1. Commit From the Top

For transformation efforts to be successful, they should always be top-down initiatives. However, people outside the leadership teams should also be involved in implementing organizational changes. Creating a change management plan will also help manage the transition process because it will document and help monitor and control changes in budget, schedule, scope, and other resources. Consequently, a documented strategy will minimize the impact of change on employees, customers, and the business as a whole. 

A few years ago, British utility company Centrica began adapting its business model by putting employees at the heart of the transformation. “One of the great things I love is that when you walk into our space, it is collaborative. You can’t tell the difference between the teams – we’re all centered around the product.” Said Paul Roberts, Head of Digital.

This shows that a combined, top-down approach helps to implement new digital communication, inspires valid digital connections, and can encourage collaboration online. Both online and offline communication can be unified, keeping employees connected through their own devices. Employees tend to make digital advances when they utilize digital tools to complete everyday tasks. Digital transformation involves moving towards immersive training programs that cover the needs of the entire enterprise.

2. Give Employees Direct Access to Consumers

Providing Your products or services directly to consumers allows you to gain insight into customer behaviors that lead to sales and the factors that drive those behaviors. Easy-to-set-up digital tools are available to help make this happen, including eCommerce software, search engine optimization (SEO) tools, and social media listening tools. Maximizing these solutions, however, requires a shift to a digital-first organizational structure and a customer-centric mindset. 

3. Help Employees Embrace Agility

The road to digital transformation is a fast-paced highway that can’t be accommodated by traditional business road maps created with minimal digital consideration. As such, a high level of agility is needed to ensure the success of the digital transformation. This shift can be enabled by day-to-day activities or processes that allow employees to work faster and more efficiently. These activities will help make the changes tangible and encourage employees to embrace the shift to a more agile approach. 

It’s no secret that engagement drives digital adoption. Agile and flexible work schedules help employees adapt to new ways of working while giving them breathing space to learn and adapt to new processes. Older employees struggle with change, especially when implemented digital changes are happening quickly. Try developing an immersive training program specifically targeted at older employees less responsive to digital change. This is an excellent way of ensuring that employees develop the necessary skills to keep up with the fast-paced, dynamic environments of the digital age.

4. Invest in “Employee Experience Design”

Employee experience should be part of digital transformation initiatives because this helps attract and retain valuable and mission-critical talent. Today’s workforce has been taking on new and constantly evolving roles, leading to new motivations and expectations. By leveraging journey maps, user research, and user personas, you can improve the overall employee experience and turn employee milestones into company milestones. 

5. Invest in Lifelong Learning

In light of the drastic changes in the business landscape brought about by the pandemic, employees must embark on their own journey of continuous learning. As roles change and new tools become available, learning has become a fundamental part of being a valuable employee.

Support employees in this journey by providing frequent and regular upskilling programs delivered in easily digestible formats that fit their work schedules. New digital roles can be pretty demanding, so consider this when scheduling training programs and learning initiatives.

Technology Acceptance & Attitudes Toward Technological Change

According to the technology acceptance model (TAM), the success of digital adoption is based on positive attitudes toward perceived usefulness and ease of use. The main challenge toward full digital adoption is the investment in full-featured systems while only being able to use a portion of its capabilities. These features are deemed vital to the business. 

There’s some confusion regarding the exact definition of digital adoption. Some perceive it as simple as using a mobile device’s business intelligence (BI) tools. In contrast, others refer to implementing robust business platforms that affect core business processes. 

There are also those that question the adoption of new technology by virtue of the effectiveness and reliability of old and tested systems and solutions that have stood the test of time. This dichotomy puts those that push for digital transformation and innovation at opposite ends from those who want consistency and efficiency. 

The Impact of Digital Transformation on Work-related Outcomes

While digital transformation can be extremely challenging for businesses, its benefits are more than enough proof that it’s something worth doing. It’s a complicated process that can help improve almost every part of an organization. 

The main problem most companies face is the more significant focus on “digital” instead of “transformation.” Digital transformation is the reinvention of a business that starts at its core. It requires a change in mindset and a digital-first work ethic. 

Essentially, digital transformation is all about knowledge sharing and improved internal communication between different organizational business units. Enhancing employee engagement can significantly improve how teams work together and help them break out of their silos and work toward true collaboration. 

Group Dynamics and Organizational Factors Impacting Digital Transformation

Group dynamics is vital in digital transformation success because it involves several individuals working toward a common goal. A good dynamic ensures that each group member will perform as expected and work toward the goals set by the group. In digital transformation, several factors affect the work dynamic in an organization, including the leadership within the group, the individual personalities of the group members, the life cycle of a group, and how effectively the group communicates.

Together, these factors create a set of organizational factors that significantly affect digital transformation efforts. How people perceive digital transformation substantially affects how easily they will accept the changes. Recognizing ways to ease the transition should be a focus of leadership. 

Focusing on enhancing the group dynamic within the organization will minimize work disruption and help employees integrate digital tools and solutions into their workflow. Every employee must know that collaboration and cooperation are critical components of a successful digital transformation. It’s the shared goal toward which everyone in the organization should work.

How To Nurture A Digital Workforce 

The focus of digital transformation shouldn’t solely be on the digital solutions used and the processes involved. Organizations should endeavor to empower employees to become problem solvers, with digital solutions acting only as tools to support employee-driven initiatives. Leaders should help foster an environment that’s supportive of continuous learning. 

Employees aren’t hesitant to use technologies or tools unfamiliar to them. They are instead encouraged to learn more about them and how they can be leveraged to increase productivity and efficiency. Companies should aim to make their employees empowered problem solvers, Dery said, by creating a supportive environment of continual and rapid learning where they can leverage technologies to solve unforeseen problems. These employees need the confidence to solve problems and the skills to work effectively in a digital world.

Below are a few ways to help your employees become more digitally inclined and proficient.

Manage the Balance Between Technology and Employee Skills 

Digital tools are only as good as the skilled people who use them. Thus, having the “right technology” means an organization should also have the “right people”—people proficient in using these digital tools. It’s not enough, however, for employees to simply know how to use these tools. They should also be able to identify and solve problems and change their workflow to improve business outcomes. 

Investing in one without investing in the other can be problematic for companies because it hinders efficiency and pushes them into a reactive instead of proactive approach. If a company focuses too much on technology acquisition without developing the necessary skills of employees, the technology becomes an obstacle instead of an enabler of digital transformation. On the other hand, focusing too much on developing high digital skill levels leads to stop-gap solutions and frustration if available systems or platforms can’t support ideas.

Accelerate Employee Adjustment to New Roles, Not Just New Tasks

The digital transformation process’s transition phase entails organizational structure and operations changes. Consequently, this also leads to changes in employee tasks, but leaders should help employees understand that this change affects their workplace roles and not just their tasks. Leaders should explain to employees that there may be some new skills or capabilities that need to be learned to help in the mastery of the new work. Also, they should clearly describe how roles are changing and expect some emotional challenges as employees come into terms with their unique identities.  

Have the Right Leadership in Place

Digital transformations should have a capable leader at the helm who has both technology and business skills. The problem is that someone like this can be tough to find. One approach you can take is to hire two leaders—one to lead the technology side of things and the other to handle the business side. These two leaders will work toward the same goals, with different KPIs related to their area of expertise. 

Digital Transformation Keeps on Giving (If You Get It Right) 

Done right, digital transformation will push a business to the next level and future-proof it with the help of new and innovative solutions. 

The transformation, however, should come from within and involve all members of an organization. There will be a transition period, more than one, in fact because digital transformation is an iterative process. 

It’s an ongoing thrust that aims to keep your business and people on their toes and ready to face the challenges of the new, digital world.

The post Helping Your Employees Adapt To Digital Transformation (DX) appeared first on Digital Adoption.

Digital technology has changed the way we live. From remote working to online shopping, apps, and social media. Businesses are taking advantage of this shift to achieve new levels of success.

Many companies are also failing to leverage new technologies. You need to know what you’re investing in to get the most out of technology investments. 

Consider this your comprehensive guide to digitalization, the benefits of using digital technology, and how to overcome digital adoption challenges.

Digital technology refers to electronic tools or automatic systems designed to store and process data. Thousands of processes every day are possible due to digital technology. Examples of digital technology include smartphones, social media, online games, and multimedia.

Compared to analog technology, digital technology enables storing vast amounts of data. Electronic tools process and transmit digital signals much faster. Without this data, we couldn’t communicate, learn or work in the same way. 

Digital technology transforms every facet of daily life. But, what are the real benefits of using new technology?

What Are The Benefits of Using Digital Technology?

The goal of all technological progression is to improve a process. Digital technologies are no different. Digitalization means making processes more efficient, scalable, and more beneficial to end-users. 

Organizations have different reasons for adopting digital technology depending on their goals. But for all companies, digital technology helps enhance operations and improve workflow. Business processes become more efficient. This allows an organization to scale up or expand to new business models or domains. 

Here are some of the main benefits of implementing digital technology:

1. Better Data Collection

Digital technology optimizes data collection and analytics. You can store or process data on a larger scale at a quicker pace. Faster data transmission speeds also mean faster analysis. You gain better customer insights for launching customer-centric strategies for growth.

Moving from analog to digital data is vital to the digital revolution. Companies can get on board or get swept away by digital progression.

2. Creates a Digital Culture

When leaders support their employees with comprehensive training, they see the benefits of digital tools.

And when stakeholders see a company-wide collaboration effort, they’ll seek out digital alternatives to improve the business.

3. Increased Profits

Technology investments are time-consuming and expensive. Getting the most out of technology investments means making the right decisions. A successful digital adoption strategy increases engagement with new systems and business processes. User engagement is the most significant determiner of a positive return on investment.

4. Agility

Keeping up with evolving demands is difficult in the digital age. Digital technology improves business operations, allowing leaders to prepare for what’s next. Mapping technology progression means a company can make changes quickly to avoid stalling the adoption process.

5. Improved Customer Experience

Digital technology also aims to enhance the customer experience through new services like apps or websites. Digital communication networks improve the relationship between a business and its customers. Improving a business will also trickle down, improving the end-user experience. 

6. Increased Productivity

When used correctly, new software can transform workflow. Tasks become much easier, productivity rises, and employees reap the benefits. Providing comprehensive training on new systems will also make work more efficient.

What Are The Challenges of Digital Technology Adoption?

Organizations worldwide are wisening up to the pace of technological progress, but many are struggling to keep up. To stay ahead of the competition, many businesses turn to digital adoption. 

Digital adoption is part of a more extensive process known as digital transformation. The term refers to using new technology to meet the evolving demands of a highly digital world. Digital adoption is more specific. 

Digital adoption is the process of leveraging new technology like software, apps, or websites to improve a business. It’s all about getting the most out of digital solutions. 

The process emphasizes the human element of technology adoption. It involves encouraging adaptability by transforming a company’s attitude to new technology. 

It’s not enough to throw shiny new software into a workplace and hope for the best. Companies need to prepare to adopt new technology. This could mean training employees on new tech, developing a segmented strategy for every department, and incorporating change management to guide everyone through the process. 

Ensuring users adopt new technology is crucial to avoid wasting valuable time on expensive technology investments. 

With that said, here are some common challenges of digital adoption.

Inadequate Change Management Strategy

Change management is the process of guiding your workforce through a transformation. A successful strategy involves adequate training, supporting employees, and encouraging collaboration. 

Change management also means having a solid implementation plan. Businesses are less likely to adapt to new technology without a comprehensive strategy.

Complex Software & Technology

Software designed to manage enterprise-level tasks is bound to be complex. Leaders make the mistake of rushing into a new software purchase, neglecting to consider how end-users will operate new systems. 

Digital adoption platforms (DAPs) offer a solution to this problem. A DAP software program integrates with a chosen system to streamline the training process. They provide virtual learning environments to simplify digital learning. Digital adoption platforms guide tech-shy users through key tasks at a customized pace.

DAPs also reduce onboarding time, remove the burden on IT teams and provide insight into the transformation process. In the early stages of the process, it’s also important to outline how you’ll introduce complex technology into the workplace.

Driving Adoption of Contemporary Tools and Processes

Some employees struggle to integrate with new systems. They fear the unfamiliar and feel unsupported in learning to use new digital tools. Resistance to digital adoption from end-users is one of the most common reasons for a failed strategy.

The solution is inclusive onboarding training and consistent support. Leaders should communicate the benefits of using a new system to motivate employees to embrace change.

Continuous Evolution of Customer Needs

Successful businesses understand that customer needs are constantly evolving. Cultural and societal changes impact the demands of customers. The COVID-19 pandemic was a clear example of how quickly expectations can develop.

Digital adoption is an ongoing process. Leaders need to prepare to adapt their strategy if necessary.

Inadequate Digital Transformation Strategy

Investing in new technologies without a plan for using them within your organization is a recipe for disaster. You have to ask, what are you trying to improve through new technology? Does your organization need a complete overhaul, or will new software integrate with current systems?

A targeted and projected approach to digitalization will make success much more likely.

Lack of adequate IT Skills

Organizations fail to apply the right talent in the right areas during their adoption process. Challenges are likely to crop up no matter how prepared you are. An IT team can also oversee the integration process, help manage cybersecurity efforts and handle data analytics.

The necessary talent depends on the needs of the company. What kind of technology is being implemented? Does your business need talent with extensive scientific or engineering knowledge? Or personable IT leaders with the right communication skills? Answering these questions will help you target your recruiting efforts.

The Different Types of Digital Technology?

Digital technologies are all around us. You experience the benefits of digitalization every day.

Examples of digital technology:

• 3D Printing
• Social Media
• Video Streaming
• 5G Data
• Cloud Computing
• Digital cameras
• Digital clocks

Digital or computerized devices range from small technologies to more complex transformational technology.

The internet contains many examples of digital technology. It’s one of the most valuable tools we have to communicate, learn and work. The internet has created endless opportunities for digital connectivity.

Companies can sell their products worldwide and reach customers in new ways. The internet has also given rise to alternative digital methods of work.

Mobile phones are an example of an accessible digital device that has changed the way we live. Mobile phones also contain other tools like digital cameras, calculators, and maps. It’s hard to imagine a world without digital communications like mobile phones.

Technology will look very different in the future. Artificial Intelligence (AI) promises to be the catalyst for the next technological revolution. As Artificial Intelligence technology improves, machines will take over more areas of our work. This sounds dystopian, but automation is a good thing. It means companies can focus on other areas of work.

Why is Digital Technology Important?

During the Pandemic, millions of workers began working remotely, a challenge no one could have foreseen. Some organizations panicked, and some took the opportunity to empower their workforce. Remote or hybrid working wouldn’t be possible without video conference software. 

Digital technology was the reason that millions of workers stayed working. Businesses managed to keep afloat by adapting to new technology. Gartner’s research suggests that ‘The pandemic has sped up digital transformation as organizations fundamentally change their business models.

So, why should you care about new technology? Because it could save your company one day. Organizations can’t predict how they’ll react to future challenges. The only thing they can do is be flexible. Digital technologies make this possible by creating a culture of change. 

Employees embrace new developments in software and business processes during the adoption process. They start to understand how it will improve their work. An organization’s structure also becomes more versatile. They become better equipped to deal with disruptions. 

This is why digital technology is so important to the future of your business.

Reach New Heights With Digital Technology

Digital technology is crucial for guiding a company through challenging times. But it also creates opportunities for tremendous growth. 

As outlined throughout this guide, new technology aims to improve a process. This improvement takes many shapes, from workflow to employee behaviors to business operations. 

There can be many challenges to overcome during the transformation process. One of the first obstacles you’ll encounter is resistance to change. Remember, you’re asking your employees a lot by expecting them to change the way they work. 

Learning a new software system is hard enough, but users struggle more when they don’t see the benefits of new technology. The solution is to communicate how new technology will positively impact them. 

Incorporating a digital adoption platform also makes the process much more effective. User onboarding and training become more efficient, and you can track the process as you go. This allows you to adjust based on what works and doesn’t. 

Listen to the ones using new technology when introducing it into the workplace. This is how you’ll know it’s working if users engage. 

Now that you know the benefits of digital technology, we hope you’ll use this information to grow your business to new heights. 

The post What Is Digital Technology? appeared first on Digital Adoption.

It’s an investment that you’ll have to make sooner or later, however, as 87% of companies have believed since 2016 that digital is a business disruptor. Unfortunately, less than half of them are prepared for it. Hiring new employees in an effort to future-proof your business isn’t a sustainable way of addressing the issue, and it’s becoming increasingly challenging to find people with the necessary skills to ensure a seamless—and successful—digital transformation.

The key is upskilling your employees so they reach a level of digital proficiency that will help take your business to the next level. According to the World Economic Forum, 54% of employees will need significant reskilling in 2022. There’s no better time than now to address this concern; the continuous education of employees will help your business gain a long-term competitive advantage and ensure that your employees become valuable assets.

Digital adoption will also help organizations completely embrace technology and make it an integral part of business workflows. This presents a number of challenges but comes with long-term benefits that will mo re than pay for themselves.

How to Accelerate Digital Adoption

It’s undeniable how deeply technology has affected the way business is done today, so much so, that it’s now considered an area where you can gain an advantage over your competitors. There’s an urgency for digital adoption in today’s business, but efforts should be organized and methodical to ensure best results.

Digital adoption can be a challenge in itself due to limited resources, but taking a strategic approach can help reduce costs and maximize your investment. Below are a few ways you can facilitate digital adoption in your own organization and reduce the friction during the transition period.

Leverage Email Marketing 

Email marketing is one of the most direct and cost-effective ways to communicate with your customers and prospects. The best email marketing tools allow for integration with other business software to craft marketing messages and facilitate email campaigns. Email marketing works as an accelerator of digital adoption by combining direct marketing and digital marketing. It helps make customers aware of your latest offerings by integrating your email systems into your marketing automation platform, encouraging customers to interact with your brand digitally. 

Email marketing also provides opportunities for employees to immerse themselves in the organization’s digital strategy and tools, increasing familiarity and proficiency. Employees will be more open to digital adoption efforts if they feel a connection with the technologies you use and find that these technologies make their lives easier.

Focus on Your Online Presence

Social media has roughly 3 billion users, which makes it an excellent medium when it comes to establishing your online presence. The good thing about social media is that you can take the organic approach and not spend anything, or you can spend money on ads to increase exposure and followers. As companies have made social media a part of their marketing mix, most of the social media networks offer some plans or programs designed to help you promote your product or brand.

You can combine your social media efforts with a blog so you have something to link to and help increase traffic to your website. This is also a great way to distribute marketing messages and content and establish your brand as an authority in your chosen industry. If you’re consistent in creating engaging content that’s useful to your target audience, your blog will not only increase your website visitors but also make them regular followers.

Craft a Go-to-market Strategy (GTM)

Taking a new approach to your GTM strategy will help with digital adoption because most brand and product interaction nowadays is done online. Digital tools are a must for forward-thinking businesses looking for longevity and increased revenue. It might feel similar to your traditional marketing strategy, but a GTM strategy helps set the direction when launching new products, reinvigorating existing ones, and tapping new markets both online and offline. 

Leveraging digital marketing tools like Salesforce allows for data-driven insights that will help you identify and address customer sentiment and pain points. Training your staff in the use of these digital GTM solutions helps with digital adoption efforts because it allows them to master the tools and learn about the long-term benefits of their use.

Take a Holistic Approach

To facilitate digital adoption, your digital initiatives should go beyond the implementation of new digital tools. Of paramount importance is ensuring that your digital approach is the same across the organization or, at the very least, your initiatives should complement each other and work toward the organization’s bigger goals. Digital adoption will be challenging if there are gaps in the implementation; trying to work with dated processes and analog systems will hinder digital adoption and transformation.

Streamlining systems is also one of the main objectives of taking the holistic approach. This minimizes the learning curve for users and increases your employee’s confidence in navigating the digital tools used by the organization. Redundant and unnecessary processes should also be eliminated from the organizational workflow to ensure seamless operations.

Choose the Right Technology Partners

After crafting your digital adoption strategy, you should choose the appropriate technology and service provider. This provider should understand the needs of your company and the industry in which you work. Choosing the right partner ensures that you have the tools and systems designed to provide the best service possible to your customers and make your employees’ lives easier.

Adopting Digital Truths

Regardless of where you are in your business journey, taking the digital route is an inevitable step that you’ll have to make sooner or later; the sooner you prepare for it, the better. Digital adoption can be a challenge because digitalization of an organization can be its own challenge. Without proper planning and getting the full cooperation of all members of the organization, your digital initiatives can fall flat and result in more challenges than benefits.

Ultimately, it’s a delicate balancing act. investing in digital tools and approaches should also mean investing in digital adoption strategies that will make promote the maximization of these digital tools. The key is careful planning; identifying what works and doubling down on those and identifying areas for improvement where digital tools can provide the most value.

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This article covers the definition of technology applications, examples, and where they are used.

Let’s dive in!

What are technology applications?

The term technology applications refers to software packages and systems used by almost every industry for communication, office productivity, research, data security, analytics, etc. Technology applications help organizations run their operations more professionally.

Technology applications examples

Mobile, web, and cloud applications are technology applications – from digital adoption platforms, workflow automation tools, data mining tools, and face-recognition applications.

For example, schools may require administrative systems to help in monitoring staff attendance, financial accounting, and creating payrolls.

Other applications such as Electronic Health Records (EHR) are used to record patient information such as doctor’s recommendations, medication, and surgery.

However, businesses need to consider several factors before adopting any digital solution. 

For example,

• The cost of having a new technology application
• The cost and time it takes to train employees on using the application.
• The urge to implement new software.
• The risks of adopting a new technology application.

Different technology applications definitions

Technology applications could refer to technological tools used to complete a given task. For example, a tool that uses computing skills to solve real-world problems. And technology applications can also be used to perform specific functions directly for the user, e.g., database programs that create, store, and maintain database files in an organization.

But there’s more. Let’s look at the different meanings of technology applications.

Technology applications in education

Technology applications could describe using technology tools for teaching and facilitating the learning process. 

For example, an online school could develop an active learning application to help students practice their knowledge instead of memorizing information. Learning Management Systems are also examples of technology applications in education.

In addition, learning institutions use technology applications for administration and instructional functions. For example, a school might decide to develop an Open Distance E-learning (ODeL) to provide distant online learning to remote students.

Furthermore, they (schools) may use applications for communication purposes. That is, from administrators to staff or teachers-to-parents using Electronic mail.

Over and above that, learning institutions may use technology applications for security purposes by adopting firewall technology- to secure data and transmission systems.

Technology applications middle school

Technology Applications is a mandatory course that introduces 6th graders to technology based on the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) guidelines.

What are technology applications teks?

The Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) is a technology applications curriculum standard that provides essential knowledge for collecting, analyzing, and presenting digital information.

It is based on six strands, namely:

• Creativity and innovation
• Communication and collaboration
• Research and information fluency
• Critical thinking, problem-solving, and decision-making
• Digital citizenship
• Technology operation and concepts

Learners can develop useful products through creative thinking and innovative processes. They can also collaborate well with other students both locally and internationally, thus promoting learning.

And thanks to technology operations and concepts, the students master technology-related terms and data input strategies.

Technology applications in healthcare

Healthcare facilities use technology tools for different activities, from recording patient information to providing health services over the phone (dabbed m-health).

Hospitals may adopt Electronic Health Records (EHR), a technology application that helps put patients’ data into a centralized digitized system. Therefore, physicians can be alerted of a patient’s intolerance to some medicine or allergic reactions.

After covid-19, sensors and wearable technology are becoming pervasive in healthcare. As of 2020, 54% of US adults tracked at least one health metric with wearables.

Source

These wearable technologies transmit information to mobile phones where individuals can monitor:

• Amount of sleep
• Heartbeat rate
• Physical activity
• And more

Blockchain technology application 

Technology applications such as Algorand are useful for providing equitable financial transactions to all traders.

Buying and selling of digital assets such as Bitcoin and Ethereum are made possible by technology applications such as Gemini.

Chainalysis is yet another technology application that allows governments and financial institutions to observe the exchange of cryptocurrencies. It provides useful information like fraudulent trading and compliance violations. By doing so, it creates confidence in cryptocurrency investors.

But besides fueling crypto trading, bitcoin technology is useful in banking for secure international money transfers. And in record management in government.

Information technology applications

Information Technology applications is a term that refers to software and hardware that supports an organization’s IT operations. It includes the operating system, applications, source code, data, and hardware.

For example, there are computer-based information systems and electronic banking in the banking industry. All these ensure that financial transactions are smooth and secure.

Similarly, integrated communication networks (security & control systems) are implemented to detect any fraudulent activities in financial institutions.

QUANTUM TECHNOLOGY APPLICATIONS

Many technologies are based on Quantum phenomena these days. Quantum technology gave birth to the transistor.

With this, came the evolution of modern computers enhancing digital communication. 

Some of the applications based on quantum technology include;

1. Lasers- used in surgery, Internet connections, and fiber telecommunications
2. MRI scanners- used for medical imaging.
3. Atomic Clocks- used in Global Positioning Systems(GPS)

Microsoft is now collaborating with developers around the world to bring quantum applications to life. Software experts can use Cirq, Qiskit, and Q# on Quantum hardware to build and run viable applications that solve complex challenges in society.

5G TECHNOLOGY APPLICATIONS

The phrase 5G technology applications describes the different ways that we’ll use the fifth-generation mobile communication network. For example, 5G can support 10 to 20 GBPS of download speed. 

And AI is more reliable using fast and efficient network connectivity. For example, smart security and machine vision can keep institutions safer using automatic recognition of unauthorized visitors.

5G technology also optimizes logistics and shipping when we finally use self-driving cars and drones to deliver goods. Moreover, buyers can track goods easily using reliable GPS services.

Some of the benefits of using 5G technology:

• Large network capacity.
• Ultra-low latency.
• Increased network availability/ more reliability.

TECHNOLOGY SOFTWARE APPLICATIONS

Technology software applications, or simply applications, have become more common in our daily life. For example, we use Microsoft word for creating, editing, and formatting text documents. Gmail is an application designed to send and receive emails.

We interact with application software each day, either on our mobile phones or computers.

Here is a list of common technology application software;

• Web browsers– Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, MS Edge, and Firefox.
• Graphics Software– Adobe Photoshop and Paintshop Pro.
• Database Software– Microsoft SQL Server and PaintShop Pro.
• Word Processing Software– Microsoft Word Doc and GDocs.
• Spreadsheet Software– Google Sheets and Microsoft Excel.

These software applications help improve productivity, data security, and customer services & satisfaction in the organization.

The post An overview of technology applications appeared first on Digital Adoption.

The director of digital asset management builds and governs digital transformation managed services teams and programs. They create strategies to stay ahead of the competition and monitor a product’s key performance indicators. 

The director is responsible for the digital/media assets in an organization. While they oversee the company’s digital assets, they could also be in charge of other clients’ asset portfolios. 

This article tells you all you need to know about being a director of digital asset management. 

Keep reading to find out all there is to know, from responsibilities to salaries.

Let’s dive in!

Who is a director of digital asset management?

A director of digital asset management oversees how a company organizes and accesses digital assets, mostly using a Digital Asset Management (DAM) system. They grow and lead digital asset management teams. 

Digital assets are content stored in digital form like documents, videos, audio, images, logos, slide presentations, websites, mobile apps, etc. 

In some organizations, the digital asset management director governs other clients’ digital asset portfolios. The director studies and responds to market trends and communicates with the clients on the changes that affect their investment portfolios. They then facilitate implementing the next steps.

OTHER TITLES FOR DIRECTOR OF DIGITAL ASSET MANAGEMENT

The director of digital asset management is most commonly also known as the digital asset management director, more of a rephrase of the title. 

Other titles include:

• Director – Digital Product Management
• Director Product Management – Digital Assets
• Digital Director
• Director Project Management (Digital)

WHO NEEDS A DIRECTOR OF DIGITAL ASSET MANAGEMENT?

Every tech-oriented company needs a director of digital asset management. But companies in banking, finance, insurance, product, and investment firms need these experts the most. 

What does a director of digital asset management do?

The director of digital asset management governs the company’s digital asset portfolios. They work with the organization’s leadership team to optimize the portfolios for the maximum possible return.

The general roles of the director of digital asset management are:

• Owns the digital asset management (DAM), defines the product strategy (roadmap, functionality, and services), and leads product releases
• Works with the senior leadership team for management and content strategy
• Builds & leads the DAM team 
• Owns and governs the enterprise taxonomy
• Improve IT systems and data assets key performance indicators (KPIs)
• Develop and monitor product KPIs
• Support product teams

The responsibilities vary depending on the organization. If the director is responsible for the clients’ digital assets portfolios, their responsibilities could be:

•  Managing multiple client accounts and maintaining effective communication with the stakeholders.
• Regularly researching the market trends and changes that may impact managed assets.
• Analyzing impact analysis reports and delivering them to key stakeholders and clients.
• Communicating any needed account changes with clients on time.
• Analyzing portfolio changes and identifying any irregularities that may negatively impact the clients’ asset accounts.
• Making necessary changes to the client accounts.
• Organizing and leading meetings with key stakeholders to review accounts.

DIRECTOR OF DIGITAL ASSET MANAGEMENT JOB DESCRIPTION

Source

The director of digital asset management requires a Bachelor’s degree in finance, business, technology, or related fields. Some organizations require a Master’s degree in Business Management as an entry qualification. Some need a degree in Certified Public Accounts.

The typical qualifications for the director of digital asset management are:

• Master’s degree in Business Administration. (preferable)
• 0-5 years of experience for entry-level positions.
• 5 or more years of experience in specialized industries.
• Capability to handle multiple clients accounts while working under pressure.
• Experience in business intelligence software like Microsoft Power BI or Tableau.
• Experience using open-source vendor management software
• Experience in people management
• Superior verbal communication and writing skills, and capable of liaising with multiple levels within an organization

This role is ideal for self-motivated individuals with effective communication skills, who can quickly solve problems.

What skills does a director of digital asset management need?

When working as a director of digital asset management, the most common skills you’ll need for career success are:

• Entrepreneurial skills
• Project management
• Asset management
• Product management
• Adobe Creative Cloud
• Team leadership
• Microsoft Office Suite
• Analytical

Check out Lisa Grimm’s LinkedIn profile. She was Novartis’ global director of digital asset management for over 2 years. Before she took the role, she served other roles like operations manager, content librarian, director of web design and development, archivist, content manager, product manager, etc. She has also volunteered as a DAM Board Member and in the DAM Guru Program.

Besides taking up related roles and certificates, you can keep up with digital asset management best practices on DAM News.

How much does a director of digital asset management make?

According to Glassdoor, a director of digital asset management earns an average of $136,186 per year as base salary and $19,237 per year as additional pay. Additional pay could include cash bonuses, commissions, tips, and profit-sharing. The salary increases as you advance in the managerial role. It can result from increased experience in the field and education.

Nonetheless, a director of digital asset management could make anywhere between $114k per year to $228k depending on their skills and the company.

For example, this Mastercard position for Director Product Management – Digital Assets could pay an estimated $162,905 base salary. But the CapGemini Digital Asset Management Director role promises about $115,892 yearly base salary.

The director of digital asset management role is skill-intensive and labor-intensive. After getting a Bachelor’s degree in finance, business, or business-related fields, you’ll need a postgraduate degree and some years of experience in technical and leadership skills. 

In addition, being a director of digital asset management requires you to be well-versed with digital transformation to keep up with the trends and best practices in the industry. 

So check out our digital transformation resources right here. We have comprehensive information from valuable tools and techniques to career advice.

The post Director of digital asset management (Everything you need to know) appeared first on Digital Adoption.