What to Look for in Your Digital Transformation Partner

To deliver an optimal experience today, organizations have to navigate an increasingly complex world of blended technologies and security risks, rapidly-changing consumer demands and an expanding universe of data.

How? Digital transformation.

Now is the time

Digital transformation used to be thought of as simply “going paperless.” It’s much broader, however, and impacts all levels of the organization – from customer experience to implementation of new or enhanced tech-enabled ways of working. And because work today is more complex and requires higher amounts of collaboration internally and externally, the back- and front-offices can’t operate in silos any more.

That’s a huge challenge, and one that’s often underestimated. In fact, it’s been reported that as high as 84% of digital transformation projects fail¹.  So why would anyone bother? The simple answer: because you have to. Keeping pace with customer demands and competitive pressures isn’t optional.

That’s why you need a top notch ‘transformation’ partner. Unfortunately, a majority of vendors in this space don’t have end-to-end offerings to digitize both the customer and operational experiences. Some provide the technology but leave implementation to a third party.

The 4 components of success

Your transformation partner should not only provide you with a robust tech portfolio, but industry-leading expertise, as well as knowledgeable consulting and professional services.

With that in mind, here are four components vital to your digital transformation solution:

1. Digital Ops – Your solution should contain an orchestration platform that centralizes all back-office processing, automation and communications and enables you to focus on delivering outcomes like customer onboarding, claims management and billing.
2. Data Analytics – Your transformation solution also must provide visibility into your organization’s operations to make sure every employee is working on the single highest priority item based on their experience. And you’ll need access to timely, accurate and reliable data, be confident that data is secure, and have the skills and experience to identify key insights from it. After all, you’ll not only want a view into your current state of work, but your future state, too.
3. Third-Party Transactions – Make sure your solution enables easy integration with third-party websites and allows your customers to facilitate a variety of activities, like completing online forms, viewing images and approving steps within a process. Widget functionality is ideal here.
4. Cloud Services – Remote, off-premise, or hybrid hosting and management of digitally-transformed operations can increase agility, improve your ability to upgrade and adapt solutions, cut costs and help with business continuity planning.

The competitive landscape is always changing as compliance requirements increase, margins shrink, and customer demands continue to evolve. Digitization can be a major driver to improving your productivity, reducing your costs, and driving your future growth. Make sure your transformation partner’s solution checks all the boxes you need to get where you want to go.

¹Taylor, B. (2017, December 05). Why 84% of Digital Transformations are Failing. Retrieved June 24, 2019, from https://www.from.digital/is-digital-transformation-worth-it