Digital Transformation is much more than a disruption or technology. A case in point is the retail giant Walmart. Amazon’s epic takeover of the online retail market has compelled companies like Walmart to adjust or perish. Toys R Us is a good example. Toys R Us was one of the world’s most famous toy brands which buckled under due to growing online competition. They filed for bankruptcy last September and are now shutting down their stores. Walmart, however, is clearly trying to up the ante as it plans to add 500 more pick-up towers to its already existing network of brick and mortar stores and 200 pickup towers. It is trying to blur the line between online and offline sales by allowing the buyer to pick-up online ordered products from any of its pickup towers. In the process it gives buyers discounts for picking up their stuff, thereby, saving delivery cost. With an employee base of more than 2.3 Mn, retail giant Walmart has a good insight on purchasing habits of people. Recent retail industry reports suggest that they are now prioritizing the extraction of client data. With data being the new currency, they have realized that to continue succeeding in their game they will need to transform how and what they sell. Such a paradigm shift in their way of doing business has enabled them to maintain a thorough catalog, while providing significant value to their customers.
A popular topic of discussion across the globe, Digital Transformation embraces technology to make the existing business processes more efficient and effective. It is an integration of digital technology into all areas of a business, resulting in overall changes to how businesses operate and how they deliver value to customers. In the long-run, Digital Transformation has far-reaching effects to change the overall functioning of the larger society.
Changes in company culture are a fundamental part of digital transformation. As Forrester Research rightly suggests, “true transformation is a journey, not a destination”. Companies are digitally transforming at different paces and with different results.
Some of the key ingredients of successful digital transformations are as follows:
Whether business leaders believe in it or not, one thing is for certain, they must transform. Some of the reasons why enterprises are jumping on the Digital Transformation bandwagon are:
Irrespective of the industries and regions, companies all over the globe are experimenting with — and reaping benefits from digital transformation. Whether it is in the way individuals work and collaborate, the way business processes are executed within and across organizational perimeters, or in the way a company understands and serves customers, digital transformation provides a wealth of opportunity.
The telecommunications industry is the backbone of all the other sectors. From retailers to financial services, healthcare to hospitality, companies depend on telecom networks to provide an engaging customer experience. Surprisingly, the industry’s own efforts to transform the way it interacts with consumers to market, sell, and support its products and services, have been lacking.
According to a GSMA report, the number of mobile phone users worldwide had reached 5 billion in 2017, and this number will reach 5.7 billion – or three quarters of the world’s population – in 2020, while broadband mobile penetration will reach 73% of mobile phone customers. Empowered with these new hand-held devices, customers who have experienced the benefits of digital, seek the same level of benefits from the telecom sector as well. To meet this objective, operators must offer an integrated, omnichannel user experience on a plethora of devices. Going forward this will enable operators to build a portfolio of new products and services designed to match the requirements of each customer.
Hughes Systique Corporation (HSC) understands that data and analytics, are the fuel that powers the digital transformation. Some areas where HSC helps operators harness the next generation networks space are robust customer analytics, digitization of order management, self-service CRM, simplified IT interfaces and business process automation. In the upcoming 5G networks, Hughes Systique is helping its customers streamline network operations and has created an innovative platform for new applications and new services to be delivered to their customers.
Most of us would agree that “Primetime” is a dying concept as consumers are able to watch whatever they want, whenever they want, on whichever device they want. Various factors have accelerated the pace of digital transformation in media streaming and entertainment industry. Rise of OTT, Cord Cutting, proliferation of smart devices, greater internet penetration, flexibility and agility to attract and retain customers, growth of artificial intelligence, availability of curated content and smart advertising have beckoned media companies to look for scalable, cloud-based solutions to help them adapt.
HSC’s cutting-edge digital solutions help broadcasting, publishing, social media and entertainment firms stay ahead of the digital curve through:
The aim of digital transformation in retail is to move from the archaic product-centric business model to a customer-centric one.
The factors that are transforming the retail industry are as follows:
According to real estate firm Cushman and Wakefield, the rise of online shopping led to the shutdown of approximately 9000 stores in 2017 and the number will increase to 12000 in 2018. Brick-and-mortar stores can compete with the digital natives with more focus on customer centricity and with insightful data. Hughes Systique helps retailers differentiate their offerings with several solutions and services that have been crafted keeping the customer in mind. HSC’s Intelligent Monetization Platform is a complete data analytics portal with a rich visualization dashboard to track customer behaviour, purchase patterns, cross-sell/up-sell, heat maps etc. With HSC’s Image Analytics solution, retailers can target specific customer demographics (age/gender) & do a real-time inventory analysis. Hughes Systique also offers a white-labelled mobile app with ready features like AI chatbot, push notifications, a shopping cart and contextualized services based on user location. To amplify customer experience at the stores, Hughes Systique offers a Hotspot 2.0-enabled WiFi Software Solution that provides customers with seamless and secure connectivity.
Auto industry has been a key adopter of digital technologies in multiple functions like autonomous or self-driving vehicles, manufacturing processes, marketing activities and maintenance. This helps them synchronize efficiently with evolving trends in the digital world and provide a superlative customer experience.
The trends that are currently influencing digital transformation in the automotive industry are as follows:
After utilities, the automotive industry is the second most data-driven industry worldwide. To prepare for the technological challenges that loom in the near future, automotive industry giants are looking at digitally transforming their business. For instance, Michelin’s tire monitoring program is a classic case of predictive maintenance at work. The service monitors tire performance on the road using telematics and predictive analysis. The data is collected digitally and fed into the fleet’s asset monitoring system, giving companies real-time performance analysis and wear and tear data of specific tires on individual trucks. This way the company can be ready for a problem long before it happens. Hughes Systique works with reputed Automotive OEMS and has several solutions that can accelerate digital transformation of automotive enterprises
One thing that travel and hospitality business knows better than most is that, the only thing that is constant is change. As customers become more demanding and technology evolves at a rapid pace, enterprises in the TTH sector are looking for cheaper, faster and effective travel IT and operations systems. The trends affecting the travel and hospitality industry are:
Hughes Systique has been working with customers in the hospitality and travel sector to transform their operations and provide enhanced customer experience leading to repeat business. Some of the solutions crafted for this sector are:
Cloud computing is a fundamental element in the digital transformation technology ecosystem. It offers the scalability and agility that is needed by businesses to focus on transformation. IDC enterprise will be a cloud service provider of innovative services to its own marketplace, making cloud capability not just an IT issue but also a core business operation”. The omnipresent cloud is the enabler of IoT, enterprise-level security, rapid prototyping and enterprise mobility.
Buoyed by the plethora of IoT-enabled devices, enterprises have realized that enterprise mobility is the key enabler to digital transformation. Enterprise Mobility enables employees to be connected to fundamental processes and participate even are away from their desk. However, all of this requires a detailed mobile strategy that is in line with the organization’s overall strategy. This allows the apps to interact well with each other and simultaneously provide employees with the capabilities they need to be successful.
Gartner recently predicted that by 2020, more than 60 per cent of digital businesses will suffer major service setbacks due to the inability of security teams to manage digital risk. It often takes an ongoing project to fail to make the stakeholders realize the importance of security in Digital Transformation. Usually, the security aspect comes in late into the project instead of being involved initially. In recent years, the rise in data breach and vulnerability figures indicates that Digital Transformation without security will make organizations susceptible to increased risk. Therefore, Digital Transformation and security policies must be planned and implemented simultaneously to contain any threats and outages.
Digitalization has moved beyond being just a way to lower costs and enhance productivity to offer delightful, engaging, digital experiences across the entire spectrum of channels. This changed mindset has contributed greatly to the top-line growth across enterprises. As consumers are at the core of digital transformation, merely incorporating a few digital elements here and there isn’t enough. Enterprises must completely envisage how their businesses should operate to meaningfully engage with customers (both internal and external), in every channel.
Hughes Systique can help you to digitally transform your enterprise and stay ahead of the competition. We have several tailor-made solutions and accelerators that can significantly reduce your Time-to-Market, optimize your business processes and successfully adapt to the changing market demand without compromising on customer experience. Want to find out how? Reach out to us by filling in the form below.