Digital transformation was bound to happen sooner or later across all industries and organizations but the process was undoubtedly accelerated due to the Covid19 pandemic. The world over, every service today is rendered via online platforms due to restrictions on mobility & contact. Once Bill Gates famously, and rather prophetically, asserted that any business that is not on the internet will be out of business – this is become increasingly relevant and apparent in the present context.

Businesses have suffered due to back-to-back lockdowns, but, on the bright side, an influx of new tools and platforms invented or modified to enhance efficiency of processes have helped with offsetting some of the losses and to get back on track. In brief, digital transformation refers to the process of using digital platforms to deliver a satisfactory customer/user experience. The article serves to discuss how technology has played a role in enabling businesses operate & profit notwithstanding unfavorable circumstances.

Digital transformation improves efficiency

Improved efficiency is one of the key attractions of digital services over traditional. With minimal effort, customers/users are granted access to a world of possibilities when businesses embrace the digital landscape and enhance their services accordingly. Not just externally but internally, too, operations can be carried out faster, with greater accuracy and convenience when processes are automated. Platforms such as expense management app DigiEx that allow companies to manage all documentation processes pertaining to employee expenses, reimbursements and supplier platforms with a single click are a welcome improvement to the conventional approach (in this case, manual bookkeeping).

Greater Transparency

Another benefit of digital expense management is every transaction can be conveniently & centrally monitored as opposed to in the traditional set-up. This simplified approach to financial management serves to minimize fraudulent activities within organizations due to improved transparency. With apps such as DigiEx, transactions can be monitored by authorized personnel in real-time and all corresponding receipts & vouchers can be safely archived for posterity. The application which is free to download is suited for businesses of every scale including SMEs for whom expense management is a particularly challenging task.

Speed of delivery

When processes are digitalized, services become faster & lag-free. The insurance industry, for example, has long been perceived as tedious but with the advent of medical claims apps such as DigiMed the speed of delivery for medical claims has improved significantly. This specific app is a paperless solution for corporates and insurance companies to manage medical claims of employees/policyholders with greater speed without compromising on accuracy.

Accessibility

Since the late 1990s, the world wide web has made the world smaller making communication with any part of the world faster & cheaper. The same principles apply to Organizations operating in the digital realm. Discerning consumers are availed a world of options and opportunities transcending social, political, cultural & economic boundaries. This is particularly relevant to how higher/tertiary education is viewed and pursued in today’s context. Knowledge has become more accessible today which is one of the greatest outcomes of globalization accelerated by digitalization.

Contactless Delivery

From food & groceries to education, every service known to mankind is delivered online today. Although not an overnight phenomenon the appetite for contactless, paperless services skyrocketed following the pandemic outbreak. It is safer, faster & cheaper even in some cases.

Sedentary lifestyle, breakdown of inter-personal relationships and digital divide are often cited as unsavory outcomes of digital transformation by critics. While these concerns are valid thus should be mitigated & managed, the advantages of digitalization outnumber the disadvantages. Not just the private sector & citizens, Governments around the world too have adapted to the ‘new normal’ by embracing the digital transformation by prioritizing e-Governance for better, transparent & equitable delivery of democracy.