Digital Transformation Predictions For 2020
Having completed his B.S.in Physics & Philosophy from Boston College Don holds over 20 years experience in delivering enterprise software solutions for Fortune 500 organisations with a focus on digital transformation mobility analytics, business process management cloud and CRM. It’s that time of year again. When those of us entrenched in the world of digital transformation place our hands on the tech crystal ball and try to predict the top levers that will shape our future. But how can we do that when digital transformation still means so many different things to different people? For some it describes the latest IT project they’ve undertaken. For others, including myself, it means true company wide transformation rethinking how an organization does business while creating efficiencies to minimize duplication of effort, streamlining workflows and delivering the experiences customers are demanding.
With ongoing trade wars and economic uncertainty on the horizon there’s no doubt in my mind that digital transformation will continue to be a hot topic. And no matter the long term macroeconomic trends businesses are going to continue to focus on becoming more efficient saving money attracting & retaining customers, and doing more with less. As you gearup for 2020, here are some predictions I see on the horizon to consider no matter what your DX definition might be –
Bridging the Culture Gap: Digital trans-formation requires a new level of collaboration between business leaders employees and IT staff. In 2020 this cultural shift and collaborative mentality will become just as important as the technology itself. Organizations will look seriously at DX culture and ramp-up efforts to remake their entire staff/culture to ensure that DX is optimized for success. Expect
traditional organizational boundaries between IT and business lines to start breaking down, and new roles like 'citizen developer'and ‘AI Ethicist’ that blend IT and business back grounds to grow.
'Band-aid' Transformation will Lose-out to Deeper DX Efforts: Offering consumers a slick interface or a cool app only scratches the surface of a true digital transformation.
In 2020 we’ll see visible failures of organizations and projects that don’t take their transformation efforts below the surface. This year, those who combine digital process automation with consumer experiences will ensure that promises made on the frontend are promises kept on the backend.
AI Moves Out of the Lab:It seems digital transformation tech has been in a constant state of being ‘in the labs.’But while experimentation will always be important, this year, the rubber will truly meet the road. Organizations will take what they’ve learned and focus on driving quantifiable outcomes to deliver pragmatic results. For example, this means we’ll see fewer teams heading up generic ‘AI programs’ and more pragmatic projects using specific AI tech, such as NLP computer vision and decisioning to drive specific business improvements.
AI labs will be replaced with data/AI centers of ethics to ensure the new technology is used with transparency and customer empathy front & center. Customers and new regulations will demand it.
Operations Become Cool Again:In an era where one bad customer experience can kill a brand’s reputation,today’s business and economic environment feels uncomfortably unpredictable. That’s not to mention the constant threat of a broader macro economic slowdown. To be in a safer state of readiness, organizations will refocus on the operations side of their business to ensure they are ready to ride-out future turbulence. A more stream lined process around internal processes will allow organizations to more easily adjust to changes in the economy and business climate.
RPA is Dead Long Live RPA & BPM:The RPA hype bubble will hit a few bumps this year and even the most die-hard robotics cheerleaders will start advocating for a more complete and end-to-end approach to automation. The ingredients of these integrated automation platforms will look suspiciously familiar workflow, business process management, low code app development, business rules and yes RPA. As befitting an industry built on screen scraping macros, every thing old will become new again! One thing is certain in 2020 those who accept that constant change is the new normal and build a culture & technology to embrace it will be in much better shape than those who don’t.
'Band-aid' Transformation will Lose-out to Deeper DX Efforts: Offering consumers a slick interface or a cool app only scratches the surface of a true digital transformation.
In 2020 we’ll see visible failures of organizations and projects that don’t take their transformation efforts below the surface. This year, those who combine digital process automation with consumer experiences will ensure that promises made on the frontend are promises kept on the backend.
Those who accept that constant change is the new normal and build a culture & technology to embrace it will be in much better shape than those who don’t
AI Moves Out of the Lab:It seems digital transformation tech has been in a constant state of being ‘in the labs.’But while experimentation will always be important, this year, the rubber will truly meet the road. Organizations will take what they’ve learned and focus on driving quantifiable outcomes to deliver pragmatic results. For example, this means we’ll see fewer teams heading up generic ‘AI programs’ and more pragmatic projects using specific AI tech, such as NLP computer vision and decisioning to drive specific business improvements.
AI labs will be replaced with data/AI centers of ethics to ensure the new technology is used with transparency and customer empathy front & center. Customers and new regulations will demand it.
Operations Become Cool Again:In an era where one bad customer experience can kill a brand’s reputation,today’s business and economic environment feels uncomfortably unpredictable. That’s not to mention the constant threat of a broader macro economic slowdown. To be in a safer state of readiness, organizations will refocus on the operations side of their business to ensure they are ready to ride-out future turbulence. A more stream lined process around internal processes will allow organizations to more easily adjust to changes in the economy and business climate.
RPA is Dead Long Live RPA & BPM:The RPA hype bubble will hit a few bumps this year and even the most die-hard robotics cheerleaders will start advocating for a more complete and end-to-end approach to automation. The ingredients of these integrated automation platforms will look suspiciously familiar workflow, business process management, low code app development, business rules and yes RPA. As befitting an industry built on screen scraping macros, every thing old will become new again! One thing is certain in 2020 those who accept that constant change is the new normal and build a culture & technology to embrace it will be in much better shape than those who don’t.
