6 challenges that an effective digital transformation strategy should solve for Scaleups

Today, we live in a hyper-connected world. It’s digital transformation that allows companies to respond to changes and create new Harrogate business models disrupting traditional players and solidifying new leaders.

But how do you understand what digital transformation means for your company? What are the challenges you can solve with such an approach?

We looked at this from inside Onfido, where we’ve been on our own transformation journey over the past five years. Here is what we found:

1. Hiring fast enough to meet growth ambitions
   Rapid scaling up often requires hiring more people than originally expected and more quickly than anticipated, and this presents a challenge if it cannot be done seamlessly: new hires may not get trained properly or there may not be expertise to back up the hiring.
   This is especially true for companies that emphasize candidates’ skill sets and experience rather than seniority, such as Onfido. We’ve found that having a consistent interview process across all locations, even when we scale quickly, helps to make sure new employees are well-prepared for their roles and can easily pick up where others leave off.
2. Gaining the trust of new customers
   Whether you’re entering a new market segment or partnering with a brand-new client who’s never worked with your company before, maintaining their trust throughout the relationship is imperative. In those scenarios, it can be difficult to convince clients to try your services if they’re unfamiliar with what you do – this means transparency really matters.
   It’s also important to make sure this service or product is working well for your customers regardless of who is using it. For example, if your company sells a work-from-home benefit that only certain employees are eligible for, how do you verify that information is being handled properly?
3. Protecting sensitive customer data
   For the majority of companies today, some degree of digital transformation has already occurred. Many organizations have started using cloud services and taking advantage of automation opportunities, but they’ve likely done so without thinking about the security risks involved with leaving sensitive company information in third-party hands.
   One way to limit risk exposure is to establish two-factor authentication procedures so employees must provide additional verification beyond just their password before logging into your systems.
4. Translating technology for non-technical team members
   Sometimes, those people who are “responsible” for implementing a digital transformation strategy may not know the first thing about how to actually go about doing it. For example, Onfido’s sales and marketing teams don’t have a technical background – but they need at least a working knowledge of what we do so they can effectively communicate with their prospects and customers.
   The more you can help educate others on why a new technology or approach might benefit them without overwhelming them, the better equipped everyone is to move forward together. A good starting point is pointing out some results from case studies that highlight positive outcomes from past projects of this nature, as well as explaining how those benefits might apply to their own situations.
5. Remaining compliant as a business grows
   The technology powering a digital transformation strategy may be new and exciting, but if the company is not 100 percent compliant with regulations – including GDPR – then your clients have no way of trusting that they’ll be protected from legal action if something goes wrong. When you bring on new employees who don’t understand compliance standards as well as existing staff do, it can also impact how quickly you’re able to onboard them and start working together toward common goals.
   In order to help our sales reps become more knowledgeable about what we do , we’ve been conducting online training sessions for all employees at Onfido so they have a better understanding of the people verification process. We also hold in-person training sessions when our teams meet with prospects or clients so everyone can be on the same page.
6. Preparing your business for security risks that could arise from new technology used in the digital transformation
   New technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, are becoming more widely used by companies of all sizes today to gain a competitive edge . Defenders need to keep an eye out for how these technologies are being implemented, however – especially because hackers are increasingly interested in attacking AI systems due to their complexity .
   If you’re not already prepared for these kinds of threats, it’s important to start thinking about building up your network monitoring capabilities now before something does go wrong. Having sophisticated monitoring tools is one of the best ways to spot threats in real time and respond before any valuable data is compromised.

For more digital transformation strategy, contact Harrogate Apps.