9 Ongoing Digital Transformation Trends of 2022

There are some digital transformation  trends headlining business agendas and now gaining more executive attention in the world of business and beyond. It is however worth noting that the level or type of digital transformation will depend on the type of organisation, which can range from the spectrum of traditional to technologically advanced.

What is Digital Transformation

To get us started here are some thought leaders view on digital transformation and the current 2022 trends.

“Digital transformation is the integration of digital technology into all areas of a business, fundamentally changing how you operate and deliver value to customers. It’s also a cultural change that requires organisations to continually challenge the status quo, experiment, and get comfortable with failure.” (1)

Bryson Koehler, CTO, Equifax

 

Another definition is “Digital transformation marks a rethinking of how an organisation uses technology, people, and processes in pursuit of new business models and new revenue streams, driven by changes in customer expectations around products and services.” (2)

 

Clint Boulton, Senior Writer, CIO

Data-Driven Business Management

Digital technologies generate massive amounts of easily trackable and accessible data that, if handled properly, may provide invaluable business insight. However, even companies that are no stranger to digital transformation tend not to take full advantage of the data at their disposal.

 

This seems to be about to change in 2022 as data professionals are in high demand across all industries. More and more companies are shifting their decision-making processes towards data-driven business management, and are looking for ways to encourage a data-centric work culture. (3)

Cybersecurity

Security‑by‑default will be introduced as a core value for any organisation relying on a digital business transformation strategy. The rise of automations, remote work and cloud usage  requires extra security levels for managing the corporate environments with confidence.

Businesses are starting to adopt new network security strategies that will provide more flexible and scalable control over data management both inside and outside the office walls and devices. (4)

 

Iuliia, content designer at Fluix

5G Will Finally Go Mainstream - For Real This Time!

5G is the fifth generation technology for mobile networks. 5G’s primary characteristics include multi-peak data speeds, low latency, improved user experience, better connectivity and availability, and improved network bandwidth.

5G combined with edge computing can lead to interesting innovations. For example, IBM will offer cloud services to run 5G networks to Verizon and Telefonica.

In turn, technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), drone-initiated inspections, and video inspections will automate everyday tasks while averting any network issues. (5)

 

Arshpreet Kaur, Lead Business Analyst, Net Solutions

Blockchain Technology, NFTs, And The Metaverse

Cryptocurrencies like bitcoin are most commonly linked to blockchain technology, and it has a variety of other applications, particularly in commerce. The blockchain’s fundamental characteristic is that it makes data more trustworthy because they are unchangeable. Yet, this technology has far-reaching consequences for business operations like managing supply chains, collaborating with others, and conducting transactions and contracts.

Digital collectibles, which are unique and may be bought and sold like any other asset class, exploded last year. “Non-fungible tokens” (NFTs) are the names for these digital collectibles. They may be employed for various objectives, such as property, stock, bond ownership, or data rights.

You’ve probably been seeing an increasing number of articles and news regarding many retailers and big brand names joining the NFT, Blockchain and Metaverse frenzy. (6)

 

Kiran Patel, Arthur, Article Future

GoLiveTest Assured Digital Transformation

The explosion of Customer Data Platforms (CDP)

In the digital age, data is being collected everywhere. Companies now have access to a lot more data about their customers than ever before. Whether they are interacting with your company or purchasing one of your products or services, you’re getting all sorts of information from them. This holds true for both small and large businesses.

The only difference is how this data is used to learn more about customer behaviour and their desires.

This would not be a problem for smaller companies with a limited marketing stack. However, for businesses with a wide range of products, marketing channels, and customers, extracting information from such a wide pool of data can be difficult.

And that’s where the customer data platform comes into play.

A customer data platform (CDP) is a single source of customer data that you can use to create more personalised and engaging marketing campaigns for your customers.

CDPs may appear to be solely for the marketing department at first sight, but this is not the case. CDPs can also be used by the finance and IT departments to make quick decisions about services, products, and other company investments. (7)

 

Mert Aktas, Marketing Manager, UserGuiding

Evolve to Meet the Future of Hybrid Work

The shift to remote work was about providing employees the hardware, video conferencing capabilities, and security protocols to support working from home. Some progressive IT departments had modernized their programs prior to the pandemic, developing low-code and no-code applications to replace manual work and collaborations that didn’t have defined workflows or tooling. Others accelerated application modernizations and public cloud migrations to support the business through a crisis.

In 2022, the most advanced organizations recognize that hybrid work models represent the future. Businesses will compete for talent based on their culture, policies, and on the technologies that enable work productivity and life flexibility. Leading technologies for hybrid work should include collaboration tools, learning management systems, and a review of performance management software. CIOs should align performance goals with business outcomes, agile collaboration, experimentation, and learning practices, while steering away from specifics on where, when, and how people work. (8)

 

Isaac Sacolick, Founder, StarCIO

Hyper Automation Across the Board

Automation is expected to play an increasingly more significant role in digital transformation going forward. The impact of automation is already palpable in sectors like manufacturing, e-commerce, cybersecurity etc. But we will also see an increasing amount of automation (including artificial intelligence, machine learning and natural language processing) in data processing as advanced algorithms take over the task of diving deep into vast data sets that are simply beyond the capacities of human beings to analyze. 

Gartner estimates tell us that hyper-automation is likely to be a major technology trend in 2022. This trend brings together many emerging technologies and associated processes to work in sync including machine learning, RPA (Robotic Process Automation), artificial intelligence, low code, and more. Cloud-based automation systems can also be a boon for companies that want to scale better and reduce total cost of ownership. (9)

 

Nora Erspamer,  Director of Digital Marketing, New Charter Technologies

Cloud-based Solutions

Cloud-based solutions are becoming increasingly popular due to their several benefits, including scalability, cost savings, and ease of use. Many organisations are moving away from traditional on-premises software and leveraging cloud-based solutions. The cloud is a more efficient and cost-effective way to run business applications.

Businesses and companies utilising digital technology require improved data security. As technology improves, so do the threats coming from hackers, thus the need to improve data security measures.

Cloud-based services provide improved cyber-security features and keep companies’ data safe. From 2022, digital innovation will force businesses to leverage cloud solutions to make data protection a priority. (10)

Revanth Periyasamy, Author & B2B Marketer Apty

The Boom of Artificial Intelligence (AI)

AI has significantly impacted businesses and industries around the world. The AI market is projected to reach $126 billion (approx £100 billion) by 2025 as companies of all sizes invest in the technology.

AI-based tools allow businesses to recognise trends, make optimal decisions, produce accurate forecasts, and improve operations.

Considering your business needs is important before implementing AI-based tools. While some businesses have the resources to implement expensive AI solutions, others with limited financial resources can leverage AI-as-a-service or AI solutions by Google, Microsoft, and Amazon (AWS). (12)

 

Shehmir Javaid, Industry Analyst, AIMultiple

Conclusion

Digital transformation is no longer a dot on the horizon, the digital age isn’t new, but it is different and cannot be ignored. Digital transformation is not just about the technology but also about the people that have to engage with it. 

Eraclitus once said “Change is the only constant in life” and if one is to sum up a key part of digital transformation, then arguably change is a key part of it. Those who are able to lead, manage or implement effectively are positioned to realise the business and customer value benefits. The old adage still remains, know who you are solving the problem for, validate and be clear about the solution, implement the solution, verify it has been implemented as expected and amongst all other things, continuous seek out feedback customer satisfaction or improvement feedback.

 

Charlie Fadden, Founder, Go Live Test

Curator:

Charlie Fadden. 

Charlie Fadden is the Founder of GoLiveTest. 

With broad industry experience ranging from Banking, Financial Services (General Insurance & Mortgages), Retail E-commerce, Hospitality, Education, IT Service, Real Estate sectors, Charlie has a wealth of business model exposures that successfully caters to customer centric digital transformation needs and assures successful digital transformation goal attainment. 

 

Click here to book a meeting with Charlie.

Sources

  1. enterprisersproject: what-is-digital-transformation
  2. cio: article/230425/what-is-digital-transformation-a-necessary-disruption.html
  3. devrix: tutorial/10-exciting-digital-transformation-trends-2022/
  4. fluix: blog/2022-digital-transformation-trends
  5. netsolutions: insights/digital-transformation-trends/
  6. articlefuture: top-5-hottest-trends-in-digital-transformation-for-2022/
  7. userguiding: blog/digital-transformation-trends/
  8. techtarget: searchcio/feature/Top-5-digital-transformation-trends-of-2021
  9. daddy-geek: key-2022-technology-trends-in-digital-transformation/
  10. apty: blog/digital-transformation-trends
  11. research.aimultiple: digital-transformation-trends/