Top 10 Digital Transformation Technologies

Why is digital transformation important for companies?

Digital transformation technologies allow companies and industries to gain competitive advantages in the market by helping them adapt their business model to new consumer needs and technological possibilities. Also, these technologies enable companies to improve operational efficiency by reducing costs and increasing productivity.

In recent years, there has been a paradigm shift in the labor market. To stay relevant, companies must move from a traditional business model to a digital one, which not only allows them to offer better products and customer service, something that is becoming increasingly important, but also to optimize business processes and obtain greater profitability from the introduction of new technology.

But it is necessary to remember that a complete digital transformation strategy must include a cultural paradigm shift within the company, as both employees and company managers need to understand both the functioning and the benefits of the new technologies introduced, as well as support the changes. This will make it possible to make the best use of the new digital tools.

What are digital transformation technologies?

Digital transformation technologies are technologies designed to enable existing or create new business processes, new products/services and new user experiences. These new tools enable companies to take the next step towards a digital transformation.

Top 10 digital transformation technologies enabling digital transformation in business

So, now it's time, let's find out what technologies can support your digital transformation initiatives.

1. Mobile technology

Mobile technology has taken on great importance for the digital transformation of companies, since it allows them to communicate faster and more frequently with their customers. 

In fact, a report by PwC shows that 71% of CEOs believe that mobile technology is more important for transformation than the Internet of Things (IoT) and cloud computing. On the other hand, 29% believe that mobile technology is the second most important. 

But mobile technology not only enables more effective and faster customer communication. It also provides the possibility of obtaining new data from consumers through their use of an application or the company's website. 

Finally, optimized mobile technology allows consumers to have much more complete digital experiences. For example, they can purchase products and services quickly and easily. 

2. Big Data and real-time analytics

Data processing is currently of great relevance for all types of companies, whether small, medium or large. This allows us to obtain information such as customer behavior, websites/apps issues and even market trends. Therefore, data and analytics has become the best way to make informed and effective decisions, due to the support it offers.

As an initial step to a data transformation strategy, many of our clients are standing up programs to inventory, standardize and pool the data in a Data Lake before turning it to the organization to run analysis and hypotheses. Data Lakes are an important first step towards democratization of insights. The challenges that follow are how to enable employees to seek and arrive at those insights. We recently signed a strategic partnership with a company that has developed a Unified Data Model (UDM) in the energy industry. UDM is not a replacement to a Data Lake but an additive. It allows companies to integrate, analyze and report on data with speed and ease.

The statistics are compelling: according to Statista, by 2025 the amount of data in the enterprise cloud will grow by 180 zettabytes. Precisely because of the great importance and quantity of data that is processed every year, it is necessary to optimize these procedures to access the data that a company needs at all times, and thus reduce the time it can take to search for it manually. Programs such as MongoDB, Python, Apache Storm and Apache Hadoop are very useful for this purpose.

Finally, these tools allow companies to see more clearly the data that really matter and, therefore, make it easier for carrying out a simpler and more accurate digital transformation process.

3. Cloud Technology

If data analysis is currently of great relevance, the importance of cloud storage is no less important. Cloud technology provides teams with better management and collaboration on the files they need to work on. In addition, if valuable information is lost due to an error, it can be recovered through backups made by cloud services.

The adoption of cloud technology in recent years has been very significant. For example, according to Gartner data, this year the amount of profits generated by the use of public cloud systems will be 480 billion dollars. Another interesting fact is that 92% of companies have a multi-cloud strategy to prevent possible problems with any of them, according to a report by Flexera.

4. Machine Learning

The adoption of this type of technology has taken on great importance in the digital transformation process. These tools enable computers to perform specific tasks autonomously, as they provide them with the ability to identify patterns in massive datasets, allowing them to make predictions.

One of the most useful tools in this regard is Rapid Miner, which not only offers a complete library with more than 1500 machine learning algorithms, but also offers support for Machine Learning libraries from other programs. Another very useful feature of Rapid Miner is that it allows you to create optimized prediction models.

The numbers are compelling: a McKinsey report indicated that 51% of respondents will adopt machine learning tools during 2021.  On the other hand, according to a report by Oberloo, it is estimated that the use of machine learning tools increased productivity by 53%.

5. Internet of Things

The Internet of Things (IoT) is changing the concept of work in companies. Currently, there are complete office assistants, such as Alexa for Business, which allow, for example, to know when a person has meetings. 

But the Internet of Things goes much further. For example, electric power companies use IoT in meters at strategic points, which deliver data that allow companies to know how people use energy, in order to offer a more efficient service.

IoT has reached every industry in the market. For example, an IDC report indicated that by 2025 there will be 79.4 B of information obtained through IoT. On the other hand, a McKinsey report stated that by 2025 the impact of IoT could be $11 trillion.

6. Augmented Reality

Augmented reality makes it possible to virtually augment the physical world, thanks to the addition of digital elements, sounds and other sensory elements. 

This is a powerful technology very useful for companies, because it completely changes the attention received by the customer, since with augmented reality the customer can have a closer contact with the product. 

On the other hand, it is also possible to reduce costs. Tools like Sketchfab are also very useful for designing and evaluating 3D models of products, which can be modified until they reach the final version without having to create a prototype.

This type of digital technology is of great importance for both consumers and companies. According to a report by Statista, by 2024 there will be 1.4 billion augmented reality mobile devices in operation worldwide. Furthermore, according to another Statista report, the market value of this type of technology could reach $26.6 billion.

7. Digital Twins

This technology allows companies to create a "digital copy" of a physical object/asset. This is very useful for testing simulations to determine how the physical object responds in different situations. This in turns allows the company to learn and apply these learning to drive improvements along specific sets of dimensions.

The relevance of digital twins for companies has grown significantly in recent years. According to a report by Markets and Markets, by 2027 the digital twin market is expected to increase its market value to $73.5 billion.

8. API Integrations

API stands for Application Programming Interface. APIs took on a great relevance for digital transformation. This is because it allows you to connect 2 or more systems to exchange data between them allowing the automation of certain business processes. This has a lot of benefits, among which we can highlight a lower human impact and the possibility of redistributing human resources to other tasks or processes that require more creativity.

The numbers are compelling: Cloud Elements' The State of API Integration 2021 report noted that nearly 55% of companies used API integration for manufacturing B2B products, while 36% of companies did so for developing mobile products and 39% for B2C products.

9. Robotic Process Automation

Robotic Process Automation (RPA) democratizes and allows anyone to take an easy step along their digital transformation journey. 

This type of automation makes it possible to perform structured, repetitive tasks on your computer with ease. You break the task in its individual components, perform each step and record it so that the computer can then reperform it when the exact same conditions are met. 

Examples include, searching for information in databases, processing invoices, sending emails, etc. This not only unlocks efficiencies but also eliminates the human factor and therefore minimizes the possibility of error. 

On the other hand, robotic process automation has a great advantage over traditional process automation: it does not require the use of APIs to obtain information from each system. Instead, automation is performed through the use of bots, so there will be no need for coding and development support, something that is vital to streamline processes through the use of APIs.

We personally love Microsoft's Power Automate platform. It is free and comes with loads of resources to get on with your RPA journey. It is intended to be more of a prosumer version as compared to alternatives.

The importance of robotic process automation is reflected in the Third Annual RPA Survey conducted by Deloitte this year: 53% of respondents indicated that they had already started the RPA process. The same survey indicates that within 2 years that percentage is expected to increase to 72%.

10. Additive Manufacturing

Additive manufacturing allows companies to produce 3D printed parts much faster and with the same quality as traditional parts. 

According to a report published by McKinsey, a clear example of the application of this technology is the manufacture of screws by Airbus. Those obtained using this technique are 30% lighter than conventional titanium screws and have the same functionality and durability.

According to the same article, another great advantage is that it allows customizing the shape of each part, since, unlike the traditional production method, additive manufacturing does not require the use of molds for the parts.

The importance of additive manufacturing for companies is growing. According to a report by Grand View Research, the global additive manufacturing market was valued at 13.84 billion during 2021, and is expected to increase at a CAGR of 20.8% between 2022 and 2030.