The ever-increasing demand for organisations to show greater efficiency and operational excellence while maintaining stringent and specific compliance requirements has propelled many into a frenzy of acquiring software that can fill the gaps in their business processes.
Many refer to this as digital transformation. However, this misconception negates the importance and implications of other elements in the overall operation of an organisation.
Focusing on software solutions in compliance reporting, we see many organisations driving for digital transformation, although it is important to bear in mind that technology on its own is not the solution, but a supporting pillar together with many other factors.
There are many layers to any transformation journey that needs to be considered. These include strategy, leadership, culture, change management and adoption, operating models, regulatory impact, customer experience and sustainability.
The vision or long-term goal, or goals, must first be identified and articulated. It will then be necessary to address the challenges that may prevent the attainment of the vision. This is not the time to think about 'the how'. Organisations must focus on the bigger picture first. Transforming an entity is not a once-off adjustment; it needs to be continuously re-evaluated.
Years of experience re-emphasises that one thing remains true: without a plan, chances of success are slim. Ensuring business continuity remains a priority, while maintaining a clear picture of what the organisation will look like at various stages will guide both the pace of change as well as mitigating any identified risks.
We have seen the benefits of migrating organisations towards a cloud-based way of working. It became even more prevalent during lockdown, where firms that had already commenced investing in their technology and overall transformation were able to adapt to the change very quickly and with minimal disruption.
One of the key features and enablers was the continuous accessibility of information through centralised, secure and cost-effective storage, offering efficient collaboration between stakeholders.
Years of experience re-emphasises that one thing remains true: without a plan, chances of success are slim.
It is important to understand that documentation stored as hard copy and residing in various mailboxes is not readily accessible across stakeholders. This can lead to time wastage in operations.
Feedback received from various practitioners and corporates alike is that visibility and oversight is lacking, especially in manual processes.
Towards the end of 2021, we saw the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission announcing the deregistration of a substantial number of companies due to non-compliance with annual return filings. Many of these could have been prevented with an accurate and automated deadline management system.
The cloud supports the reconciliation of data into fewer platforms, allowing organisations to leverage the interoperability of platforms, thereby benefiting from one-time data entry, and having one version of the data.
There are, however, several concerns that organisations frequently raise when embarking on cloud transformation projects. Practitioners and corporates often nominate the security of sensitive data as their biggest worry, coupled with the issue of who can gain access to the information.
With increasing cyber crime and growth in remote and hybrid workforces, this is, of course, a key issue. It is crucial to do a due diligence on the applications in use, as well as those being explored for use, within the organisation, and ensure they are compliant with industry security standards.
Important elements to think about are data storage, transfer, encryption, who has and needs access to the information and partnering with a vendor that can support the organisation in covering these bases.
There is also apprehension around cloud computing and what happens when internet access goes down. However, internet access has become ever more ubiquitous in terms of availability, speed, stability and cost.
Organisations are also operating in an environment where always-on internet is a given for accessing e-mail, communicating with customers, attending virtual meetings, accessing key business operation systems, etc.
That said, firms do not transition to cloud-based platforms for all their business needs overnight and their partners should therefore have a well-rounded understanding of their unique needs and be able to provide for the right guidance to support their transition. Sometimes, a hybrid cloud model is a better option than a full cloud-based solution.
Questions around the ownership of data have been raised more frequently as organisations and teams move to cloud-based solutions. Distinguishing between the intellectual property of a service/software provider and the data uploaded or captured to use a software solution, is a discussion to be had as one considers the move to a platform.
Considering the pace of change in technology and requirements of organisations, a discussion with potential providers around data requirements and the flexibility of extracting it can be extremely beneficial.
With the right partners and the cloud solutions in place to address an organisation's needs and pain points, transformation brings greater efficiencies, accuracy and cost controls.
Consistent market feedback from businesses that have adopted cloud-based solutions is that collaboration between clients and staff improves as people no long need to rely on searching for documents in a sea of e-mails.
Requests for information are now all stored in one place. Decision-makers and business owners derive a greater sense of security and are empowered to run their firms more efficiently by having a holistic view of their companies and by being able to restrict access to sensitive information to specific stakeholders in a central, secure location.
In conclusion, one can liken the digital transformation journey to the layers of an onion. As you peel away a segment, there are new opportunities and challenges to be discovered.
Expectations are always high, and execution and timing will determine direction and outcome. Ultimately, it is immensely important to keep business goals and organisational vision top of mind and continuously consider what this means for customers and how they will experience the impact of these changes.
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