14 May 2023

The Digital Transformation Toolkit

By EY Malta

Multidisciplinary professional services organization

14 May 2023

According to EY research companies that focus on new technologies or experiences, are twice as likely to exceed their own digital transformation expectations, when compared to organisations who have a lower appetite to explore innovative technology.

Now is the time to be bold and embrace technology as an integral component of business transformation.  In today's rapidly changing business environment, it is more important than ever for companies to adopt the right tools to drive digital transformation. 

Technologies such as cloud computing, data platforms, and automation tools, all form part of an essential toolkit that businesses should leverage to succeed in the digital age. 

Cloud

Cloud computing has been a game-changer for businesses, allowing for their digital transformation efforts to be optimised.  The Cloud provides flexibility, scalability and cost-effectiveness, whilst also enabling controlled access to data and applications from anywhere. 

One of the most significant advantages of cloud computing is the ability to scale resources up or down as needed, without needing to invest in additional hardware or software to scale up operations.  This allows businesses to easily adjust their resource usage and costs, making it an ideal solution for companies that experience fluctuating demand. 

It also offers the opportunity for organisations to be systematically agile, making it possible to experiment with and adopt the latest technologies and cloud-based services, with minimal barriers to entry such as an upfront financial investment.

Nowadays, hybrid cloud solutions are also becoming increasingly popular, as these seek to combine the benefits that public and private clouds have to offer.  Hybrid clouds enable businesses to store and secure sensitive data in a private cloud, while still taking advantage of the scalability and flexibility that the public cloud has to offer. 

Data Platforms

Data is widely regarded as one of the most valuable assets that an organisation can have. Under the right circumstances, data can be transformed into meaningful information and actionable insights, enabling business leaders to make the appropriate decisions. 

Data lakes and modern data platforms can help organisations manage, process, use and leverage the vast amount of data that is continuously being generated.  These platforms collect information from the organisation’s entire ecosystem, capturing data in a wide variety of formats and structures.  The information is validated, cleaned, optimised, standardised, transformed and aggregated, making it ready to be consumed in a secure and controlled manner. 

Nowadays, such data platforms are typically cloud-based, enabling organisations to leverage the synergies that these two technologies have to offer.

Automation

As organisations continue to modernize and digitalise their business processes, there also continues to be a steady uptake of automation technologies that can help businesses to further succeed in the digital age. 

Automation technologies have revolutionized the way organisations operate, by allowing them to automate repetitive tasks and processes. Low-code platforms enable automation workflows to be built with minimal coding, allowing organisations to automate a wide variety of tasks, ranging from data entry and file management to customer service and procurement.  This allows businesses the freedom to build applications tailored to their specific needs, resulting in increased efficiency and productivity.

By automating repetitive tasks, organisations can free up their employees to focus on more strategic work, leading to increased productivity and higher job satisfaction. 

Additionally, automation can lead to significant cost savings by reducing the need for manual labour, whilst also improving accuracy and consistency. 

FinOps & DevOps

Digital tools and objectives, however, needs to be managed to ensure that the benefits outweigh the costs involved. 

FinOps is a methodology that combines finance, technology and business operations to optimise cloud spending.  With FinOps, businesses can make the most of their cloud investment, by tracking, allocating and optimising their cloud spending, resulting in cost savings and increased efficiency.

Building Transformation

Digital transformation is essential for businesses that are seeking to thrive.  Success in digital transformation, however, requires more than just adopting the latest technology.  It also requires the right mindset, approach and culture, as well as a focus on fundamental concepts such as governance and security.  Agile methodologies and DevOps can help companies to accelerate their transformation efforts, by enabling faster delivery, greater flexibility and increased collaboration across teams.  Embracing an agile mindset and approach can help businesses to become more responsive to changing market conditions and customer needs, by encouraging a culture of agility.

As technologies develop and business needs evolve, organisations must continue to adapt to stay competitive.  With the help of tools such as cloud computing, data platforms and automation technologies, businesses can accelerate their digital transformation journey. 

Daniel Cuschieri is an EY Malta Technology Consulting Senior Manager.

Summary

Digital Transformation and the tools required for it will be discussed during EY Engage happening on 1 June at the Westin Dragonara Resort, St. Julian’s. The event is sponsored by SG Solutions, BMIT Technologies, Tech Mahindra, MeDirect, Microsoft, IBM, GO, Exigy, ICT Solutions, AIVHY Ltd., Smart Cloud, eSkills, MDIA, OneSpan, British Computer Society Malta Chapter, and in collaboration with MITA. For more information on the event and to register your spot click here: https://www.ey.com/en_mt/events/engage-2023

About this article

By EY Malta

Multidisciplinary professional services organization