In our recent report looking at charities and digital technology, we discovered that whilst charities recognise the need and potential of adopting technology, it remains underused across the sector as a whole. In our experience, it is clear that there are several barriers that all companies face including skills gaps, limited budgets and finding the expertise they need to get their digital transformation plans in place.
A digital strategy can help your business eradicate inefficiencies and update requirements within your IT systems and business processes. As a result, a robust digital strategy can create a more efficient, flexible organisation that is able to offer a better service to their customers. Here are some top tips you can utilise right now to start grasping the potential of your technology.
Run an audit of your IT systems
We would always suggest before you make any changes to your technology, that you take a look at the tools you are currently using. By running an audit, you are able to see:
- Bottlenecks and manual processes within current system
- Recommendations on how the system can be enhanced and made more efficient
- Incorrect uses of the system
- Security gaps
- Future stability and performance of the system
A user journey audit
In a recent blog, we looked at how user expectations have changed, and the importance user experience plays in any digital transformation project. In order to get the maximum value from your systems you need to make sure you are keeping both your customers and staff happy.
Some requirements gathering on your user personas and user journeys is a good place to start with this. Some of the questions you need to ask include: Can they do what the need to, and quickly? Is information available across different devices? Are your websites and portals responsive and mobile ready?
Perform a data audit
The big question you need to ask yourself is can you make sense of your data? You can answer this question by following a quick three step process:
1 – Find out where your data is being stored.
2 – Who is using it and what are they using it for.
3 – Can your data be easily transferred between systems.
At the end of this process you will be able to establish if your data needs to be centralised or integrated to make access to your data easier. And whether dashboards and reports are needed to make access to analyse and produce insights. Ultimately, getting data in the right place, in the right format for analysis, is key.
By following these three key audits, you will discover how healthy your IT systems are and where improvements might be needed to ensure you are getting the best returns and your users are getting the best experience.
To discover more about the benefits of digital transformation and how it could help your business, get in touch today.