DIGITALIZATION & AUTOMATION

 First published on: March 17, 2021

“Digitalization means the use of digital technologies and of data (digitized and natively digital) in order to create revenue, improve business, and replace/transform business processes…”

Where Automation speaks about automating routine business processes

Being in operation these are two word that you can’t shy away from. It is almost a staple feature in any senior or middle management KPI. Everyone seem to want a piece of this. It’s like that hot neighbor girl that just moved in next door.

After the OMNI CHANNEL buzz (don’t get me started on this), this seem to be the new “IN” thing.

Doing what I do, I can safely say half of those that want digitalization and automation don’t know what they want. Everyone want to do it because others are doing it.

Before embarking on this journey one needs to first understand and appreciate a few simple rules

Begin with end in mind

What do you seek to achieve by embarking in a digital/ automation journey?

Will it improve your business by reducing error and loss? Reduce the workload for your employees or will it create a new niche and increase your revenue stream?

As a business you will need to first think what is it that you want to achieve and see if digitalization or automation will help with this.

As basic as this seem, many organization do not do this. They first decide what technology they want to adapt and work backwards to painfully integrate this into their processes.

For instance, the use of WhatsApp. WhatsApp is a great technology tool. However what we see is organizations buying the technology first instead of thinking how it can work for their business. This is of course the result of swallowing the sales pitch as a whole. Use becomes an afterthought which led to an investment lost and poor integration to the business process.

Digitalization and Automation are means to and end not the other way around.

Does your customers want digitalization?

Often the business would argue, “why wouldn’t customers want it? This is so much easier and better” It’s easy to take the view that, if I want it others would also want it.

Now imagine Rolls Royce, the car cost more than some people’s retirement fund. What if Rolls Royce say they want to digitalize and automate. What if they start using machines to build their car? Would it now have the appeal that it has? Would someone now pay that much for it?

Similarly digitalization of a form where the customer base are boomers who struggle with technology may not be a wise thing and only serve to alienate.

By no means am I saying don't push the envelope on technology. Rather what I'm saying is , don't lose what makes your business unique by adapting a technology that does not add to your value proposition.

So know and understand what your customer wants from your brand.

What is your strategy?

Organizations can build excellent digital or automation platforms. But more than often they fall into the trap of not having an execution strategy. Humans are creatures of habit. We rarely change the way we do things, unless there is an incentive or deterrence. In a customer experience environment incentives always help.

An additional discount for using the platform or perhaps some shopping vouchers or reward points to be redeemed. Project budgets should have this factored in so the implementation can hit the ground running.

The reluctant custodian

Just like a person, systems also lose their shine if it’s not properly maintained. Customer facing systems, especially need to be updated and maintained with the correct information to prevent confusions and misunderstandings.

Often systems are developed with no clear ground rules post deployment, thus ending up in ITs bags to upkeep. IT being essentially non-operational will not know what should or should not be there post deployment. This is when the decays starts.

A good example of these are Chat Bots. Great effort is put in to launch with fine attention to details. However once it hit the road it starts depreciating like a car leaving the show room. This is because resources (money and headcount) had not be accounted to up keep it. This will lead to customers distrusting the system and its eventual collapse, and elevation to the status of a glorified white elephant.

As such have a clear owner of the process/system. Set a clear KPI on what should be done. This will slow the rot.

Review your processes.

We are all guilty of this. When it comes to digitalization and automation, we tend to take a manual process and superimpose this into a digital background. Rarely do we think if certain steps can be shortened or removed all together. This is due to years of conditioning which lead us to think like a horse wearing blinds. It helps to take a step back and relook the processes “box by box” with a fresh pair of eyes. At times you will be surprised as to the results.



When it comes to digitalization, there is no such thing as one size fits all. Each organization is unique in its own way and has its unique challenges and customers.

Some things that work well for one organization may not work for another. Before you embark on something, understand your business, your customer and what you want to achieve in the long run.

Resist the SALES siren call. More importantly do not fall in to the trap that digitalization or automation is the answer to everything. Sometimes human touch is what is needed.