Digital Transformation of Businesses in India

December 4, 2020

There is almost no business in India today that is not on the digital transformation journey. This is because the seamless flow of data and information online has proved to be generating economic value in more ways than ever imagined, especially after the hit the industries have taken as a result of the novel Corona virus (COVID-19).

It has been reported that India is currently the most dynamic country in terms of deploying digital transformation, and much ahead of its contemporaries, with around 90% of enterprises in the country going digital, while the global average of digital adaptation has been noted to be around 80%. Astonishing, isn’t it?

Well, not exactly, if you think about it. Let us look at some facts - working professionals and employers have been constantly upgrading and “re-skilling” themselves digitally in the past few years to be in line with the changing paradigm of technology and their work industry. And recently, farmers have also begun to go online to make sure they are getting a fair price for their products. So, we are now currently a step ahead in this digital journey, which actually began even before the Corona virus (COVID-19) hit in 2020. COVID has only gave this journey a much-needed impetus.

The covid-19 has been an unprecedented crisis which brought about many inevitable changes in the work and lifestyles of people all over the world. And in response to the repercussions of this virus and its eventual lockdowns and resulting business losses, enterprises throughout the world have been scrambling to do whatever it takes, within their potential, to gain back lost business and profits as soon as is possible, so that they are not forced to be shut down.

The most common solution for most businesses has been to make their processes go online – including buying, selling, paying, ordering, business related meetings and communications, and so on, so that there will be minimum physical touch, and the spread of the virus can be minimised. Most food and retail stores all over the world – both small and big have gone completely digital, with an e-commerce option so that their customers can easily get their products and services without having to physically visit stores.

As India too joined the world in this digital race, to not be left behind, socio-economic trends have also been reportedly favouring India. The launch of business-friendly digital processes for Indian businesses enabled more products and services to reach the audience, in many cases at lower prices. And this has been the reason for the successful adaptation of these much-needed changes by the country.

Collaboration is another important thing when people are forced to work remotely and may not be close to their actual data centres, so digital collaboration tools have proven to be most useful in these times. The COVID, having been the cause for an unprecedented turn of events in the world, has also forced enterprises to re-write their BCPs (Business Continuity Processes) – that is, the process of creating a backup/system for prevention and recovery to deal with potential threats to the enterprise, and to enable ongoing operations before and during execution of the disaster recovery structure. Digitalization has made all of these much less complicated, and helped most organizations in India to bounce back and continue operating to their full capacity after the COVID-19 lockdowns, and gain back their lost business.

Hence it can be safely said that any company adapting digital transformation is sure to benefit from it. In fact, it can even be said that this could be the only best solution for businesses to run successfully right now, and not adapting to a digitalized structure may cause the downfall of a business in these times.