Digital transformation means that businesses must gradually and fundamentally transform their traditional operations. Any organization planning to undergo digital transformation must clearly understand that this is not merely about upgrading applications or IT systems—it is a comprehensive cultural shift that redefines processes, workflows, and the way the entire organization operates.
As mentioned earlier, even newly established businesses can cultivate a digital-first mindset as a driving force to accelerate the adoption of digital technologies within their corporate culture. To fully grasp the benefits that digital innovation brings to customers, organizations must first understand the impact of digital technologies across every stage of business operations and growth.
Before exploring how to build a digital transformation framework, let’s take a look at the real-world signs that indicate why businesses need digital transformation.
Signs That Indicate a Business Needs Digital Transformation
Indicators of the need for digital transformation can appear across multiple departments in the form of operational and business challenges. If an organization is facing any of the issues below, it is time to seriously consider embarking on a digital transformation journey.
- Difficulty in maintaining customer reach
An increasing amount of advertising content is now shared online via social media, applications, email, and messaging platforms. Without a robust and easily shareable digital process, businesses are likely to miss valuable opportunities to engage with customers.
- Declining customer engagement
Customers disengaging from a business does not necessarily mean that products or services lack quality. Missed customer connections can stem from competitor promotions, communication gaps, or other operational shortcomings. By digitizing marketing campaigns—particularly messaging-based campaigns—businesses can better identify and address the root causes of disengagement.
- Outdated promotions that no longer generate leads
Why are core promotional campaigns no longer effective? Measuring the impact of traditional marketing efforts is increasingly difficult. Even the most successful digital campaigns from the previous year may no longer deliver results. When promotions fail to generate new leads, it is a clear signal that businesses need a more comprehensive and modern marketing approach.
- Growing conflicts between departments due to lack of collaboration
Siloed operations, particularly between sales and marketing teams, are becoming outdated in today’s business environment. Modern organizations thrive on collaboration, which benefits both employees and the business as a whole. Today’s competitive advantage lies in the ability to consolidate fragmented data and deliver it to the right users, enabling seamless access to information across departments.
- Outdated technology systems
Spreadsheets are useful tools, but they are not suitable for every scenario. Modern business applications are designed to address specific needs and integrate with one another to share data and deliver seamless, user-friendly customer experiences across devices. If existing technology systems cannot meet employee needs or resolve the challenges outlined above, it may be time to seek a more viable technology platform.
Upon deeper analysis of these issues, it becomes evident that many businesses lack a proper approach to data—an essential component for making informed business decisions. Organizations often bolt together disconnected applications that lack integration. If businesses aim to make smarter decisions in the future, improving technology infrastructure by simplifying data sharing and analysis across departments is unavoidable.
A Digital Transformation Strategy Is a Business Transformation Strategy
It is important to note that digital transformation should prioritize business operations first, followed by digital technologies. Data-related challenges often signal deeper issues within how an organization operates. Laurie McCabe, Co-founder and Partner at SMB Group, states: “In reality, these situations indicate that businesses do not have a clear understanding of their data—or worse, they are missing critical connections to customer needs.”
If a business is facing multiple challenges and recognizes that its data is unfocused, difficult to access, or hard to use, it is time to build a digital transformation strategy.
How Should Businesses Approach a Digital Transformation Strategy?
Start with an internal assessment to identify gaps, challenges, and areas that have historically hindered performance. What is the organization’s biggest problem? What is critical to business survival? At the same time, businesses must ensure that core processes and systems can continue to operate, with every employee contributing to the organization’s success. Over time, everyone becomes a link in the digital transformation chain, and more stakeholders may be involved than initially anticipated.
Even when the digital transformation roadmap becomes clearer, businesses must remember that strategies should be built for the future. Organizations will grow, hire more employees, and generate higher revenue. Flexibility and adaptability must therefore be embedded into the digital transformation strategy from the outset.
Businesses are encouraged to seek expert consultation as soon as they begin considering a digital transformation initiative.
Considering External Support When Building a Digital Transformation Strategy
Advisors, partners, and technology vendors can deliver powerful solutions for businesses. Their experience and domain expertise enable them to guide organizations toward the most effective path to success. Experienced partners who have supported businesses facing similar challenges can help identify the fastest and most efficient transformation approach.
While some organizations hesitate to engage consulting firms due to perceived costs, many large technology providers—such as Salesforce—offer free consulting, training, and educational resources. In addition to free services, businesses can access affordable consulting options from various trusted sources.
Businesses Are Not Alone on Their Digital Transformation Journey
The purpose of collaborating with external partners is to leverage their expertise to design a digital transformation strategy tailored to business needs. Consultants bring experience and specialized knowledge that organizations may lack internally, offering best practices and high-value guidance. Short-term investments in consulting often yield substantial long-term benefits.
With the right partner, businesses not only gain strategic support but can also stay focused on core objectives while avoiding common pitfalls associated with attempting digital transformation independently.
Collaboration Is Essential Before Making Technology Investment Decisions
If a business is undergoing digital transformation, collaboration must be considered before any investment or strategic decision is made. Every employee is impacted by transformation efforts, meaning all stakeholders should be involved in discussions.
Avoid superficial or top-down decisions. Every change introduced through digital transformation affects daily workflows and aims to enhance employee capabilities. Involving employees and gathering their feedback leads to better ideas and more successful outcomes.
Avoiding Common Mistakes in Digital Transformation Frameworks
Technology integration is the key—and one of the most critical areas for investment.
A common and serious mistake is investing in multiple standalone technologies that cannot integrate with one another. This approach creates data synchronization challenges across platforms and applications.
Businesses should focus on solutions that meet current needs while remaining scalable as the organization grows. Today’s business ecosystems enable vendors and developers to build applications that support long-term growth. A scalable platform ensures smooth workflows and internal data operations, creating opportunities for further application development.
Strengthening the Connection Between Data, Employees, and Customers
Businesses do not need to start from scratch during digital transformation, even when existing systems are fragmented. The most effective approach is to connect data silos and centralize information into a shared environment—an approach far simpler than rebuilding systems entirely.
The second phase of digital transformation focuses on data synchronization to create a unified view of the customer. Once fragmented data is successfully connected, businesses can gain deeper insights into customer behavior and unlock the potential of emerging technologies such as AI. Ultimately, digital transformation exists to deliver tangible business value through better tools and customer insights.
Digital transformation can significantly improve business operations, resulting in more efficient processes that benefit both employees and customers. In the future, virtually every department and function can be digitally transformed. With its comprehensive, customer-centric ecosystem spanning Sales, Marketing, Service, and beyond,
Salesforce is a powerful platform for businesses embarking on their digital transformation journey.
