Digitise Now Or Die

When the COVID-19 pandemic was announced, much of the world moved online. This accelerated a digital transformation that has been underway for decades. Think of it like this, prior to the pandemic, the vehicle was crawling along the road, once the pandemic came, the vehicle was thrown into a high speed downhill, thereby speeding up the vehicle and its movement.

Children with at-home Internet access began attending class remotely; many employees started working from home; and numerous firms adopted digital business models to maintain operations and preserve some revenue flows. And thus, was born work-from-home (WFH).

WFH has demonstrated the tremendous potential of the digital transformation. The standard of working in an office is no longer the standard. Today, work from home, and all that it encompasses, is the new normal. In many ways, things haven’t changed.

The forced digital transformation was done in such a way that IT departments worked like mad to make the changes that no longer could wait for tomorrow. To keep businesses running, things were done as rapidly as possible. Usually when processes are rapid, they many not be as secure, or as automated. Changes had to be done, so that companies can avoid the Covid induced doom and gloom.

The dependance on rapid processes increased, so did the big shift to cloud-based apps and platforms, cloud-based security has become increasingly important. In fact, some say the cloud has become an essential part of remote work security.

So, the more corporates shifted towards remote working, the more there was a demand for cloud services. SAP’s second quarter results have shown this. The multinational software company has recorded an 11per cent increase in cloud revenue and a 16 per cent growth in customers.

“Our cloud services grew, our flagship ERP, SAP Hana also grew by 39%” pointed out SAP Executive Board Member Scott Russell. “The Africa market across the continent is essential for us in cloud growth, we see SME’s who are able to get the real value out of cloud. What is that value? To digitise,” Said Russell.

Given the rapid pace of technological evolution, modest efforts over a period of years won’t work. Especially when unprecedented events like the pandemic force unprecedented changes. The only option now is, to digitise and reap the benefits of the digital economy, ensuring widespread flexibility, adaptability, continuity and control. This is a new way of work, of business, and of life, time to embrace change.