Top Technologies That Enable Digital Transformation

Digital transformation (DX) is the process of integrating technology into your business and leveraging it to improve operations. To truly digitally transform your operations, you need to apply new technology across the board—integrating it with all areas of your business. Transformation goes beyond simply uploading one department’s files to the cloud and calling it a day.

After undergoing a digital transformation, your business will be able to execute processes faster, reduce waste and cost, make better decisions, and improve the customer experience.

The digital transformation technologies in this guide can be useful to your business no matter its size. While a small business may choose different versions of technologies than a big corporation, the end result is the same: efficient progress.

1. Mobile

The first tool in digital transformation is one you most likely already have on hand and use daily—mobile devices.

The rise of mobile technology is a cornerstone of the digital age. It’s already helped businesses around the world with tasks that range from basic (answering emails while on vacation) to complex (getting medical equipment into mobile clinics and remote locations).

Each use of mobile technology in business will look different from the next based on industries and needs. Depending on your business’ focus, you might use mobile technology to:

• Enable team members to call into staff meetings while working remotely
• Use voice over internet protocol (VoIP) phone systems that keep you connected to your office line
• Track patients’ vital signs with the use of wearable sensors
• Connect healthcare providers and specialists in remote locations

Unlocking the full benefits of mobile technology does require a few other pieces of tech—namely cloud storage and high-speed mobile data.

2. Cloud technology

If you have a free Gmail account or regularly back up your phone photos to a Google Drive or iCloud storage account, you’re already using cloud services in your day-to-day life.

While these examples of digital transformation with the cloud are on the more basic end of the spectrum, businesses can leverage the full power of cloud computing in multiple ways:

• Backing up copies of big data
• Hosting websites
• Deploying software infrastructure to a global workforce
• Giving team members remote access to essential programs

While we may use the word “cloud” to describe where this data is located, it does have a terrestrial presence. Cloud-based data exists on one or more servers separate from your location. Your Gmail messages, for example, might currently be in a Google data center in Henderson, Nevada, or Middenmeer, Netherlands!

Keeping your data in the cloud—spread across different data centers—is beneficial for safety. If all of your data is in one location, such as in a server in your building, and it’s damaged, your business operations may go down.

3. 5G

5G data is ultra fast, with low latency. This means that you can transmit large quantities of data with virtually no lag.

Think back to the last time you were on a video call and you started to experience the video or audio breaking up. That’s the effect of latency and data transmission speeds. On a 5G connection, you’re likely to see fewer of those problems.

5G’s benefits go beyond improving video calls for remote work, though. The low latency of 5G connections means the technology is well suited for powering the Internet of Things, allowing for better transmission of data, metrics, video footage, and more.

At the time of writing, 5G networks are still rolling out across the U.S. and other countries. In the U.S., 5G data connections are largely provided by the three major cellular telecommunications companies: T-Mobile, Verizon, and AT&T.

Each company is working to expand access to 5G—so if your business hasn’t been able to benefit from these high speed connections yet, chances are, you will be able to soon. This chart from OpenSignal shows the percentage time each company’s users were able to access 5G signals as of January 2022:

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4. Internet of Things (IoT)

The Internet of Things (IoT) is the array of sensors, components, machines, and other equipment that’s connected to the internet. The IoT can encompass everything from your home refrigerator to heat sensors on a production line.

While the Internet of Things is already active, with use across supply chains, manufacturing, property management, and more, it’ll become even easier and faster to adopt IoT technologies as 5G access expands.

Thanks to 5G’s low latency, you’ll be able to use the IoT to monitor office temperatures, watch security camera footage, and even control equipment in near real-time.

5. Big data

Big data is exactly that—big! This term refers to large volumes of raw data that must be processed and interpreted in order to glean useful results.

Big data collection happens thanks to the Internet of Things, telecommunications, website trackers, social networks, and any other place where people or systems interact with your business.

Big data is typically stored in databases. While this itself isn’t new—companies have been using big data analytics since the early days of computing—the ways in which it is processed are changing.

Many companies are now turning to artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to comb through their big data and use the results in the development of business strategies.

6. Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning

Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning are used across many industries, including in ways you may not realize.

If you’ve ever clicked on a suggested product while shopping on Amazon, read a suggested post on LinkedIn, or engaged with a customer service chatbot when contacting your cell phone provider, you’ve probably interacted with AI.

While AI and machine learning aren’t the same thing, they often go hand in hand. Machine learning uses data to train computers to carry out actions and make decisions based on existing data points. As such, machine learning can be used to create and optimize artificial intelligence processes.

According to The Wharton School, AI is often used to boost efficiency, improve process automation, speed up service deliveries, transform customer insights into business decisions, and identify new business opportunities. McKinsey researchers expect that AI will continue to become more commonplace across software and electronics industries, and will be used to support healthcare and pharmaceutical services in increasingly complicated ways.

7. Robotic process automation (RPA)

Robotic process automation is an offshoot of machine learning and artificial intelligence. When you deploy robotic process automation, you’re actually training software to make the same types of interactions that a human would. The actions and responsibilities of an RPA can go beyond that of a more simplistic AI.

You might train an RPA to execute specific keystrokes as if it was typing, read what’s on a screen and make decisions, or engage with other RPAs and even humans.

In 2018, Google rolled out a consumer-focused RPA called Duplex, now part of Google Assistant. The company billed Duplex as an AI assistant for placing routine calls, such as making reservations, that a person may prefer to outsource to technology. Google has since used humans to help train Duplex—and intervene when necessary—to make the program more independent.

Companies interested in utilizing RPA for their digital business transformations may want to use these software robots to:

• Help ease the burden placed on customer service agents
• Complete paperwork
• Evaluate data from sensors on production lines
• Respond to social media messages
• Execute data-heavy tasks

8. Digital twins

Digital twins are digital, data-based business models that replicate people, places, systems, and processes in the real world. In business, you can use a digital twin to do things like:

• Model the impact of changes on a production line
• Predict customers’ buying habits and adjust inventory levels
• Test different office building layouts for productivity
• Model the impact of launching a new operating model
• Project how your new products may be received by your market
• Determine when customers prefer to receive important information
• Try out new business processes without risk

The biggest benefit of a digital twin is that it can be used to forecast and predict potential problems. If you can use a digital twin to predict what might go wrong—and mitigate the problem before it can happen in the real world—you can save resources, time, and money. Companies using digital twins can potentially reduce operating expenses by up to 15%.

Creating a digital twin takes time, though. Typically, you’ll first need to start by building a data product. This is a software application that analyzes data to aid in business decision making.

Once you have a data product in place, you can continue to feed it information about things like customer behavior, production line variables, or possible supply chain actions. This additional information gives your data product more context, and you can begin modeling different scenarios. Your data product evolves into a digital twin.

Over time, you can create data products for different aspects of your business and connect them together. McKinsey calls these connections the creation of an “enterprise metaverse”—but you don’t need to actually walk around with a virtual reality headset on to experience it. Instead, you can run, tweak, and view your digital twins from a computer.

That said, if you want to walk around a business metaverse, the technologies that power digital twins also help to create augmented and virtual reality tools.

9. Augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR)

Augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) experiences use technology to create 3D simulations that feel immersive. The application of AR and VR in business can range from modeling a new building or product in its intended location to holding full business meetings around a virtual conference table.

Target is a great example of a business using AR to enhance its operations. When using the company’s mobile app, Target shoppers can view digital models of products within their living space.

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As the adoption of requisite VR technology, such as headsets, expands, you may find that holding meetings in the metaverse is an appealing way to collaborate with your distributed team.

10. 3D printing

On-demand additive manufacturing, or 3D printing, may be a worthwhile supplement to work done with the internet of things, machine learning, and data twins.

If your data twin predicts a delay in receiving essential manufacturing components, or sensors connected to the IoT locate a broken part, you may one day be able to quickly create a replacement product with a 3D printer.

3D printing is already relied upon by product development teams who want to spin up their own prototypes right away, without waiting for an external vendor to create and send the necessary parts.

11. Blockchain

A blockchain is a digital ledger, or rows of data, shared across (and accessible by) a computer network. When you add to a blockchain, one of the computers in the blockchain network writes data, called a block, to the ledger.

Once created, an entry on the ledger can’t be edited without breaking the entire chain of information, so the blockchain becomes a reliable record of transactions and events.

Publicly accessible blockchains are used to record the exchange of digital currency, like Bitcoin, and the sale of digital goods like non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

When used privately within your organization, though, a blockchain can become a verifiable record of approvals, contracts, data entries, and more. The blockchain can also be used to store an organization’s website and app data, track inventory through supply chains, or manage information about international flights. This use case is known as Web3.

Best practices for developing a digital transformation strategy

Before developing a digital transformation strategy, make sure you know the “why” behind your interest in the change. What do you hope to get out of the digital transformation process?

For some companies, the ‘why’ may be to reduce manual error and predict problems before they happen. Other companies may be interested in changing the ways they work remotely, or want to expand into new markets.

Defining these goals up front will help you build your execution strategy and select the right options for your tech stack. It’s a good idea to start with the tech stack you already have, too—see what existing tools can be adapted for new functions, and determine what you have to keep.

When it comes time to upgrade or replace some components of your tech stack, you can make sure they will work well alongside any legacy products that must remain.

Don’t forget to establish a baseline and metrics that will guide how you measure the success of your transformation. By knowing where you started, and how you’ll recognize progress toward your new goals, you can continue to evaluate changes in your digital transformation plan and make sure it’s working the way you want.

Hiring a digital transformation expert is the way to go

A digital transformation expert can help you move through the implementation process and select the right digital technologies for your use case. While each individual expert’s skill sets vary, these professionals are typically able to advise companies and business leaders on:

• The best technologies to adapt for their industry and needs
• How to integrate technologies so they share information
• The profitability of digital transformations and related new business models
• Revising or adapting brand messaging in the face of a digital evolution
• Creating databases to manage big data sets
• Applying the benefits of digital transformation across departments
• Maintaining good user experiences during digital transformations
• Using technology to grow business operations over time
• Developing a strategy to achieve full digital transformation over time

You can consult with a digital transformation expert quickly, thanks to Upwork. A number of management consultants on our platform specifically focus on the nuances of digital transformation, and can help you navigate the switch.

To get started, simply create a digital transformation implementation job post on Upwork. You’ll begin receiving proposals from a variety of digital transformation professionals and can begin reviewing their qualifications right away. Log in or create an Upwork account to get started!