With the advent of a truly online business culture, cloud working and social networks, SMEs are now able to compete with the big guns on a more level playing field than ever before…..
But just because they can doesn’t mean it will be easy – and it is becoming increasingly obvious that having a digital strategy is becoming an essential part of business planning.
According to the latest research from Ingram Micro Cloud, who conducted a detailed survey of end users at this year’s Cloud Expo Europe, just over half of UK businesses have an active digital transformation strategy or are currently putting one in place.
The result, according to the research, is that 71 per cent of the over 200 surveyed will be ‘Digitally Transformed’ by 2018, with over 80 per cent saying that the Cloud is playing a very important or even critical role in their online plans.
Crucially, it is becoming clear that small companies can often use their size to their advantage. Being nimble and agile in their offerings where bigger companies are locked into set product paths, with existing suppliers or agreed timelines.
The important things to remember when creating a digital strategy include:
- Be ambitious!
- Play to your own company strengths, rather than trying to be something you are not.
- Delivering value in your niche is key!
- Keep an eye to how you can capitalise on and adapt to the fast-changing technological landscape.
- Stay relevant to your customer base as you seek new opportunities is also important for continued growth.
The survey also identified risk-taking as a corporate norm for the first time and the desire of a large proportion of employees to work for companies committed to digital progress.
We already knew it but digital shows no signs of slowing anytime soon!
