Passion for a World with New Paradigms

We might think that by using different systems we are already operating as a digital brand, but we must go further: we need to understand and offer better experiences to our customers, to be recognized as a brand, as a top player in our sector.

The so-called Digital Workplaces emerge as an innovative response to the new challenges of organizations. There is an urgent need for an integrated vision of business processes.

Talking about technological trends today is not about technologies; it is not about promoting what can be bought or acquired at a price. It is about innovation—what to do with technology and how to achieve a horizontal vision of your company that helps you make better, faster decisions. Talking about technological trends is talking about change, culture, brand, and competitiveness. In an unpredictable environment, our system must be antifragile; it must adapt to new needs that arise from constant change. The purpose of all this is only one: to align our brand in the best possible way with the customer. To know them, exceed their expectations, serve them, and accompany them on a path to success. That is why we say that innovation is the new DNA, a way of life.

Digital transformation is no longer something new. The term is part of everyday language. What business, regardless of its sector or size, has not already digitized part or all of its processes? The question is, how many have actually developed a transformation strategy and addressed the challenges it entails? We might think that by using different systems we are already operating as a digital brand, but we must go further: we need to understand and offer better experiences to our customers, to be recognized as a brand, as a top player in our sector.

What should we do? The so-called Digital Workplaces emerge as an innovative response to the new challenges of organizations. There is an urgent need for an integrated vision of business processes, which can be summarized in five main areas: collaborative platforms, transversal integrative vision, inclusion of the data economy, holistic view of the organization, and people-centered focus. Let’s look at each of these points in more detail.

First, we need to understand the new rules of the game, and among them, the main one: accept change as the context. We must be open to discovering, learning, and staying ahead. We need the raw materials that help us manage the new demands to compete successfully. The first of these is information—the data-driven economy. Every day we obtain, store, and “manage” a vast amount of information. But this information must acquire meaning to be leveraged throughout its lifecycle. What asset in an organization is more valuable than knowledge? The famous phrase “knowledge is power” takes on full meaning in the digital age. This data-driven vision implies intensive monitoring of our business from several perspectives: supervision and control, process optimization, and simulation. Through all this, we gain the ability to make well-founded strategic and tactical decisions.

If we manage to make the business operate entirely within a single collaborative platform, data correlation and information contrast can reveal areas for improvement, new insights, and even new ways of approaching and understanding our business. These platforms are the starting point at the organizational level. From there, we can focus on innovation, creating value, and providing responses to our customers that go beyond expectations every day, in every interaction.

That is why the most innovative technologies eliminate code and rely on semantics—on knowledge. In this way, we create more sustainable systems. We give data a longer, more valuable life, preventing it from being trapped in rigid systems and eventually lost. We place value on business logic. The next inescapable rule, then, is to focus on people—their talent and their contribution to a limitless collaborative process.

If we understand technology as a tool at the service of people, it becomes a 360º tool serving every function, every process, every individual in an organization. A holistic and transversal vision will help maximize the value of every area of our business.

We must understand our digital system as a mechanism nourished by experiences and information, capable of learning and automating new processes and responses. Analytics occur in real time, and the ability to react makes the difference. Combining the agile mindset—to measure, decide, and execute efficiently—with new technological possibilities and trends, we can and must think big.

The closer we bring technology to people, the greater reach we will achieve as a digital brand. It is essential to place people in control of the system so that it integrates and promotes business values and mission. This is an essential worldview today: technology exists to help people improve their work—it’s not the other way around, as many authors suggest. People are not irrelevant in this new world; we are essential. Corporate culture must be anchored in values, capabilities, and attributes that foster cohesion and teamwork toward common goals—with passion and excellence—embracing change and maintaining an intrinsic motivation toward customer satisfaction.

We are living in an exciting time, full of new opportunities. A world for visionaries, pioneers, and those passionate about how, today more than ever, technology can help improve the world and bring us closer to its true protagonists: people.

This article was published in MarketingNews magazine on January 9, 2020. You can access the publication through this link.