[CONTEST ENDED] Community Challenge: Digital Transformation

[MeredithW]

Update: This contest has ended! Thank you all for your thoughtful digital transformation ideas and examples — we really enjoyed reading your responses!

We randomly selected three swag winners: @Jorg95, @pawelk, and @tdj7397. I'll be reaching out today to confirm your shipping addresses. Congratulations!

This month’s Community Challenge will explore the hot topic of the moment: digital transformation. 

“Digital transformation” generally refers to the current trend of using technology to simplify processes and solve problems more efficiently. 

There are infinite examples of how a business might be making this transformation. Maybe they’re upgrading their manufacturing process with labor-saving robotic arms, or perhaps they’re leveraging data to better appeal to their customers’ needs. Or they might finally be trading in their typewriters for those cutting-edge Macintosh personal computers 😉.

With this concept allowing for such a truly broad spectrum of possible definitions, we want to know: what does digital transformation mean to you at your organization? What has your digitally transformative journey entailed? Or, how are you planning to make digital improvements over the coming months? 

We're asking this very broad question because our team is genuinely curious about what digital transformation means to our customers and partners. We may reach out to some of you who enter this contest to learn more!

Let us know in a comment on this post and be entered to win swag! Feel free to use video, diagrams, etc. to help illustrate your response.

How to enter

Submit your digital transformation thoughts in a comment on this blog post before 11 a.m. PST on Monday, August 19th. We’ll then draw three at random to win an exclusive new Meraki Community mug and a fancy Meraki pen (and what better way to celebrate digital transformation than with a pen)! Your entries will be public and visible throughout the contest.

The Fine Print

• Drawing will be held on Monday, August 19th at 11am PST
• One entry per community member
• Full terms, conditions, and eligibility information

[Mish]

How important is privacy to you from a consumers' perspective?

[MyCommunnity]

Digital Transformation is about more than improving IT systems and its processes. In the broadest sense, it means doing things differently in an increasingly connected world — using new mindsets, skillsets, technologies and data to benefit people and the economy.

Digital transformation will help people access personalised services when and where they need them, engage in decisions about issues they care about.

[T00829112]

It is the bread and the butter on New IT world technology!

---

[ospsms]

digital transformation means an attempt to redesign a perfectly functional high performance wheel to take advantage of some new digital capability but until Revision 5 or more is reached understanding the wheel will still be a bit square shaped and give us a rougher ride until it is re-refined correctly. Whereas a new digital wireless camera feature will be added and the new wheel will becomes a bit square again.

[grupoultra]

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION IS TO DO DIFFERENT THINGS MAKING USE OF TECHNOLOGY AND LEAVING MANUAL PROCESSES THAT GENERATE EXPENSES TO COMPANIES AND TIME OF PEOPLE

[tdj7397]

Digital Transformation to me means, using technology in new ways in which it wasn't used before and/or automating things that were previously done manually. It is something that is extremely relevant and at the pace that technology evolves in this day and age constantly changing. At my organization it is very important and we are working to try to automate things and use technology as efficiently as possible to better serve our customers and utilize everyone's time more efficiently.

[Michael-Sangre]

Digital Transformation is the changing of one's mindset, opening the world away from paper, pens, and notebooks to all those things electronic.  It is the idea of using the tools we already pose and use more effectively and efficiently, just as Social Media has changed the way we communicate and stay in touch.  We use the tools to transform our business and work to be a lifestyle of work and play, stop for a moment, help those or direct and back to play.  It is the way we live our lives and grow our relationships.  

[ham737]

digital transformation in healthcare is and continues to be a big topic. Even though we are "paperless" it has increased the amount of paper we consume... somehow. Also it comes with a curve of teaching old dogs new tricks... ie if something is emailed, or digitally faxed teaching them they don't have to print it off to scan it into the system. For us we hope it does end in less paper going around, and more organization for the whole organization. 

[CMTech1]

Streamline tasks and operations for improved efficiencies without losing focus on privacy and security.

[MeredithW]

@Mish, I'm not quite sure what you mean, but feel free to PM me with more specifics on your question!

[MateusRodrigues]

Digital transformation means a new way of thinking, producing, consuming, in order to make our day easier, all areas of the world economy have gone through and will still go through this process.📲📱💻

[rvasquez]

Digital Transformation means opening the doors to greater opportunities, continuous improvement, time and flexibility. A great way to improve our customers satisfaction that meet their needs. With Digital Transformation we can find a greater platform to focus on our customers value and we are able to help them understand new technology. 

[mtz4718]

Asking what digital transformation means to an organization seems a bit difficult to pin down because different departments / silo's may have a different perspective on this, but I'll try my best. First, this is an old term and the first thing that comes to mind is moving from paper to digital files. However, if I ask myself that question again today without bias I have a different take on it. I think open source software, integration among platforms via API's, platforms like cloud architectures that allow ideas to hit the ground running without logistical hurdles to overcome. We're in a era where understanding technology applies to everyone. Even if a consumer has a smart thermostat then they have a use case for learning a programming language and how to use an API. The sense of empowerment that comes from that extends into the professional life as well where those that understand how all these things inter-operate are able to leverage technologies in ways never possible before. The ideas and inspiration from this environment I feel have reached all aspects of our modern world. I believe we have a more diverse and integrated global environment as a result but I also believe the youth need to be better prepared for it than they are.

[192-0-0-1]

Digital transformation is a modern-day replacement of anything that is fading to our eyes. Automation that can replace recurring steps or action to reduce human effort. It creates a faster world for us with no time for error. I remember there was a time you wait a month for the postal send a mail to where you can order anything and receive in hours.

[teoespero]

Digital Transformation for me is changing how we solve problems. It is the process by which we acquire and use tools that enable us to identify problems in either business or governance. It allows us to use tools that give us a better view of the resources we have, limited as it may be, and the issues that we have to solve with them, regardless of its complexity. Digital Transformation is not a cookie-cutter answer to everything but an enabler of what we can do for ourselves, for the people around us and the world that we interact with. It multiples our presence and reach to a point where only our creativity and imagination can limit us. Digital Transformation defines how our future will be, how we are part of it, how we lead, and how we contribute to humanity.

[echin]

Digital Transformation, from my perspective, is the movement towards a new generation of technology that has started a few years back, but is now growing at a rapid pace. The previous of method of sharing information, through the use of paper and physical media, is no longer the standard. Digital Transformation allows one to share information, spread knowledge, and so much more through a click of a button. It gives us a better outlook on the world, with real-time information given instantly, rather than learning about a situation days later. It also makes better use of space and provides efficiency, as one could instantly find their information right way (rather than flipping through books or any other time consuming method.)

Automation, another large part of Digital Transformation, is moving the world towards a different direction. People can create products and solves problems in a short amount of time. For technology companies, automation and the ability to have a global view of their infrastructure, through a single program. Rather than the old method of configuring one device at a time and not being able to find issues quick.

In short, Digital Transformation is the present and the future. It would not solve every single problem we face, but I have no doubt it will have an even greater impact in the near future.

[yraymond]

Digital Transformation is a way to use the cloud more often to solve problems instead of buying infrastructures equipments to do it inhouse. It is a way to mitigate the cost.

[maskjaer]

It's all about thinking IT tools first.

Building a company and process and procedures with a digital mindset. 

It's a tough challenge to (old) people raised and born in the old world - the have to start with bringing young people to the team  - and respect and challenge them to build digital solutions (cloud, mobile, agile, user-friendly feedback driven...)

[Vince]

I can't think of a better example of digital transformation than switching from paper charts to an EHR system  Moving 150,000 patient's records from paper is no small task.  This upgrade goes far beyond changing from pen and paper to computers because this is years and years (and years) of files that must be digitized.  This task was not a fun one but we no longer have to search warehouses of records to find the right charts.

I can only imagine what kind of ingenuity went into making a place like a Amazon warehouse, that's a whole nother ball game.

[BlakeRichardson]

Digital transformation is the future as we know it, manual tasks that can be done by computers will slowly replace human jobs. These are exciting times but we as humans needs to adapt so that we don't get lazy and make good use of the time that we have saved because of autonomy. 

[aolaboye]

A new way of creating new or reinventing already existing business and it's environment, mostly via the cloud with the latest up to date technology which Cisco-Meraki is proudly taking leadership....Digital Transformation!

[T0ny_V]

Digital Transformation to my organization is the ability to execute a task that used to require about 10 steps to only require 1 though process automation. One example of this is the use of MS PowerApps to on-board a new hire without having to email about 4 different people to get that person properly on-boarded and ready to make an impact.

[GT]

Digital Transformation is the act of moving from the traditional on premise everything mentality! Too moving work loads such as networking, compute, applications in an environment utilizing CSP (Cloud Service Providers) or SAAS products to help simplify operational efficiencies. Digital Transformation helps improve efficiency and lets businesses manage operational IT spend and lower capital cost of their IT yearly expenditures. 

[NoahW]

When the phrase, “Digital Transformation" became common buzzwords 18-24 months ago, my first thought was, "you are about 30 years behind the times!" Most businesses have made the move from analog telephones to digital. They have changed from modems to fiber connectivity. What business sends a letter when an email or possibly an instant message will suffice? The "digital transformation" has already occurred. Was that the end of the digital transformation? Has technology reached the point where everything is already digital? Right? Maybe not...

Yes, all those things have occurred, and quite a few more examples as well.  That is when I began to rethink the meaning of the words, Digital Transformation. Maybe some aspects of the analog world have transformed and still others are only beginning to.

Technology has been maturing since the first punch card and tape roll computers of the 1940s. Then products like VoIP handsets in the 1990s, video conferencing of the 2000s and cloud services of the 2010s were deployed. Budgets for IT are ever shrinking, staff is being asked to take on more and more or even becoming a revenue center as opposed to a cost center. Digital Transformation is the next technological advance which will be readily accepted to make these possible.  Migrating away from email to tools can bring individual ideas together in a group repository. Now begins the enablement of talking, seeing, and truly collaborating and storing this information for instant accessibility to group while still maintaining security and access controls.

Digital Transformation. Is it just hype? After some contemplation, I don’t believe so. It is the evolution of how business is going to be done. It is how technology, the cloud, AI, and whatever comes next will bring efficiencies for workers to….well work and succeed.

[RJordan-CCS]

Digital Transformation first defined itself to me at a Compaq conference shortly after they purchased Digital Equipment Corporation and started more aggressive moves into the enterprise environment.  They called it "Zero Latency Enterprise", where all processes and functions, including human interaction inside the enterprise, expanding out to satellite locations, and with end customers, was completely digital, redundant, and centrally available.  The concept was that if a customer expressed interest in an item (via online, or at the time interactive kiosk or other physical terminal, or the early customer scanning devices folks thought might catch on), that information was immediately digested and made available to every level of the enterprise 'business intelligence' and CRM datastores; enough customers expressing said interest might trigger automatic inventory changes, as well as alerting about possible trends or fads, alerting store managers to 'feature' items on end-caps, or the ads department to make sure those items were in next weeks commercials or newspaper ads.

They used Disneyland as an example (and Disneyland has made a lot of changes that reflect ZLE, whether or not that came from Compaq).  The ride reservations, timers to go places so you didn't have to stand in line, forecasting things you might want because you bought particular tickets/entry tokens/whatever, to keep all the customers as happy as possible while minimizing costs of walkouts, improving sales (we have time to hit the food stand instead of waiting in line), etc. ZLE talked about magnetic stripe card or a portable PDA type device at the customer level, obviously no longer needed with current tech. 

It was all quite interesting, though the complexity of what they were envisioning may be part of why Compaq got eaten by HP not long after and ZLE disappeared into the bit bucket  (a digital transformation of a trash can...).  

So Digital Transformation, from this early ZLE concept to current, is about gathering as much data as possible about every aspect of the business environment and the people in it, and the people they work with, sell to, buy from, deal with, and optionally _might_ do any of those with in the future, as close to real time as possible, analyzing it, collating it, making it available to as many relevant people, processes, and systems as possible in coherent and usable form as close to real time as possible, so that it can be used to best prepare and position the business/organization to prosper.

Digital Transformation has also meant that many businesses are forced to change their methods and processes to work the way whatever package they purchase wants them to work.  It doesn't matter if your business has refined its procedures and methods for decades; if you go with a pre-package you must change a lot in order to squeeze into that new mold, otherwise you have to have the large IT departments of the past with considerable development staff and support costs... but then keep your long learned/earned methods.  The latter doesn't seem to get counted as "Digital Transformation" in current parlance; if you don't standardize on an 'industry standard' package or giant well known BI/CRM/etc service, then you're still stuck in the past.

[SGluesing]

For me digutal transformation means sleeping one hour longer  since I read my newspaper online and the Paperboy won't wake me up 6:00 in the morning - fortunatly it has a positive effect on environment since less trees get cut down for newspapers.

[MAV]

This is my though when I heard the word "Digital Transformations". It is the way of transforming services in effortless way. The task and surroundings become fast and lighter. In my case this applies to any transactions that need no required paper and pencil.

[Abdallah83]

Digital transformation is the integration of digital technology into all areas of a business, fundamentally changing how you operate and deliver value to customers. It's also a cultural change that requires organizations to continually challenge the status quo, experiment, and get comfortable with failure. 

(It is technologys tools, it used to reduse the costs) 

[neo]

We're going through a "digital transformation" (DT) at my company and I see it as a multi-faceted approach that disrupts our traditional ways of doing things. It goes beyond switching to email from paper/fax and rather is an organizational culture shift. I feel DT is very organization specific in its implementation and definitely requires buy-in from all stakeholders for it to be successful. It does involve a change in processes, leveraging new and existing technology to produce even more efficiency. Beyond efficiency, we look at ways we can develop "new products" from the technology that exists for instance, IoT.

An org that decides to implement DT could also benefit from employing the agile method. That said, each group within the org needs to determine how DT and agile works for them keeping in mind that the idea is to get rid of silos, empowering employees with the knowledge and tools to make decisions without fear of reprimand, thereby enabling the ability to get more done quicker and with as little duplication of work between groups.

I believe the transformation can be as simple as allowing staff to work from home using VPN connections and IP services for communication to leveraging the cloud for your XaaS rather than having in-house infrastructure. With DT, there are endless possibilities - our imagination is our only limitation.

DT for me can be summarized best in the words of a cool little boy, "Do not try and bend the spoon, that's impossible. Instead, only try to realize the truth... there is no spoon. Then you'll see that it is not the spoon that bends, it is only yourself."

[santoso]

digital transformation is make us disrupt, or we follow digital transformation and disruption the market.

[Kefa1]

In my words digital transformation is applying technology to all key areas in a business ie by applying analytics has really helped business have insights and deep understanding of what customers want.

As Adcare ltd team we are using a number technologies to achieve full  potential from NFV to SD-wan to lower our overall opex and capex footprint

[Agus]

digital transformation is technology that make our job/task to be fast, for example old wifi technology using 802.11b.g with transfer rafe up to 54Mbps with digital transformation knowdays already develop wireless speed to be gigabit transfer rate

[RajeshReddy]

Digital transformation to me is an easy way of accessing the technology where interface of every IOT should be user friendly. Increase in technology dependency means a great success in Transformation.

[Stanslas]

Digital Transformation means alot to the organization am working for, we are able to monitor the uptime/downtime in real time and be able to resolve problems within the SLA given time. It helps us to share information with partners residing in different region(s) in real time and discus things on a round table via digitised equipment eg VoIP, Conferencing. We are able to monitor our work if we making a difference and incease productivity. This is why i really need to do a course in Meraki and SD-WAN, i see it as another step to Digital Transformation to transform productivity in our company.

[Steve-Potter]

Digital Transformation is just another annoying buzzword the world could do without.

[Aamir1]

Digital Transformation is an ecosystems that encompass customers, employees, developers, suppliers, and even extended networks of related businesses.

By providing platforms for accessing shared assets, such as software, data, and compute resources, ecosystems help organizations deliver high-value products and services with greater speed and efficiency

[RobertNi]

Using technology to improve you business would this be infrastructure, software or cloud solutions.

[gthoma]

Digital Transformation is for me the combination of Hard- and Software

to optimized the Work/Life Balance in Company`s

I mean. that all digital transformation
must be focused on the people, which unfortunately is far too often not the case.

Meraki is on the Way to focused that.

[pawelk]

Hi!

In IT world it can mean almost anything which is a progress from current state.

We already had a digital transformation from the analog world. 

What is coming is next the digital transformation of human body and its merge with the digital part of the world.

Second would be it AI stepping in our personal live and work ecosystems.

🙂

[CapitaoR]

To my knowledge, Digital Transformation is the concept of integrating Digital Technology to add value to the Business and everyday life needs. This can be achieved by empowering people through Digital Dexterity, simplifying processes by automating tasks through emerging technologies like AI, Machine Learning and Blockchain, and change of mindsets and behavior. 

[Jorg95]

Digital transformation for me is Using every knowledge available to make the world a better place. For every company we help go digital, that is a step closer to a world so connected that we can share everything with everyone anywhere. Using those same connections, scientists can research together. I think it is due to so much digital transformation that we went to the moon, that we invented incredible things,... The only way humanity is going to keep progressing is if we keep transforming our digital world so that we keep finding new ways to do things.

This is an opinion. It has no research behind it. please let me know what you think.

[Franz]

For my work, digital transformation means bringing digital services to the country. This means, for example, connecting digital billboards to petrol stations that communicate interactively with customers or allow customers in super stores to simultaneously watch the products and order them on the Internet, e.g. The sneakers are not in stock in the color you want. Customers can then decide whether to pick up the sneakers at the store or deliver them to their homes.

[GavinMcMenemy]

I think these are the 3 main trends for us: 1. User Experience Good processes, good working and good reationships need a good user experience. Technology should, as much as possible, get out of the way. I'm not talking about a facebook black box approach but a serious appreciation of the needs of others. If we ask the questions the right way, we will get the right data and everyone's experience will be good. 2. Taking privacy and security seriously But that doesn't mean that we don't take people's expectation of privacy less seriously. If our users are going to trust us and our decision making then we need to assure them that we respect them as people. In digital transformation we don't chuck out good practise just because it doesn't meet our design [or corporate] needs, instead we build that in. 3. Collaborative working At the end of it all, this is where we want to be. I'm really serious about collaboration. Whether it's documents, desicion making, relationships as part of our digital transformation we need to learn from each other. Users must feel empowered to come forward with their ideas and make their own decisions, our management need to feel they have the space to lead. If we've done this then our customers can trust us and our digital transformation.

[GavinMcMenemy]

No idea why my formatting has been stripped out. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[mahesh1]

Making work life of employees more comfortable.

[Dazza_wifi]

Digital Transformation - A journey undertaken by a user whereby a workflow, role or set of processes can be enhanced or improved  with measurable results in form of Return of Investment

[kami]

For me, the digital transformation is a way to improve/increase efficiency and flexibility and it can also help to continue the process of improvement. By using the digital transformation, a company can also streamline the process and reduce the risks. In the end, doing all this will for sure improve customer satisfaction. 🙂

[Bagunda]

Digital transformation is the integration of digital technology into all areas of a business, fundamentally changing how you operate and deliver value to customers. It's also a cultural change that requires organizations to continually challenge the status quo, experiment, and get comfortable with failure. 

[IanH]

Although there will be some tangible hardware within your environment of course, the transformation to SD-WAN, Cloud Managed Environments and the domination of intellectual software management for entire customer platforms away from separately managed silos and environments is the basis of Digital Transformation moving forward.

I like to use this as an example of how digital transformation will happen in the work place moving forward.

Digital Transformation is something that we see in everyday life and many of us have already applied this in our day to day activities. 

We've moved from VHS, to DVD to BluRay and now Streaming is a way that people watch films, (or "box sets" if you like).  It's happened, the change in that industry for home users has had a "digital transformation" which is now considered to be normal practice.  

Digital Transformation in the work place will also move and be part of every day life and best practice, how quickly we move our business' in that direction is naturally dependent on circumstance.

[kYutobi]

Digital Transformation to me is the ease of use and innovation for the faculty/staff/student that are our school. We try to make it so that they're needs are met while making it simple for operations to continue seamlessly. Something as easy as having a student having all their apps under one pane of glass or that a teacher can simply share what she has from her machine to the digital board for redistribution. IT'S ALL ABOUT THE EXPERIENCE!    

[MarcP]

Digital Transformation for me, in my position, is to simplify the daily business. And so to keep costs lower.

[MWinther]

Digital transformation will need to be powered by AI and Machine Learning, since many processes are already optimized to the point where human intervention slows the process down too much. There is also a limit to the speed of humans, if we need to stay in the game for the entire work life.

[Jsunga]

Digital Transformation is the new process of Industrial revolution.  What was once jobs being done by hand where then replaced by machines.  Now what was once done on individual machines is now being done in the cloud.

[DismartiesE]

Out with the old ,in with the new technology

[Kal00-1970]

Digital transformation....... For me it's paradox. All will be directed with the head, with the brain when digital transformation will be installed. What to do after with my hands. Cause in french, in each hand we have 5 digits. 😉

[RJordan-CCS]

(Not my entry)

The CEO read it in Gartner

And said its the way we must go

Hurrah for this new transformation

Our old ways that worked really blow.

This new digital Transformation

Will make all our processes slick

No more manual operations

That make our millennials sick!

The IT department had warned them

Complexity rules this path

And if we're not ever so careful

we might just get bit in the ass...     (yeah, I know...)

But management can't be dissuaded

And said "Gartner's showing the way!"

"The deadline is closing in quickly"

"Get it done or there'll be hell to pay!"

Now HR can check inventory

And Maintenance sees the GL

Our data's all stirred in together

This new paradigm works so well!

Our CEO soon left this business

His parachute golden deployed

The government screams about HIPAA

Our IT staff's soon unemployed

The new CEO came in breathless

Said "Look whats in Gartner today!"

"Get rid of these old crufty methods"

"We're going to go this new way!"

[Jarped]

Digital transformation is the redesign of products, processes and strategies to increase both user experience and to increase functions

[Anthony_Nav]

Can be the integration of digital technology into different kinds of areas of a business resulting in changes to how businesses operate. It can be a different thinking, innovation, and new business structures based on the cloud. 

[VictorMarquez]

Our business is food distribution (to restaurants) and historically has been very paper-intensive.   Labels (printed with customers' names, contents, location/destination, expiration dates.....), invoices to accompany the pallets of food, statements, etc.  But, we are located on the S.F. Peninsula and labor is very expensive (as well as hard to retain), so our company has been progressing in our "Digital Transformation" for a few years.    The IBM i-Series (formerly AS/400) ERP system keeps track of every package of tuna, case of water, etc.  and has "run" the business for years.

Now, we are providing access to the ERP system through phone/tablet apps (browser-enabled) that allow our customers to place their orders online.   And, we are deploying a proof-of-delivery system that leverages portable smartphones to read barcodes on food pallets, each case of water or package of tuna, etc.  This would allow us to confirm that the items input into the ordering system actually made it to the customer, the customer's designated "receiver" can sign on the smartphone device that the articles were actually received, that the cans of tuna are NOT damaged, the water is not leaking, etc.  And we can reduce our reliance on paper, while speeding up our processes.   In case some of the tuna was dented/damaged, we can take pictures and send back to the "manufacturer" or to our internal department, depending on where the damage is deemed to have occurred. 
So, Digital Transformation for us is improving our processes, enhancing our service(s) and reducing our labor costs.   From a business perspective, it's a win-win-win, and (in theory) should allow us to compete on pricing - which is good for our customers, and (potentially) for YOU, the restaurant's end-users/ customers.

[Danjns]

Currently deploying a Meraki full stack so that we can have every student and teacher with an iPad. Trying to remove paper if not entirely at least drastically. We're also deploying a new homework and curriculum platform so that everything is submitted electronically. This also includes a digital portfolio of work.

[E-Rov]

Digital transformation to means leveraging the capabilities of technology to improve daily functions or perform tasks that would not have been previously possible.  Collaboration with people all over the world is now possible thanks to this transformation.  The application of technology aims to improve productivity, efficiency, and reliability of business functions.  My organization is planning to use technology in the future to recognize patterns in large data sets that otherwise would not be feasible using manual methods.

[Singe]

To transform something is to move it from one form to another. Digital Transformation is, therefore, the process of moving something from a non-digital form to a digital form. A good example would be an analogue watch transformed into a digital watch. However these days "Digital Transformation" is much more about making life easier using computer or cloud-based applications. Taking everyday tasks and simplifying them using digital-based systems. This should ultimately enhance your productivity and empower you more.

[ReneACP]

From a customer perspective, what are the points of pain and fears about digitization? 

[psorella]

Although "Digital Transformation" sound as a marketing phrase in last times, it is a very important concept that involves new technologies in the work inside enterprises changing the manner of make things and making the life more easy.

[fgoelz]

When asking the question, „what does digital transformation mean to you“, many answers came into my mind. So I took the chance and asked some people in my area the same question. And everyone else I was talking to, explained somehow differently. For example, there were the librarians who told me, digital transformation means that clients can now rent the books online via the internet. Or my neighbor who, at the end of her work day, she can order dinner for the family with an app on her cell phone and the meal is being delivered at a given time. One of my friends (he’s an HR manager) said, that recruiting is now much easier and more effective than ever with their new online application portal. But to cut the long story short, digital transformation seems to make people happy.

Today, digital services are available in literally every industry: banking and finance, at the airport, public utility, the shopping mall, healtcare, administration and the list goes on and on. For my personal life, a couple of years ago it all started with email and online shopping. And today, for me, digital transformation means that the right information and services are available in realtime and at the right place. In general, I think that digital transformation concludes three areas. First, IT and its technologies can certainly help us to ease our daily life whether at work or at home. And beyond, from a service view it also helps us to improve our customer‘s experience. Second, , the deployment of new technologies in companies can help sustaining the competitiveness. And this is as well an important factor for employee engagement. And third, Digital transformation can encourage us to take on new challenges and create new business models. For example, the smart factory concept along with IoT yet can give us nearly inconceivable insight and enhance the effectiveness of any process related to the supply chain.

Besides new types of security threats, in my opinion, one of the greatest challenges is to overcome and break accustomed manners in daily business. There might be a bunch of processes in every company that must be subject for critical examination. Perhaps there are appliances or systems that you could first virtualize and then transform into a cloud service along with other software in your environment. Therefore, it is always a good idea to consider the crowded knowledge of the employees to promote innovations and enhance security in your business.

For sure, there is quiet a lot more to tell. And as the term „digital transformation“ implies, it is rather an ongoing process than a condition. The future will remain both exciting and challenging as ever.

[SoCalRacer]

Digital transformation is about how businesses are adapting to a more digital world/marketplace. The short answer is that if your business doesn't start digital transformation your business will suffer. Your competitors are going to be adapting it and it makes them more agile, responsive, cost effective, and profitable. An example from previous years could be the fax machine. Many years ago that technology allowed businesses to get important documents signed and returned cost effectively. During that time businesses not able to use fax suffered as time to close business and deals took longer, where their competitors were working on the next sale/deal almost immediately. This method used existing technology like phone lines to transmit data and bring a more economic way of getting large documents sent quickly. Today we are doing the same thing using the cloud to deploy and utilize more technology advancements and services by the day to help businesses and people be more effective. Thus digital transformation is a new hot word, based on a theory from many years ago.

[MeredithW]

Congrats to our challenge winners: @Jorg95, @pawelk, and @tdj7397