What is digital transformation and what role does low-code play?

What is digital transformation? Ask ten different parties and you'll get twelve answers.

At Grexx, we think it’s important not to get caught up in the buzzword bingo. Whatever definition of digital transformation you use, we always recommend starting with digitalizing or automating processes or work. That way, you'll quickly get the hang of digitalizing, and new insights and ideas will emerge immediately. This is also how our low-code platform works best.

And that's also where most organizations can quickly and relatively easily make a lot of gains:
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• Digitized and automated processes and operations are faster and less error-prone than when people perform them.

• This frees up human resources that can be used elsewhere.

• if you automate routine work (such as data entry), the people you free up are often happy about it. They can then pick up other, more varied (and often more challenging) work.
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So digital transformation helps your organization function better, faster, and more efficiently whilst utilizes employees better. Our low-code platform is one of the tools you can use for this.

Benefits of digital transformation.

It’s hard to see the wood for the trees. With the abundance of theories, methods, tools, frameworks, strategies, and associated providers associated with digital transformation; it can be overwhelming to navigate through all the information. It’s challenging to make a well-informed decision amidst the forest of options.

We can easily agree that digital transformation is a good idea conceptually however, implementing this change is trickier. There is no one-size-fits-all solution, so it’s important to choose a method that fits your organization’s goals and objectives.

In this article, you will read more about starting with digital transformation and we will specifically focus on how to digitalize and automate work processes, how to do that with low-code and why or when low-code is the right solution to choose. In that area, our team can provide you with extensive and honest advice.

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Some of the benefits of digital transformation:

• Digitized and automated processes and operations are more efficient, giving you cost savings and higher productivity.

• Data collection and data analysis suddenly become a lot easier and more structured, which can provide new insights (into customer behavior, for example)

• You increase your flexibility and scalability: manpower and staff budget are no longer a bottleneck. So, you can easily respond to the market and changing needs of your customers, users, or other stakeholders.

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Digital transformation can give you quite a competitive advantage:

'McKinsey recently published a very comprehensive report on the degree of standardization in knowledge work. 60% of all occupations can be at least 30% automated. Now suppose you delve into this earlier or further than the competition. Can you imagine what that would mean for your productivity, effectiveness, competitive position, innovation, and budgets? - Read more about the study here.

Also check out our blog "In 3 Steps to a Simple Digital Transformation Strategy" here.

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Of course, digital transformation also has drawbacks:

• Digital transformation does not happen by itself, it needs to be actively pursued. This pursuit involves various investments, as financial resources, a dedicated team, focused attention and time. While the benefits are self-evident, building a strong business case still requires effort and consideration.

• The supply is huge, and it is not always obvious which solution fits your organizational plans. It can be complicated to select the right partner. Take failure costs into account and pay sufficient attention to orientation and selection.

• Digital transformation requires something of your employees: a certain digital fitness and enough flexibility to master new processes.

• You need a plan. If you have no idea where you want to go in the next few years and how you want the organization to develop, then digital transformation makes little sense and will only cost you time and money.

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Examples of successful digital transformation

You can make digital transformation as big or small as you want. We all know some examples of gigantic transformations with global successes:

• Netflix once sent DVDs by mail. Today, they are one of the largest online streaming services in the world.

• Amazon began as an online bookstore. Now you can buy almost anything there and it is one of the largest e-commerce and tech companies in the world.

In principle, these are great examples, but this kind of digital transformation where a company transforms its entire service delivery is probably not what you're looking for. And this is also not the level at which you start digital transformation. Logically, you first address processes and operations within specific services and then gradually make larger changes that will impact the entire service delivery.

Even on a more subtle level, especially as an SME (+), you can make a big impact with digital transformation. Some practical examples:

• Offer your customers, partners, or other stakeholders a ‘myprofile’ section in which they can schedule appointments themselves, report changes, look up contract information or place new orders. Free up employees who are now constantly on the phone or in the mailbox spending hours on these kinds of processes.

• Automate repetitive tasks often found in administration, finance, and sales departments. This could include tasks such as sending quotes and invoices, registering payments and reminders, taking stock and ordering and providing insight into inventory or sales figures. Automatic processes and continuous insight into control data make your organization flexible and scalable.

• Improve collaboration between the various parties your customer, patient, or other type of user deals with. Make sure the right data is available to the right person at the right time and optimize the customer experience for all involved.

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Digital Transformation is a process.

It is important to realize that digital transformation is not a one-time fix. It is a process that you start with in small steps and based on what you learn during the process you can adjust and take new steps forward.

A real-life example:

For credit evaluator Johan, his work consists, very briefly, of three different steps. When he assesses a loan application, he needs a lot of information and documentation (step 1), based on that he makes a decision (step 2) and from that follows a contractual settlement (step 3). The first and last steps are fairly easy to automate. The second step is a lot more difficult, and that is exactly where Johan gets his job satisfaction. Step 1 and step 3 are administrative side issues for him.

So, in this situation, it makes sense to automate step 1 and step 3 first. That saves Johan a lot of work and shortens the turnaround time. Then it’s time to start working on digitalizing (but not yet automating) step 2. Now that Johan's work is also fully digital, you can retrieve information easily, quickly and in detail. You can recognize patterns and implicit rules, see when certain decisions are made. You can see in which cases an external expert is called in, when Johan immediately rejects a request or which situations repeatedly require additional information.

With this information, you can make Johan's process a little easier. Part of step 2 digitalizing will include adopting parts of the process and make it declarative (if X, then Y). This way we start with very small pieces, and gradually make this complex process more and more automated as well.

This works well for Johan because he is more occupied with his work and less with peripheral issues. He works much more efficiently and experiences his work as more challenging than ever before. For Johan's manager this is also pleasant, because the credit applications are now processed much faster, which benefits both the company image and the workload.

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Why digital transformation with low-code?

We said it before, digital transformation can be tackled in 101 ways. We choose low-code. More than that, we choose low-code that you get to work with yourself. Our rationale can be found here.

Here's the thing: at Grexx, we believe that no one knows your business as well as you and your colleagues. You know the complex processes, the specific operations, the exceptions and all the other reasons why standard software does not suffice. You are the experts on these processes.

So, we are not asking you to completely write out all your processes (in practice often an impossible request) and hand them over to us, after which we will digitalize or automate things. In that case, you would never get rid of us (because of maintenance, new functionalities etc.) and thus never really have control over your work. Neither of us wants that.

Instead, low-code lets you get started yourself. You don't need deep technical knowledge to do that. You mainly need knowledge of the processes you want to tackle. Our low-code platform is so user-friendly that any knowledge worker can work with it independently.

There are several reasons why low-code works very well in this very context:

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• You handle your resources very efficiently. You use existing capacity (your employees) to make the work smarter, faster, and better. And that's extra profit because you don't have to find or free up scarce programmers.

• There will be no noise on the line. The people who know the process inside out also know what variables a system must take into account.

• You can make changes and add functionality at lightning speed. This makes it easy to respond to changes in your services, the market, or legislation. You have everything under control and are not dependent on a third party.

• You have and maintain 100% control over your work. Want to add a new feature? You can just arrange that yourself. You don't need us for that.

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Can everyone just get started with low-code and digital transformation?

Yes and no. Yes, any knowledge worker can get started with low-code. What you need is sound knowledge of the business and a good idea of what you want to get done. Common sense and domain knowledge will get you a long way. But no, not every knowledge worker suddenly turns out to be a full-fledged programmer.

Digital transformation requires strategic and analytical insight. A plan is needed. If you are going to do process X digitalizing, then you need a plan for that specific process as well. Good strategic and analytical insight (from yourself or a colleague) helps, as does technical knowledge, depending on the complexity of the intended application.

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Building low-code applications with Grexx Platform

At Grexx, that's something we train your team to do. Our platform is designed for you to ultimately create your own applications. We are confident that you will succeed and that you will need little support from us. But we are always there for you. We assist you, explain how things can be done differently and offer training to any user who needs it.

We offer a comprehensive program of e-learnings, personal support, and training as a standard part of the Grexx platform. So, no extra costs, and always a pro to help you.

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Digital transformation strategy

This is when we come up with conflicting advice. Yes, successful digital transformation requires a good strategy. But don't have one (yet). Are you still looking for the right approach? Don't know where to start? Then just start. Start small, start big, but above all, start. There are always things where you see immediate opportunities. Get to work on processes or work that gets in the way.

Building capabilities is just trial and error. You need time for that. Look at the new capabilities. Look at your operations and processes from a different perspective. If you were to start over now, where would you end up?

Try it. And then make a good plan that aligns with what you want to achieve with your organization. You can do that in many ways. Of course, we are happy to help you. But are you struggling with those first steps and just want to try something? Start.

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Developing digital transformation strategy

And yet that inside joke: successful digital transformation hinges on a good plan. Without a strategy, you just do whatever. That's not bad if you want to try things out first, but it causes problems if you want to get serious and get results. Read more about this in our blog: '2 reasons why you absolutely need a digital transformation strategy'.

In your strategy, you work out where your organization is now and where you want to go in the long term. You also translate that into medium- and short-term plans. Keep in mind the difference between optimization and transformation. What business areas do you want to address? Do you want to improve processes, or radically renew them? What innovations do you have in mind and what factors are involved? What needs to happen to get everyone involved (internally and externally), and how do you want to go about it?

In your strategy, try to stay away from what you already know and look at your business from a new perspective. Set ambitious goals: what would you want to achieve if you started from scratch? What do you need to achieve that goal? Often more is possible than you initially think because we're used to reasoning from the perspective of "this is how we've always done it”. That perspective is a big block to strategic thinking about the future, which you must consciously step around.

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The role of culture in your digital transformation strategy

Digital transformation is not a matter of "just getting it done”. It often requires a cultural shift as well. The impact depends on the context: we all know examples of digitalization that do not make the user happy. Think of digibits who get lost in government IT, people who do not feel heard by the chatbot of large companies, health care workers who would rather be at the bedside than in front of a screen. You can't digitalize and automate everything, and you don't have to.

A successful digital transformation strategy pays close attention to organizational culture. Think about a change of pace, what the change will cost and benefit the user, and how you include people in that change. User adoption is an important part of change projects, which, depending on the context, you shouldn't take lightly.

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Also consider privacy, security, and compliance in your digital transformation strategy.

Digital transformation usually revolves around data, so you are guaranteed to deal with privacy, security, and compliance. If you don't think about this until after implementation, you're too late. It is wise to base your strategy on privacy-by-design. That means that privacy and applicable laws and regulations should be considered during the development of your new systems. A partner with the right ISO certification can help you do that.

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Low-code is the future.

With 20+ years of experience in digital transformation, we feel confident enough to make such a bold claim. If your business is anything like virtually any other business, there are a lot of processes and tasks that can be digitized or automated which will free up human resources, allowing the organization to work faster and be far more efficient.

The Grexx platform is built with the Grexx platform. The work of our developers is also increasingly taking place within the application. We make our development environment increasingly low-code, with small steps - exactly as we recommend to you as well.

As mentioned, you can get started with digital transformation in a myriad of ways. Low-code is one of them. As far as we're concerned, it's a very good one, because you don't need (expensive, hard to find) programmers for it, because your team already knows how the processes work and because our low-code platform is so user-friendly that every knowledge worker can use it. That is dealing efficiently with your processes and working future-proof.

If you're curious about the Grexx platform, sign up for a demo. One of our colleagues will be happy to show you how it works!

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