More companies are looking to digital adoption platforms (DAPs) to add value to and realise their technology investments.
Digital adoption enables employees to fully understand the company’s digital tools and assets, thereby maximising the use of applications.
The Covid-19 pandemic has fast-tracked the need for digital adoption and brought underlying workforce and operational challenges to the fore, says advisory multinational PwC Africa technology, media and telecommunications leader Elmo Hildebrand.
Many companies embark on their digital transformation journey by empowering the workforce with a range of software applications. These applications, when used correctly, can boost businesses’ efforts to improve efficiencies, reduce expenses, enhance customer experience and scale up organisational growth.
While this digital push has been driven by the need for advanced technology to support remote working models and processes, it has also enabled many businesses to speed up their efforts and initiatives on long planned digital programmes, Hildebrand says.
“We are living in a time of unprecedented change driven largely by an array of multiple technologies making significant strides, including mixed reality, Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, blockchain, drones and robotics.
"Simultaneously, customer expectations are changing, with customers demanding seamless and outcome-driven experiences from all the organisations they engage with,” he notes.
“As business leaders make investment decisions, they will also need to focus on formulating a strategy and plan for what they want to achieve in terms of engagement with employees and productivity, as well as the adoption of different technologies. The use of DAPs can improve the overall customer and employee experience, as well as technological efficiency.”
Usually a DAP solution overlays the live system, or systems, and serves as a digital guide to the users, guiding them on what to select, what information is required, and what to do next. This removes the uncertainty that users typically face with a new or updated system.
In addition, if new features are added to the system, these can be highlighted to the user so that they can take advantage of its benefits, Hildebrand explains.