4 keys to unlocking your digital potential

Digital technologies are dramatically reshaping businesses.

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) must adopt digital technologies in order to stay competitive in the global marketplace.

Digitalisation is key for growth of the Malaysian economy. SMEs need to adopt digitalisation in order to compete in a global marketplace. How should SMEs approach digitalisation?

Malaysia’s digital economy is expected to contribute 20 per cent to the economy by 2020, up from 17.8 per cent in 2015. E-commerce, in particular, is expected to exceed RM110 billion this year, making up nearly 40 per cent of Malaysia’s digital economy¹. Thus, the Malaysian government is actively driving the adoption of digital technologies, especially among SMEs.²

How do you ensure success on your digitalisation journey?

#1: Begin with a clear vision of what the business wants to achieve

As with any transformation journey, it is important to begin with a clear view of the business pain points, needs, objectives, and targets. What do you want to achieve with digitalisation? Is it to meet your customer needs, streamline internal processes, or reduce costs? How is the exercise aligned to your company goals? This exercise will also help build the business case within the company for adopting digital technologies.

#2: Assess your digital maturity and then build a comprehensive digital strategy

Before building your digitalisation plan take stock of your assets, processes and capabilities and compare your current state with your future state. This will help identify gaps and set priorities, and develop a plan. Make sure your plan covers digitalisation in totality as many small, fragmented steps have lesser impact. A holistic approach will also future-proof your plan. Think of including not just customer-facing processes but also front-, mid- and back-office functions.

#3: Get employees to buy-in through training programmes

Your digitalisation success relies heavily on the adoption of new digital technologies, tools and processes and consequently, employee buy-in. It is important that your employees understand that a new way of working is required. To get your employees on-board, communicate clearly and regularly as to why change is needed and what benefits it will bring. Ensure transparency, and organise training to help build the skills your workforce will need.

#4: Consistently measure success and adjust your plan

Tracking and measuring key identified metrics and KPIs are necessary to understand the impact of digitalisation and make timely course corrections. Is digitalisation actually generating positive results for your organisation?

In summary, a well-crafted and executed digitalisation strategy can help you advance in a competitive landscape and support your growth.

UOB SmartBusiness offers a suite of integrated solutions that lets you seamlessly manage multiple core processes such as sales, invoicing, payroll, accounting and more. Contact us today to find out how UOB SmartBusiness can support you in your digitalisation journey.