The importance of digital transformation is growing every year. The impact of digital transformation and digital transformation benefits are increasing every year as well. SMB and SME organizations do not have the capabilities to work with consulting companies like Accenture, Capgemini, and Deloitte. Not that these companies would serve them well anyway. When it comes to SMB and SME, flexibility is very important with a digital transformation partner.
SMBs need companies that can consult, provide integration, provide managed services, and also outsource staff. They also need partners capable of bringing to the table flexible commercial engagements. They need partners who can understand their business and has experience with companies and organizations like them. Let’s take a closer look at these qualities – which all go to the point of “why flexibility is important with your digital transformation partner”.
Understanding your business
A partner that understands your business will be able to provide a customized and flexible digital transformation solution. This understanding, customization, and flexibility is paramount for SMBs. Part of our process for understanding clients is to first understand their experience with automation. Frequently, the perception of what automation offers, is very different from what it really does. We always want to do a level set so that client’s expectations are correct and aligned with what it can and cannot do.
We also seek to understand client pain points. Before we discuss potential use cases we want to understand where automation will have the most impact for an SMB. We also enter any engagement with the entire client business in mind. Automation is a great tool, but it is not always the right one for the job. In some cases, standard business optimization consulting might be the best first step. In other cases, virtual staff can be a better solution. We always try to ask the right questions and always start with a discovery phase.
Some common questions we ask include Why this process? Does the activity change often? How many resources are working on this process? What is the average amount of time that is spent on this activity each month? What are the various applications that are involved? Once step we also always do is schedule a process walkthrough call and record the meeting. We have the customer walk us through their workflow so we can understand every element that is involved.
Focused on businesses like yours
When attempting to benefit from the impact of digital transformation working with a partner focused on businesses that are like yours will increase the odds for success. At Valenta we are 100% focused on the SMB and SME market sector. Our managing partners are also specialized in market verticals where they have domain expertise. This all significantly helps to ensure successful digital transformation projects.
Our offshore staff is typically coming from Top 10 digital transformation consulting firms. They also have experience in a wide variety of different market verticals. We have our staff work on market segments where they are bringing previous experience and perspective. The ability to dynamically have the right staff supporting specific client types is another type of flexibility in a digital transformation partner that is desirable.
Flexible commercial engagements
Maybe one of the most important ways a digital transformation partner can offer flexibility is in commercial engagements. Working with a company that takes a business first approach and is not looking to solve every business issue with automation is helpful. Finding a partner who will be able to consult, offer integration and is able to provide standalone platforms or a managed services solution is very helpful.
Finding a partner who will discuss and walk through the ROI for any project is also key. In our experience digital transformation projects that are worth doing actually pay for themselves and are self-funding. As a service (aaS) solutions and providers that can scale up or down rapidly also are the hallmarks of a flexible partner. When SMBs are looking to achieve digital transformation benefits and seeking digital transformation consulting partners these are just a few of the things to keep in mind.
Want to get started with Digital Transformation?
If you would like to learn more about digital transformation and how to get started down the path of leveraging it, we would be happy to set up a no charge consultation.
We have authored several previous blogs that can help you down the path of learning more. A few that are relevant to this blog topic that we recommend include:
When should you hire an RPA Consultant?
Why should businesses implement RPA?
What to look for in a good digital transformation consultant?
We also have a useful calculator to determine if a process is a good match for automation, which you can find here. Valenta Automation calculator
If you would like to get in touch with us on any of these topics, please feel free to reach out here. Contact us