Today, some companies are leading the Digital Transformation (DX) race; some are moving upstream, and others have no choice but to passively go with the flow. By analyzing the current status of global enterprises experiencing DX, IDC generated a maturity model outlining the different stages of DX. These stages include digital resistors, digital explorers, digital transformers, and digital disruptors. DX is a business digitalization journey defined by the deep integration of technology and enterprise functions.
The pandemic has forced the companies to go lean and the IT departments of most of these companies are working with the skeletal workforce to deliver applications to their business customers. In a bid to go digital companies with a lower level of digital maturity were forced to rely on a mishmash of Emails, Whatsapp, and Messenger chats to maintain operations. Using different applications to communicate and not having all stakeholders on one single unified platform could pose a huge challenge for companies. Not only does just cause inefficiencies in the system, but also results in a broken communication flow and disparate applications holding isolated data sets which might pose a problem with timely and effective decision making.
Building a unified platform depicting the single source of truth could be imperative to boosting your digital transformation initiatives. However, this is easier said than done – both buying off-the-shelf solutions and building applications from scratch have their own disadvantages, as listed below.
The solution – One Unified platform to run your business the No-Code way
Having all the stakeholders under one platform to achieve connectedness is the key to ensuring seamless communication and access to real-time data to make informed decisions. The problem with patchwork is that the user experience is broken, there is a high possibility that the systems do not communicate with each other leaving datasets isolated in individual systems. By using No-Code platforms, your organization could roll out solutions to various stakeholders (partners, employees, and customers) and ensure that they are all on one platform. If there are other ERPs, Accounting, or HR systems they should be relatively easy to integrate using APIs or bots – but the core of the data and the user base is tagged to a single platform that connects everyone in the company together. This also means that there is a single source of truth and that all users are looking at the updated iteration of a plan or a document and there is little or no confusion with the various versions which have been built before.
Eliminating patchwork: Benefits of a single unified platform for your business
Streamlined processes between internal and external stakeholders: One of the key benefits of having a single unified platform is the fact that it streamlines and digitizes the processes involving both internal employees and external vendors and stakeholders. With predefined rules that trigger actions or alerts, automation ensures that there is minimum dependence on the human element. Paper forms and bills are eliminated by creating digital versions of it securely stored on the cloud and easily accessible when needed.
Automated reports eliminate the manual process of information collection and formatting to ensure that the management has access to a periodic overview of performance even during times when the business activity might be at a bare minimum. Streamlining processes ensure that all the actors play their part in the system which is orchestrated effectively by the platform. You should ensure that processes of all key departments have been completely automated with actors aware of their roles and well-defined rules and escalation matrix in place. This guarantees that there is minimum disruption to business as usual, even though offices might be functioning at a sub-optimal capacity.
Lesser external systems – more seamless integration: Understandably, no business functions in isolation and no one platform could possibly ever cater to all your business requirements. While bringing all the data to the unified platform, there could be instances where the need to reference data sets residing in an isolated system or connecting to ERPs or other accounting and payroll systems arises. The ideal suite should allow easy integrations with tools that would allow your organization to continue business activities even when your IT team doesn't turn up at the office. Some executives complain that data often reside in isolated systems that often do not communicate with each other. Having APIs or RPA within your automation suite would complement your business process automation capabilities and ensure your organization is always business-ready for the eventuality that your business might have an issue.
Increased scalability – Having a single unified platform ensures that the organization can effectively manage heterogeneous environments with a single dashboard. With traditional business continuity processes, necessary documents might be scattered throughout many departments, taking additional time to coordinate, and potentially leading to costly mistakes when an unplanned interruption occurs. Additionally, minimum human intervention eliminates the potential for error. Overall, it ensures that the digital ecosystem is prepared to handle any growth ambitions which the executives might have charted out.
Mitigated compliance risk- Having a single unified platform ensures that all facets of regulatory guidelines are addressed. Having digital auditable trails ensures that no action on the system could be overlooked. Predefined rules on your automation platform ensure that all actors stick to the timelines assigned to them to avoid any automatic escalation. Pre-set templates outline the form fields that capture the information needed by process owners and ensure that all aspects of compliance are maintained and monitored, even when there is little or no activity in the office.
Minimized application disruption- The likelihood of your network getting serious interruption during calamities is high and if your organization hosts data stored in local servers in an affected building or on a compromised network, you would not be able to access it even at times when you need it the most. Additionally, if you have paper trails or hard copies of sensitive data in unsecured locations, the organization is vulnerable to having sensitive information potentially exposed to unauthorized parties. Having your key information and processes securely updated on a single cloud-based automation platform allows for the ease of access and protection of the organization's information.
QuickReach – One seamless platform to run your business
The advantage of a No-Code platform like QuickReach in your digital transformation journey is that it connects all stakeholders under one unified platform.
Some of the advantages of using a platform like QuickReach include:
Much faster than full code- Since QuickReach is a No-Code platform, the time to assemble and launch software applications is faster than what it would have taken if your company was looking to develop the applications using the traditional methods. You could look to launch basic apps within hours using existing templates and slightly more complicated ones in a matter of days or weeks, unlike in traditional app development methods which could take anywhere between months to hours.
Faster and easier to integrate with existing systems- QuickReach makes use of rest API which makes it easier for companies to integrate with existing systems and bring them all on one platform which ensures visibility and interoperability. For legacy systems, QuickReach makes use of in-built bots to ensure that the systems communicate with each other and data is not left isolated or unused.
Scalable- The modular nature of which QuickReach has been built ensures that the platform is scalable, implying whether it’s a department that is initially using the platform, or eventually the entire company is subscribed to the platform, its performance would not be affected. It is also interesting that you could identify a pain point and launch an application to solve it and then iteratively look to tackle pain points that are lower in priority.
QuickReach would allow reducing significant pressure on the IT team in delivering countless digital projects in your company without the need for coding or any kind of technical intervention. The sophistication of the platform ensures that its more comprehensive than stand-alone workflow, form, and integration software.
Reach out to one of our customer success team members HERE to understand how QuickReach could help you get started with your digital transformation journey without any major investments in resources or technology.