Digitization without fog and uncertainty

Author: Bojan Miljković, CEO, Extreme d.o.o.

Not so long ago, digital transformation was what AI is today - subject of all conversations, presentations, conferences, development plans, business and IT magazines, marketing campaigns.... Before it was Blockchain, mining and cryptocurrency, before Blockchain it was Cloud, before that Power BI, before that XML… Leaving aside those who make a good living making smoke without fire and those who would like to get rich quickly without much effort, we need to deal with that majority of us who continue to live and work in reality that waits patiently (and somehow always awaits) for the smoke to clear and show things as they really are... And for digital transformation, they are not very bright - very few companies have really transformed and only a slightly larger number automated some processes here and there, and everything else continued to be done as before. So something like a teenage party - a lot of talking and flirting, but in reality not much happened.

Who in our country has transformed the most? Banks. Taxi transport. Tourism. Food delivery. Sale of apartments. Education. Online trade. Even eAdministration. All that is not the same as it was. It`s better. Today, you probably wouldn`t keep an account at a bank that doesn`t have mobile banking. Therefore, every bank, whether they wanted to or not, had to invest serious money in developing a mobile channel for providing banking services.

We also reach you. How far have you come? What are your best competitors doing? What are your clients expecting? What your suppliers? Where do you have the most operational challenges? Where are jobs accumulating, in front of which sector? Where are the most complaints, internal and/or external? What would you like to do for your product, service and customers but are not getting there?

Maybe now is a good time to say that the essence of transformation cannot be technology, or only technology - the value that the client receives must be higher or new, so that the change would have a more permanent purpose. With banks, it was avoiding the client going to branches (and waiting!), in tourism, the ratings of people who have already used the service, etc., are worth their weight in gold. The understanding of the new value must come from the business, technology is just a tool to help deliver value…

If you are among the top players in your industry or want to be, it`s up to you to determine what the biggest challenge is, i.e. what could have or already has the biggest impact on your customers and business, positive or negative. And then decide whether the digitization of the process can be the solution, and if it can, whether the effort and resources justify the investment and how.

Once we know what we are digitizing and why, we need to figure out how – means choosing a platform and an internal and/or external partner...

The good news for you is that digitization solutions and tools are getting better, more powerful and more affordable. Under the common umbrella called Low Code / No Code solutions a number of manufacturers offer flexible platforms that can really help you significantly to provide full network support to your key processes by which you deliver value to your customers and stakeholders.

In case you entrusted your infrastructure to Microsoft and have one of the M365 packages, it would be good to put MS Power Platform on the list of potential software solutions for your digitization efforts and results…. What are the main business values ​​for Power Platform users?

· The speed at which applications can be created is many times higher than with classical programming.

· Ease of use - the applications have a modern and simple interface, well integrated into the Office 365 ecosystem, with mobile support.

· Flexibility - form and process changes can be made easier and faster than for classic applications, so maintenance is also more favorable.

· Security - behind the Power Platform is the same core that has Microsoft Dynamics CRM, with a serious architecture made to safely support the demands of the world`s largest companies, developed for over 15 years in MS.

· Openness - you can connect to any data source (or destination) which comes to mind, in the cloud or at your location, for maximum efficiency of your processes and a minimum of double entry (not to say reloading) of data.

When talking about price, it used to be that for such powerful applications you had to invest a serious amount in hardware, servers, licenses, UPS, backups, cooling, maintenance... Now, instead of all that, you just need an internet connection and a monthly subscription, the amount of which per user is lower than the price of one drink in the most popular Belgrade cafes (Concrete hall or Ada Ciganlija, at your choice). The beauty of the cloud.

We reached the partner. You can certainly do some things yourself, if you have the people, time and commitment to internally develop such a team. More complex applications for a larger number of users which are on the critical process list where a more serious security mechanism is required and where the risks are greater, it may be better to leave it to the professionals who do this every day.

For smart solutions, it always was and always will be necessary to put your clients` needs and what they value first, the process of creating and delivering value on a high second place and technology comes last, to combine everything into a harmonious and effective whole that quickly adapts to the new external and internal needs of people....

Is it easy? It`s not. Is it feasible? It is. If you don`t want to go through everything alone, every sadness is divided in half, and every happiness is twice as big. Call our Extreme team, if you value digitization without uncertainty…