Giant Tech companies have dominated the market and created disruption technologies on a global scale. One of the top trends in 2018 is digital business extension. Over the past two decades, information technology has improved the way data is used in organizations. In fact, IT has paved the way for the development of new digital capabilities among businesses. In 2018, many companies have utilized their digital assets and capabilities to expand, diversify, and grow in a digital world, testing the limits of their creativity, innovation, and commitment to their clients and customers.
Extending Business Reach
Many success stories of the 21st century have one thing in common: the role of IT in their success. Take for example, General Electric, which started out with electric-run lighting devices and home products in 1892. After a stunning comeback in the early 2000s, GE has expanded into health care with its various health technology products and IT services. Last year, the company announced a fresh new direction with GE Digital’s Internet of Things strategy. With every reinvention, GE has used it digital capabilities to extend its business and improve its relevance to its current and prospective markets. GE’s success is rooted in its willingness to accept change, maximize the use of its IT assets and resources, and courage to leverage innovation and knowledge to answer the needs of their customers and consumers.
Digital Capacity
Understanding one’s digital capability gives way to digital business extension. Digital capabilities refer to six broad competencies businesses and individuals need to have to support survival and success in an ever-evolving digital society. The following six skills make up an organization’s digital capabilities:
- IT integration, proficiency and productivity across all business processes
- Presence of digital learning and development of digital skills within the organization
- A clearly defined digital identity and a business alignment between digital and organizational strategy
- Problem solving and innovation through digital creation
- Literacy and maximization of information, data, and media assets
- Collaboration, communication, and engagement through digital channels
Business insight and understanding of digital capacity maximizes the utilization of granular, dynamic data and insights about the business, its customers, and the market.
Stick to what you know but offer something new
Digital extension creates real-life business opportunities that diversify and spread out business risk through expanding to related or entirely new markets shifting between B2B and B2C. Businesses are also able to extend their business vertically or horizontally depending on what their business capabilities and insight from analytics and algorithms.
Today’s business environment has created a sink or swim atmosphere where agility has become the gold standard. Staying one step ahead of one’s competitors is no longer linear. Instead, more and more organizations are using their digital capabilities in order to stand out and expand into new, related businesses with the help of their analytics and algorithm capabilities. This is made possible through IT integration, the digitization of business, cloud migration, and a strong, clear vision for the business.
IT alignment provides businesses with new, smart opportunities to improve and actualize their strategies. With 90 percent of adolescents aged 21 and below being digital literate, business success is closely tied to the digital capability and digital business extension.