The Importance of Digital Transformation

Written by Amr Lotfy

Amr Lotfy has a bachelor’s in Computer Engineering and is currently a Senior Projects Development Associate at KUWAITNET.


Digital Transformation is the integration of digital technology into all areas of business. It can fundamentally change how you operate and deliver value to customers. There are many reasons why Digital Transformation is essential to implement for every business, but the main reason is that businesses have to survive.

According to Howard King in a contributed article for the Guardian,"Businesses don't transform by choice because it is expensive and risky. Businesses go through a transformation when they have failed to evolve.”

The IDC reported that by the end of 2019 the spending on Digital Transformation would be $1.7 trillion worldwide, this is an increased percentage of 42% compared to 2017. This shows how drastically digital transformation is evolving worldwide.

Some other reasons why business should start to evolve into Digital Transformation:

- Their competitor already implemented it probably, which would give a peak for their competitors in the market, therefore losing market share.  

- Make business more profitable. According to Gartner questionnaire, 56% of businesses that implemented Digital Transformation stated that they have already improved in their profitability.

- Make businesses more efficient, meaning that employees will spend less time harvesting into data, and focus more into their main responsibilities towards business goals.

Technology is integrated into our everyday lives and therefore is integrated into today’s business landscape, nearly every business is a digital one to some extent. Traditional and old strategies and processes need to be rethought of, therefore new technologies need to be integrated for businesses to keep up with the competition within their specific industry. Many companies face challenges as they start their way through Digital Transformation. These challenges can be due to a limited budget to implement new technologies or lack of experience of their employees and the know how. However, those challenges are essential to overcome by creating an efficient and effective digital strategy.

An example of implementing Digital Transformation but not having an effective digital strategy is having social media campaigns and gaining many followers, without effectively engaging with their followers to capitalize on the opportunity. Retail e-commerce business increased from 1.3 trillion dollars in 2014 to 2.3 trillion dollars in 2017 which shows the massive opportunities that are being abundant in the market.

To conclude, Technology is impacting every industry and the way businesses gets conducted. Business must tackle the digital challenge and being innovative with strategies and creating value to customers.

Development, Digital, DigitalTransformation, Strategy, Technology,