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WhitePaper
Digital Transformation – Partnership of the
Future
Digital is changing Consumer Demeanour

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Introduction:
Digital tools have changed the way we work, interact, connect, market and sell. This has created
enormous opportunities and has generated digital transformation. Today’s consumers have access
to more information on products and promotions than ever before. Technology allows people to
shop from their offices or from the smartphones which they carry in their pockets, wherever they
are and at whichever time suits them. Customers are using the web to search for products and
promotions. They are also using the web to develop their voice by commenting on products and
services that have delighted or disappointed them. In the millennial age, the customer is at the
epicentre of this digital transformation forcing enterprises to rethink their strategy.
Digital Disruption:
Traditional organizations across industries are facing challenges with digital disruption. Technology
pundits say that digital is the new way of doing business. Organizations need to embrace the digital
transformation wave, companies should benefit from new technologies like social, mobile, analytics
and cloud and effectively use them to sustain growth and business improvement. Digital
transformation is not just about buying ERP systems and automating processes and systems. It is all
about building proactive intelligence across your customers, which will help you in understanding
the next move of your customer and will create a better customer engagement model for you with
your customers.
Digital transformation should create a system of intelligence which should cut across the entire
organization including products, people, operations, technology, vendors and customers. That is
when your enterprise will have greater agility, faster time to market and the ability to change the
landscape of the industry you participate in.
Digital Transformation – A Hot Topic for Enterprises:
‘Are you embracing digital transformation?’ is one of the most common questions which has been
posed to various CXOs in public forums such as shareholder meetings, customer meetings,
technology events like CXO summits, Oracle Open World, SAP Sapphire, Dreamforce etc. Forrester
research shows that the last five years have marked the beginning of the ‘Age of the Customer’ in
which technology and economic forces have put customers in control of their interactions with
businesses.
Smartphones have become an integral part of our daily lives. The object which did not exist a
decade ago has changed the dynamics of multiple companies in various industries. Smartphones
have delivery thousands of games, applications and have revolutionized society, it has also created a
tsunami of data around us by using multiple devices and interconnecting those devices, eventually
giving birth to IoT (the Internet of Things).
Digital Transformation = Business Transformation:
The media industry was the first to get disrupted by the digital trend and hence digital
transformation can be defined as business transformation. Therefore, CXOs, business leaders,
marketing heads, digital heads and technology heads need to understand that digital transformation
will directly impact the top-line growth of the organization. Companies are using analytics, social
media and various technologies to predict and enhance the next purchase and shopping experience
of the customer. For example, a retail company like Sephora is the leader in in-store shopping

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advisors, they encourage customers in the store to scan products and receive product ratings, price,
matching accessories, reviews and detailed information on key products.
Digital – Key Touch Point for the Customer:
Before-sale, after-sales customer service, brand effectiveness, customer retention, operating
multiple channels can be enhanced significantly through digital initiatives. For example, telecom
service providers can connect and resolve customer issues through Twitter, Facebook and other
social media websites. This can save the time of customers who are usually waiting to get connected
to the customer service representative to help resolve their issues and eventually change the service
provider if effective after-sales services are not provided.
Various companies are now providing mobile applications which can be used to order products,
share product reviews and eventually enhance the customers’ touch points. Retail companies,
especially departmental stores, online retailers and apparel retailers are now linking apps with social
media updates to understand the next move of the customer and accordingly share an SMS with the
customers about various offers, thereby making the overall experience highly personalized.
Digital Transformation through the CMO-CIO Partnership:
Digital expansion has put Chief Marketing Officers, or CMOs, under intense pressure. CMOs were
traditionally focused on branding and promotion. In the digital age, also called as ‘The Age of The
Customer’, the CMO must drive the customer experience. In the years to come, major technology
buying decisions will be made by the CMO. Gartner predicts that by 2017, the CMO will spend more
on IT than the CIO.
However, research also shows that less than 40% of CMOs are prepared for the complication of the
digital world, which includes mobility, cloud, big data, social media, and a plethora of devices and
channels. The CMO and the CIO need to understand each other’s growing roles and should be jointly
responsible for the customer’s digital experience associated with their brand, products and services.
Marketing and IT specialists speak two different languages and for better collaboration, we would
need an interpreter, hence the CIO needs to hire people who understand the technical aspects of
the business and the CMO needs to hire people who understand marketing.
In the millennial age, customers are no longer brand loyal and switch brands instantly. The
marketing function should build a more loyal set of customers by building a strong relationship using
innovative marketing strategies, tools and technologies which should be supported by the CIO
organization.
Big Data – The Key to Digital Transformation:
Big data helps in engaging digital customers and it is also a major catalyst for digital transformation.
Big data helps in engaging with markets and channels which are digital. Big data helps companies
understand what the customer wants and the background behind those wants. Companies apply big
data to improve personalization. Services like data-driven marketing, mobility and localization,
deliver unique offers to customers depending upon their physical location. Companies which
survived believed that big data will revolutionise business operations in the same way that the
Internet did.

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Companies which were stuck with traditional business models were unable to work seamlessly
through big data and digital transformation. Companies need to stay focused on one goal when it
comes to delivering big projects like big data. Having the right skillset is a major challenge, you need
to also bring in external experts to build internal skills through training and development, the
leadership vow is also important to execute these types of projects which are mission-critical. It
should be a collective effort wherein all silos are removed to allow data to flow throughout the
business. Big data will help companies deliver personalized customer experience and would enhance
the customer acquisition and retention process.
Cloud: The Enabler of Digital Transformation:
More than 60% of US-based companies are now using cloud to some degree. Companies are now
able to understand the economic benefit of the cloud. The cloud, from being a threat to the sensitive
data of the organization, is now a talking point among executives who are now talking about the
benefit cloud has to offer, the major one being the cost and how it would impact the capital
expenditure of the organization.
However, companies are still struggling to build their cloud strategy and would tend to fall back in
the fast-moving digitally transformed industry. Key executives within the companies need to decide
which set of business-sensitive data should be inside the premises of the company and which set of
data should be on the cloud. They should also understand which cloud model suits them – Private,
Public or the Hybrid Cloud. For example, the OneOps platform which Walmart has introduced is
helping the developers launch and manage applications in the cloud. Cloud is a resource which
enables an exchange between business and IT. Smart IT stakeholders clearly understand the power
of cloud implementation and how it would create an overall bottom-line impact for the business.
Social Media:
Social media and the data which is extracted from it would give you great insights about your
customer and his buying behaviour. Gone are the days when you send emails to your customers and
generate sales or start a buying cycle. The new generation is migrating from SMSes to social media,
Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. You need to be on social to promote, sell and
market your brand, product and services. Data which is extracted from social media should be used
to enrich your Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and create a single customer view.
Whether we are talking about communication with a customer service agent on Twitter, a comment
on Facebook, a click on the LinkedIn share button or a sign-in using your mobile app, social
interactions and social data should be driving your CRM. This opens the door to engaging the
customer on a whole new level, cross-platform with a seamless experience. It means providing
useful, relevant, helpful, timely content, offers and products in real-time. Again, there is no magic
tool that will make this happen. Solving the complex problem that is connecting, integrating and
utilising social data in building customer relationships is what digital transformation is all about.
Digital transformation does not happen overnight or over a quarter, companies and executives need
to invest heavily because automation and digitalization would need external support. Companies
need to speak to and brief the investors about the digital strategy and how digital transformation
would be a long term benefit for the entire organization.

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How Zensar Helps:
At Zensar, we have a great set of ideas and services to expand your digital transformation journey,
and can create enormous impact through our Digital Automation, Digital Mobile, and Digital Social
service segments. Learn more about Zensar’s Digital Transformation Services here.
About the Author:
Anand Bhadane
Anand is a part of the Emerging Account Team at Zensar.