We are currently facing a rapid evolutionary curve that is accelerating digitalization, forcing companies to become more agile and modern than ever before.
As technology advances, business models change, rise and fall.
To prepare for and respond to disruptive changes arising from new technologies, companies need to understand how their own transformation reflects a changing world. Where is society heading? How can organizations adapt to the future?
Out of necessity
Every business exists to serve its customers (or end users) and satisfy their needs, so by definition, every enterprise is people-centric.
Humanity is constantly subject to change: political shifts, social movements, environmental upheavals, technological discoveries. The complex web of these events determines psychological and emotional changes in individuals and communities, which in turn lead to an entire shift in cultural mindset. For businesses, all these changes result in new needs over the decades. Our parents did not have the same needs as us, nor did they expect the same standards from services.
Today, we expect a premium, modern UX on every device, car and appliance, as well as 24/7 connectivity and access to information, along with remote work and a safe online environment for ourselves and our families.
In 2019, around 80% of Romanian households had access to high-speed internet. In contrast, previous generations appreciated even simple interfaces on phones and household appliances, not to mention transportation, to buy newspapers, watch TV and work in completely different environments.
The needs of the past decades have led to the emergence of new industries such as digitalization, cloud, streaming and IoT, but they have also put pressure on business models.
Technology is disrupting business practices and creating unprecedented opportunities. Business models that embed digitalization across markets, functions and processes have become a top priority for CEOs across industries.
A recent survey found that more than 50% of companies across all industries worldwide have a digital strategy, either company-wide or specific to individual business units, and roughly 30% are in the process of developing a digital strategy.
Prepare for the unexpected
As cultures change and customer profiles are rewritten, agility is not only essential to remain competitive, it becomes critical to an organization's very existence.
To foster a constant “next normal” readiness, organizations should:
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Keep an eye on new needs and trends
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Maintain frequent and ongoing contact with industry-shaping customers and potential partners
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Build an organizational structure that can drive innovation from within
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Build a vision and culture that inspires the entrepreneurial spirit of our employees
2020 has completely changed our perception of the world. The events of the past few months have changed behaviors and accelerated the adoption of new tools, moving us towards a smart, interconnected society (Society 5.0).
Individuals, the business environment, and society itself need to come together to adapt to the new paradigm.
Individuals, the business environment, and society itself need to come together to adapt to the new paradigm.
We are currently facing an exponential evolutionary curve that is accelerating digitalization, forcing companies to become more agile and modern than ever before, without neglecting strategic and ecosystem-based transformation plans and proper business continuity plans.
As Deputy CEO of NTT DATA Romania, I have seen the results of driving transformation, business continuity and culture across the organization. Remote work has always been available for all colleagues, if for a limited period of time. As a result, the transition to online was not too painful, both technically and emotionally. Currently, 85% of our colleagues work remotely.
However, remote work creates gaps in the team and the lack of human contact creates a feeling of isolation. We try to bridge this gap through personal coaching even at the CEO level and dedicated online meetings to share plans and concerns. This has helped maintain productivity and team cohesion.
One of the biggest challenges is the lack of face-to-face customer interaction and relationship management: Trust is developed through human interaction, but today trust must be built remotely.
We all have to adapt, both at an individual and organizational level.
Customers, Colleagues, Company
Embarking on a continuous transformation is one of the most important decisions a CEO can make. When you start small and grow into a global company, continuous transformation is built into your DNA. You can't afford to slow down. You need to stay on your toes and understand your customers, your market, and above all, your team.
Management commitment must be solid to inspire and lead. Every individual must be moving in the same direction as you. Your vision, goals, and culture are co-created with your employees and are realized through their commitment and responsibility.
Management commitment must be solid to inspire and lead. Every individual must be moving in the same direction as you. Your vision, goals, and culture are co-created with your employees and are realized through their commitment and responsibility.
Here's how NTT DATA achieved this:
1. Vision and conviction about the benefits of change. We developed our strategy around the 3C symbiosis (customers, colleagues, company and the interests of all of them) and contributing to each other’s synergy, shifting the traditional perception of ecosystems to one that focuses on the importance of collaboration.
2. See change as a higher level of performance. Change is not a one-time thing, The Law of CoexistenceIt's continuous improvement, firmly rooted in our own experience and the concept of improvement inherent in Japanese business culture.
As it grew from a start-up to an international corporation, the company’s organizational structure changed from small-company line-of-business silos to a complex, interdependent matrix system of specialties to accommodate the delivery of systems integration services and turnkey solutions.
3. Step out of your comfort zone, chase your dreams and fuel your ambition. In Romania, we started with a dream, a few people, hope and determination. Now, 20 years later, more or less the same team (older and wiser after many transformation processes) knows that the only constant is change, and the biggest gain is knowledge.
As the company grew from just a few employees in the early 2000s to more than 2,000 by 2020, we had to constantly adjust everything to the new organizational size and adapt our business model to new markets and needs. This allowed us to learn the true value of change and master the art of business transformation. That's why we believed it was essential for our survival and created a continuous transformation concept, internally branded “Alive”, that covers all aspects of the organization.
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Restructure delivery teams to improve efficiency: align with the legislative context, specialise colleagues by reducing managerial roles, add new roles and reduce overlapping roles, and focus on specialising roles based on skills and individual strengths.
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Have reliable business continuity measures in place: Ensure a secure digital and physical work environment with the highest level of cybersecurity strategy layers for remote work, even for sensitive and isolated projects.
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Audited processes and infrastructure (10+ audits per year)
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Diversity and Inclusion Policy.
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Security Awareness Communication: Cyber Attack Prevention Training and Security Bulletins
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Create a sustainable, profitable, product-based revenue stream: This required designing and implementing a standardized product development lifecycle to unify and integrate how project management, opportunities, escalations, and risks are handled.
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Modernizing the Clarvision™ Business Suite: At a time when most companies are freezing their budgets, we decided to invest more than 3 million euros in the modernization of our Software Enterprise Suite in order to provide the Romanian market with efficient solutions and new modules, as well as to expand the technical skills of our product team.
Transformation, Transcendence
What separates companies that are ahead in the digital race from those that are lagging behind is not just speed of operation, but also investment in technology-driven innovation, bold budgeting, smart use of data to inform decision-making and, of course, customer-centricity in service and product development.
For organizations to stay on track and outperform the competition, they need to integrate vision, strategy, and continuous transformation. Built on a trusted team and a reliable infrastructure, companies that give their employees the freedom to innovate while providing the security of a change framework and scalable resources are primed for sustainable growth.
