Why Shifting to Digital Platforms is the Only Way to Survive For Businesses?

In what ways are some of the most well-known IT businesses related to one another? They’re successful because of their high market values & consistent development of digital platforms. Their success can be partly explained by their willingness to reinvent themselves in response to new opportunities.

For a business to succeed, they need a digital platform. Without a platform, a business will not sustain itself. That’s why it is important that every business must consider which platform to use before going digital.

McKinsey Technology’s 16th annual IT conference features senior CIOs discussing platform upgrades that enable their firms to stay ahead of technology. Companies must connect platforms to their overall strategy and understand how they work together to achieve their full potential. In just a few minutes, participants’ attention shifted away from platforms’ well-known features.

Among the many fields represented at the event were banking, automobile manufacturing, medical, aviation, and retail. Several individuals have already made dramatic changes to their looks. 

According to a prominent lawyer, an Asian bank has become the leading digital banking institution. Thus, instead of comparing itself to other banks, it views itself as a digital start-up that merges business and technology with a workforce of 30,000 people.

Whether running a startup or a medium-sized business, shifting to a digital platform is the only way to survive. There is fierce competition. And if you want to get ahead of the competition, you must do certain things above and beyond. Shifting to a digital platform where your target audience is already roaming around is a sure-shot advantage.

From conference presentations, it is evident that companies incorporating platforms into their enterprise architecture do so in various ways. The most successful firms, including the IT giants, use all three paradigms for platform transformation, which is a wise move.

Building ecosystems

Business models are transformed by creating ecosystems inside or outside conventional industry lines, or by creating marketplaces that connect consumers and suppliers. Every business needs a platform, to begin with, because without a platform it’s impossible.

During a banking CIO’s presentation on platform transformation, he stressed the need to focus on the customer journey. “We’re not viewed as a banking brand, but as a lifestyle brand,” he said, describing how his business established an ecosystem of partners linked to their banking service.

Rather than relying only on physical stores, a consumer products shop moves to an all-digital approach. With the help of artificial intelligence personalization, the company’s CIO illustrated how this was accomplished in a very competitive and saturated industry in the market. 

A flexible app platform can deliver value both to customers and businesses. Users that chose the “prepaid” option on the site generated much larger sales, according to a feature on the platform. That is why, he said, we now give reimbursement to consumers who use this option. It is a win-win situation for all parties.”

Creating ‘platforms as a service’

Defining a set of modular platforms, each with a technology to deliver a specific business function, is a platform transformation. Redefining the role of technology in business, this approach sees platforms as a service rather than a product.

Enterprises are moving forward by keeping in mind that the platform can be used as a service too. The clients demand a platform where they can gather all the customers and provide them with the service they need. Because every business will need a sustainable platform for their product/service.

Platform transformations cannot be achieved without solid platform governance and management, beginning with the best engineers. The human resources department of a large multinational pharmaceutical corporation has set up a distinct career path for engineers.

Great programmers “want to develop code, not authorize vacation requests,” the company’s CTO said. A major financial institution has taken steps to safeguard its pool of top-tier employees. 

Instead of relying on external recruiters, it conducts its screenings and hiring processes in-house. To keep our employees from being recruited by their competitors, we have to be better. The enterprise must design every system so that it is able to pick and choose the best candidates. A digital platform that aligns with a business’ values can quickly get screened.

In parallel with the business model and technology changes, an airline achieved its objective of completely digitizing its customer experience. We made sure the legacy firm couldn’t access our platform. The CIO says the new team is in a separate building far enough away from the main office that we won’t be distracted by colleagues.

Creating a solid technological foundation

As the last point, a platform transformation is often based on technological platforms, which serve as the foundation of digital innovation. To provide the groundwork for future digital advancements, some participants described how they “cleaned up” their IT infrastructure first. 

As a prelude to its transformation, a significant pharmaceutical business implemented an aggressive platform strategy with six target platforms and the aim of lowering the number of applications from 4,000 to 1,000.

Platform transitions have seen a significant uptick in the number of firms adopting them in the last two years, and as this trend continues to expand, so will the implications. For your business to grow, you must embrace this trend. Don’t get left behind. 

For new business owners, the initial digital platform shift might not be that easy. To scale fast, these owners must understand that they must go with the flow. There is no way out. With a platform, it gets easy to scale your business. There is no way out. You must take the digital platform and create your brand around that platform.

Either you’re using digital platforms or not. And in both cases, your competition is already doing it. So, you need to step up your game and get into the race before it’s too late. 

Any firm’s platform selection is tech-driven and interrelated, so a complete strategic plan that takes into account the entire enterprise architecture is what makes sense. Choosing the right Digital Platforms Solutions is the only way for an enterprise to survive. Are you ready for the digital shift?