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2018 is going to be a year of digital. Every business, irrespective of the industry, is adapting digital as a core part of its functional strategy and slowly yet steadily moving towards digital transformation.

Digital Transformation – The What, Why and How

Digital transformation is the most important strategic challenge facing business leaders. ‘Born Digital’ companies are dominating business models today, offering new value to consumers and service providers alike. As a result, customer experience, social media influence, big data have gained a whole new meaning – one that has forced the companies to look at technology in a new light and integrate it with 360-degree processes. Going digital is the way for organizations if they wish to make an impact on their target audience and amplify their reach. But there is much more involved in a digital business transformation than just the end product. As Mark Sonority, the columnist at Marketing Week puts it, ‘it’s impossible to find an Archimedes point where digital ends and so-called ‘traditional’ channels begin’.

Securing the Stakes Through Digital Transformation Testing

Digital transformation promises greater yields for businesses and thus the stakes involved are also high. With so much at stake, aspects like quality assurance and testing become integral to any business’digital transformation strategy. For this, the organizations need to identify the tools and methodologies that are best suited to their requirements. However, the biggest challenge organizations face is to get the best from technology while ensuring customer satisfaction. Saul Berman, IBM believes that “We’ve moved from digital products and infrastructure to digital distribution and Web strategy to now into more holistic transformations that clearly are based on mobile, social media, digitization and the power of analytics and we think it’s really a new era requiring new strategies.” At the 2014 Accenture Technology Vision, it was declared that ‘Big was the Next Big Thing’. Besides, one of their recent studies revealed that 62% companies are investing in digital technologies while 35 % are comprehensively investing in digital as part of their business strategy. Home Depot, for example, is creating a connected home ecosystem where all the products it sells will be compatible with Wink connected home system, thereby developing potential new services and unique experiences for Wink customers.

Download Free E-Book: Role of QA & Testing in Digital Transformation

We’ve moved from digital products and infrastructure to digital distribution and Web strategy to now into more holistic transformations that clearly are based on mobile, social media, digitization and the power of analytics, we think it’s really a new era requiring new strategies.

We’ve moved from digital products and infrastructure to digital distribution and Web strategy to now into more holistic transformations that clearly are based on mobile, social media, digitization and the power of analytics and we think it’s really a new era requiring new strategies.”

With digital transformation testing, the goal of the companies is to ensure consistency in user experience irrespective of the medium of communication. Digitization experience across all platforms like phones, tablets, notebooks, wearables etc. needs to provide a seamless customer experience. This can be made possible by performing repeated tests to ensure that all browsers and operating systems work as per expectations. As many as 79% companies acknowledge the role of customer experience and mark it as an important consideration while testing.This aim of providing a seamless customer experience is a big step forward for most organizations and requires thorough testing and quality checks at various levels. Govind Muthukrishnan, Senior Vice President and Testing Global Service Line Leader, remarks that this year’s World Quality Report shows that we live in a fast moving world where customer experience and flexibility are as important as keeping pace with digital transformation using Agile QA and DevOps.

Related Post: Important QA Aspects Of “Customer Experience” During Digital Transformation

Security – The Driving Force of Digital Transformation

When an organization introduces digital transformation in its processes, quality assurance too becomes important. And in times companies are switching over to the digital mode in a bid to stay ahead of competition, automation testing is helping them deliver increased efficiency. According to Raffi Margaliot, Senior Vice President & General Manager, Application Delivery Management, HP Software,

“Technology disruptions such as the Internet of Things (IoT), Big Data and mobility are leading to faster business transformations than ever before. Companies have to pivot quickly in order to stay ahead of the curve, compete and conform to the new style of business”. 

Organizations have increased their budget allocation for QA and digital testing and it will only go up in the coming years to ensure a perfect environment for their customers. Companies have realized that to stay ahead in the competition, they have to invest more in their IT budget. A report in 2015 found that 43% executives foresee an increase in IT spending budgets and a 9% year on year increase in the budget directed towards testing and quality assurance. According to the experts, testing is critical when going digital.

One of the biggest challenges in digital transformation is the security. Companies have to continuously invest in testing systems which ensure the integrity of their processes and applications. Digital security cannot be taken lightly by any organization that hopes to rise in business and wants to offer a smooth experience to its customers. Another reason why experts are in favor of testing is these days the product life cycle is very short and there is a demand for greater agility. Organizations are modernizing their testing processes to meet these shorter life cycle programs.

Digital Transformation has affected the way traditional business is done. There are a whole new set of processes that have to be incorporated in the system to deliver productive customer experiences and consequent business benefits. In the view of tough competition, the need of the hour is for flexible and rapid delivery of software and systems. This is made possible only through the modes of testing, which themselves have evolved to a whole new process. Test automation is not enough by itself. What is needed is its integration with development processes so that testing becomes an integral part of overall business strategy.

Aaaron Levie, CEO of Box says,  ‘the Last ten years of IT have been about changing the way people work. The next ten years of IT will be about transforming your business’.

In the process of digital transformation, testing is very important so as to have the organization ready for the future. One thing is for sure – as digital transformation starts permeating the internal processes in an organization and automation becomes the norm, testing will acquire a larger role and it will grow to proportions that can not even be imagined at the moment.

Download Free E-Book: Role of QA & Testing in Digital Transformation

Download Free E-Book: Testing for Internet Of Things

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