DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION IN PAKISTAN: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES.

Byline: AHSAN NISAR

The new digital economy has redefined the business landscape. Successful traditional businesses are at a huge risk of not only losing their dominant position but going out of business. Technical advancements, ubiquitous connectivity, proliferation of mobile devices combined with our understanding of how humans interact with machines and software has allowed creation of not just new businesses, but increased process efficiency within all industries. Today, we have the convenience of getting what we need through online marketplaces and highly usable mobile applications that essentially serve as remote controllers, to perform most tasks in both our personal and professional lives.

While the pace of digitization presents exciting entrepreneurial opportunities, it also presents tremendous risks to traditional businesses. Businesses that have enjoyed healthy growth in the past decade or two are facing fierce pressures from new entrants. Past experiences and knowledge are no longer sufficient to stay ahead. New competitors are both cursed and blessed by the fact that they do not have any pre-dispositions. Disruptive thinking, accelerated progress, relentless execution, unquenched drive, frictionless cultures, and venture capital are fueling new players.

Digital transformation is not just about building faster software or launching a mobile application or adding the word 'innovation' in corporate marketing collateral. Digital transformation is rethinking how a business engages with customers, partners, and even employees. Many successful, traditional enterprises are now re-thinking and changing the way they conduct business. Chief Digital Officers are being appointed to strategically drive transformations across enterprises. While it is important to understand engagement, customer journey mapping and create internal business cases, organizations are realizing that strategic planning must be balanced with measurable, rapid progress.

Transformations do not happen overnight, and need not be deployed through a bigbang, enterprise-wide initiative. Transformation is an iterative process that initiates in a specific area of the business.

The digital economy poses both a clear challenge and opportunity to traditional businesses. Many traditional business will go out of business losing out to new efficient start-up's who leverage technology to operate. There is an opportunity for traditional businesses to re-establish their dominance by...

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