Digital Adoption

What is Digital Adoption?

Digital adoption is the act of incorporating new digital tools and systems to improve work processes and achieve objectives. This includes using technology such as software, hardware, and online platforms in various industries to optimize operations, enhance communication, and promote innovation.

What is digital adoption

Digital adoption can further define the extent to which a user has become experienced and comfortable with the digital product or service and utilizes all its features and capabilities. Digital adoption requires users to understand the technology and its features, be familiar with the user interface, learn applicable business processes and workflows, and understand how to interact with the technology.

Today we see widespread digital adoption wherever we look, from coffee shop apps to video conference software, demonstrating that we are now in a digital adoption revolution. We experience cutting-edge new technology daily as countless users adopt new digital technologies. WalkMe’s 2022 State Of Digital Adoption report shows that 67% of companies are under extreme pressure to accelerate digital transformation via adoption. This communicates the need for digital adoption today.

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For leaders, it is your responsibility to create a playbook that can be followed in times of uncertainty. The key is not just to have the plan in place but to act quickly when disruption occurs to meet the needs of a changing market.

-Raphael Sweary, President and Co-Founder of WalkMe

Benefits Of Digital Adoption

Digital adoption involves making a company more adaptable and prepared for future technological challenges, such as market disruption. There are considerable benefits to digital adoption, and it is essential for many reasons. For example, only companies willing to adapt quickly and more effectively will thrive. But software adoption is only one part of this process, as people are the focus of the benefits of digital adoption.

Digital adoption involves a lot more than just using new technology. The benefits of a cohesive strategy include:

  • Improved customer satisfaction
  • Seamless workflow and increased productivity for employees
  • A positive return on technology investments

Digital adoption also makes training less expensive, as a digital adoption platform requires fewer training resources and materials because 1:1 support is not needed.

Tech industry team members often discuss digital transformation and adoption in the same sentence. But what is the difference?

How Do We Achieve Digital Adoption?

Users achieve digital adoption by utilizing digital assets to optimal capacity and correctly training employees to use new technologies. Successful digital adoption increases productivity, leading to faster ROI on technology investments and reducing the cost of training resources.

Gartner’s Q4 IT spend forecast predicted that in 2023 the global IT spend would be $4.6 trillion, an increase of 5.1% from 2022. This shows the increasing need for tech investment in digital adoption efforts. So, what are the benefits of digital adoption?

The Six Pillars Of Digital Adoption

Our complete digital adoption guide comprises six crucial pillars. Neglecting just one of these pillars creates cracks in your strategy, and before you know it, the whole process comes crumbling down.

Strategy

Organizations need a clear strategy to experience the full benefit of a successful digital transformation. Most businesses neglect to communicate their strategy effectively. Employees should know how digital business adoption will change within their organization.

Culture

When discussing new digital business adoption solutions, it can be easy to forget the most crucial aspect of digital adoption: employees. Using new systems challenges the company’s culture. If users don’t have a valuable, positive experience with digital tools, that’s a clear sign of an issue that can be fixed with digital adoption.

Behavior

New tech often leads to new processes in the workplace that feel unfamiliar to employees. Employees can feel overwhelmed learning new behaviors daily, and providing support and regular training is essential to speed up the technology adoption curve. For example, companies can use screening software to streamline the recruitment process.

Process

Companies implement digital adoption as part of a wider-scale effort. There are many smaller processes involved, from senior management to individual employees. Efficiency is critical when working on a large scale to avoid wasted time and achieve the expected results.

Skills

Despite employees’ concerns, new tech in the workplace isn’t threatening to make humans obsolete. However, the opposite is true. Workers can learn new skills and interact with digital tools in ways they haven’t before. You can minimize the learning curve and support staff at their own pace with comprehensive training. Employees feel motivated when tech solutions provide a clear benefit to their work.

Software

Software is the core of digital transformation. Intelligent and intuitive software has the power to transform work, making it more efficient and yield more results. Whether updating a minor app feature or replacing a digital system, keep in mind the effect on end-users.

Now we have defined the pillars of digital adoption. We must consider how to work out when we need a digital adoption.

How Do You Know When You Need A Digital Adoption?

Looking at why you need digital adoption before investing in it is essential. Tools such as digital adoption platforms (DAPs) exist to make digital adoption easier for a company. However, the problem sometimes lies with an organization’s approach toward technology. In these cases, users notice the lack of progress, and competitors quickly take advantage. Many businesses remain stuck in the past and continue to use outdated technology because they are anxious about change.

Here are some signs to look out for to see if you need a digital adoption.

Existing software does not perform adequately

A clear sign that you need a digital adoption is if the current software does not perform to high enough standards. Use metrics to compare business outcomes to competitors and look at what software they are using. This information can be a reasonable basis for justifying digital adoption.

Negative attitudes toward change

Agility is critical in today’s marketplace, and technological disruption is at the heart of these changes. Digital adoption helps employees embrace change and incorporate agility into their everyday processes, creating greater sustainability for their organization. If employees are averse to change, digital adoption is needed.

Low employee engagement

Although it is difficult for staff to engage with digital adoption, it can be a way of changing culture to a more fresh and positive one. A positive new culture means higher engagement, productivity, and engagement as staff gain new goals to work towards as they show renewed vigor for increasing performance for their company.

Enterprises have in house emploees or teams to mangae digital adoption

Now that you have established the need for digital adoption, what is its scope?

Scope Of Digital Adoption

A digital adoption solution is a company-wide strategy, but what is the true scope of digital adoption?

Recently, the world faced many new challenges of remote work. Employees quickly received training and support to work remotely using video chat software. Businesses that prioritized digital adoption were ready to adapt and made market gains.

Today’s market reflects increased customer and employee usage of digital tools. People are more comfortable using apps and software these days and expect these digital tools to work seamlessly. If a competitor’s app offers a feature that you don’t, customers will naturally gravitate toward your competitor.

These reasons lay the foundation for a robust digital adoption strategy. But how do you begin to create a digital adoption strategy?

Obstacles To Achieving Digital Adoption

Most businesses fail to implement their strategy because they neglect common roadblocks. Digital adoption platforms help identify obstacles early to avoid wasted time.

The main obstacles are:

  • A lack of expertise
  • Challenging to navigate digital adoption platforms
  • The weak leadership of the digital adoption strategy
  • The challenges of measuring digital adoption ROI

Finding an excellent digital adoption platform solves many of these issues. The expertise, training, and analytics make the whole process easier. Leading CIOs should also check in with employees and how they handle integrating new digital tools.

The Digital Adoption Revolution Is Here

A comprehensive guide to answering the question, ‘what is digital adoption’ has never been more essential. A digital adoption revolution is taking place. The Covid-19 pandemic forced millions of workers to adapt to remote working, and an abrupt change in routine became the standard.

What does digital adoption look like today

Organizations that fail to achieve successful adoption will struggle to stay afloat in an evolving digital landscape. Only businesses with resilience and adaptability built into their foundations can weather the storm.

Frequently asked questions

  • What is digital adoption Institute?
    The digital adoption institute, established by WalkMe, offers live online courses for professionals who are interested in becoming certified experts in the field of digital adoption.
  • Who are the digital adoption professionals?
    Digital adoption professionals are hired specifically to assist with the strategy and implementation of software and are becoming a mainstay in leading businesses.

Updated: December 19, 2023

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