Featuring:

Ted Schadler, VP, Principal Analyst

Show Notes:

In 2020, nearly every company had to shift its business model to develop new customer and employee experiences during the pandemic. Some companies pivoted quickly and thrived, while others did not. What will separate the leaders from the laggards this year?

In this episode, Vice President and Principal Analyst Ted Schadler reviews the strategies that businesses need to accelerate their digital transformation coming out of the pandemic. Schadler says the pandemic’s impact has shown many organizations that there aren’t digital and nondigital functions. Instead, all functions should be aligned to the same goal of building a better customer and employee experience. Schadler points out that digitally mature firms’ focus on customer experience and employee experience “are miles above digital beginners. COVID taught everyone a lesson, and you had to respond.”

Specifically, Schadler says many successful firms have elevated the chief digital officer role for that purpose. “The pandemic made everyone aware that they needed to prioritize digital customer experience in order to both survive 2020 and to level up in 2021,” says Schadler.

In 2021, many firms will also be replatforming to improve processes that were digitized during the pandemic but still require a lot of manual effort. For many firms, that means bringing in outside expertise to help achieve those goals. “People are really doubling down on their strategic partners, like tech service providers and consultancies, this year,” Schadler says.

Be sure to listen to the end of this episode to hear Schadler’s top three digital business predictions for the year ahead.