The term ‘Digital Transformation’ sounds difficult and expensive, even on the surface level. Today, everyone is talking about digital transformation, but very few are actually doing it.
What exactly is digital transformation?
Digital transformation is, in a nutshell, the act of adopting technological tools to improve a business process.
It can also mean developing a new business process using the power of technology to improve customer service, fosters creativity, and promotes efficiency.
Most SMEs in Malaysia struggle with digital transformation due to high costs. WHY?
In 2020, around 77% of Malaysia’s SMEs were still in the early stages of digitalization, meaning they just had websites, according to a survey by SME Corp Malaysia. Only 53.9 per cent of businesses has a website in 2019.
Moreover, the World Bank stated that “Malaysian companies, especially SMEs, lag behind their global counterparts in terms of productivity and have slower rates of technology adoption.”
In 2018, a joint survey conducted by Huawei and the Malaysian government found that SMEs were unwilling to transform due to the lack of funding and skills of their workers.
About half of the respondents said that their main obstacle was lack of capital, while the other half do not know any relevant financing methods.
Another obstacle is the speed and price of the Malaysian Internet, and 44% of SMEs say the high cost of maintaining such high-end services discourages the consideration of cloud services.
In addition, 48% of small business owners stated that their employees lack the skills needed to digitize.
Why the digital transformation cost is so high?
Digital Transformation or business transformation does come at a price.
This is simply due to the fact that adopting a digital-first approach does not occur with a single service, app, software, or module and instead results in operational reforms, business transformations, and increased productivity.
A business transformation journey begins with a few apps being used and minor, incremental enhancements.
After making large investments to acquire the digital services and technologies a company needs, the growth can be exponential.
These investments may take the shape of mergers, re-engineering processes, strategic partnerships, and training expenses. Together, these support a business’s digital transformation.
The largest portion of expenses associated with the digital transformation process is spent on license fees or subscriptions for software, services, and apps.
Despite the fact that business transformation does result in benefits like decreased operating expenses and increased productivity, over time these costs may mount and offset any savings from digital transformation.
In some extreme circumstances, SMEs have claimed that efforts to adopt digital transformation turned out to be extremely expensive due to unsuccessful implementations, a poor strategy, and a lack of technical skills.
How can businesses reduce the cost of Digital Transformation?
Any business transformation brought about by technological solutions is both economical and highly productive.
Operations, Strategy, and Administration—the three core business processes of any SME—will all be changed by digital transformation.
SMEs that use an all-inclusive solution can simply manage costs and grow at the same time.
Businesses can rationalise expenses with the use of offerings like Google Workspace (GWS) and the Google Suite of products, which bundle several apps and services into a single product suite.
How can a business achieve Digital Transformation without having to pay a high cost for it?
Any business transformation journey has to focus on three critical but important processes. They are:
- Simple access to shared data (with access control)
- Tools for operations management
- Seamless employee connectivity
All three are delivered very well by Google Workspace (GWS).
One of the key advantages of Google Workspace (GWS) is the extensive feature list.
For businesses wishing to undergo a business transformation and digital transformation using Google Workspace, the cost-effective Google Suite pricing makes the G suite products particularly attractive.
7 Benefits of Google Workspace as a Digital Transformation Tool
1. Cost reduction – operation and capital expenses
Google Workspace apps can be adopted extremely easily thanks to the Software as a Service (SaaS) nature of the Google Suite.
When a company uses G suite products, they only pay for the users who actually utilise the app. As a result, the cost of company transformation is drastically reduced.
One of the best features of Google Workspace (GWS) is the ability for a business to change the number of users using the app depending on their needs at any stage of their Digital Transformation journey.
Customers do not need to invest in expensive hardware to upgrade or downgrade services, nor do they need to host it on their premises, thanks to the nominal G suite pricing.
For the majority of companies, Google Workspace makes digital transformation highly affordable.
2. On-demand Upgrade and Downgrade – Digital Transformation at the speed of thought
Google Workspace and its G suite products can be upgraded to several or multiple users whenever required. Moreover, Google Suite allows for a downgrade/upgrade in the number of users as and when required.
In fact, countless new customers have signed up for Google Workspace (GWS) and begun using its tools.
Thanks to Google’s strong infrastructure, this never impacted customers who are already using G suite products.
3. Easy to Manage – A fundamental business transformation necessity
Ask a Google Suite administrator and he will tell you he has one of the easiest technology administration task lists in the world.
Additionally, since Google Suite products are hosted on the cloud, launching them only requires a number of APIs and a few mouse clicks in the administrator console.
4. The Google Workspace Mobility
In today’s digital world, everyone wants to be mobile. Businesses that want to profit from trendy concepts, ideas and buzzwords like “digital transformation Singapore,” “What is Google Workspace,” “Google Workspace Features,” etc. must provide their teams with a variety of apps available on the web and mobile.
This enables the service team to take care of the customers and offer them the best services.
5. Enhanced Collaboration – A business transformation using Google Suite
One of Google Workspace‘s numerous advantages is that it makes it possible for teams, coworkers, and departments to share data at any time and from any location.
This feature is essential for businesses looking to improve internal cooperation so they can better serve their customers.
With G suite products, sharing and caring can be a simple and easy task.
6. A highly available business transformation solution
Google Workspace and G suite products are among the most dependable business transformation solutions for digital transformation (comes with a service level agreement of 99.9%).
The absence of service degrades or outages and scheduled maintenance windows to carry out routine support tasks are among the features of Google Workspace.
One of the main advantages of Google Workspace is the guarantee that the service will always be available.
7. Security of Google Apps – An Aid to Digital Transformation
Although Google Workspace (GWS) is a SaaS product, the Google Suite is one of the most reliable, dependable, and safe applications available worldwide.
The G Suite products have always been safe and secure, whether in terms of compliance and adherence to governmental regulations and norms or protection from malware and hackers.
This enables businesses to concentrate on providing excellent customer service and innovation, which in turn, boosts sales and revenue.
For RM19.99 per user per month, Exabytes offers Google Workspace in addition to the entire Google Suite products. Along with the plans, a free domain name and reliable local technical support are included.
We offer three different plans that are best suited for all businesses, ranging from solopreneurs to SMEs and large enterprises.
Speak with an Exabytes consultant now to learn more. With Google Workspace and Exabytes’ 24/7/365 professional technical support, your business can reap all digital transformation benefits and grow extensively.
Related article: End of G Suite Legacy Free Edition? What Should Do
