Digitizing organizations, in companies and government offices, is a significant need of our time, and this process has been underway for many years. We also know that the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated this process worldwide. Beyond speed, the mindset of business owners and managers towards this process has changed. This transformation is necessary and should be implemented promptly or gradually. However, it brings with it significant fear and anxiety. Business owners and managers, whether in the private sector or government offices, have every right to be concerned about this process.
Business owners and managers who are tasked with digitizing their organizations, this article is entirely for you. We will clarify all the points you need to consider when you take steps towards digitizing your organization. Our goal in this article is to ensure that this transformation and digitization of your organization does not create fear and anxiety for you.
Why Digitize?
Let's simply answer this question. Of course, the answer can be complex and vary from one organization to another. However, we will not complicate the answer and will discuss points common to all organizations. For these reasons, we want to digitize our organization. First, we want to increase efficiency and productivity, so that costs and time are not wasted. Second, we want to bring transparency and reduce bureaucracy. Third, we want to reduce paper usage and the resulting pollution, such as carbon dioxide emissions, for the environment. Fourth, we want quick and comprehensive access to our information from anywhere in the world. Fifth, we want to minimize errors and easily report on all processes. We could write down many other important points that are common to all organizations. But here, we want to briefly answer the question.
How Should an Organization Be Digitized?
To digitize an organization, whether it is a company or a government office, you must understand that this is a strategic change requiring correct decision-making, expertise, and a comprehensive plan. In this article, we will clarify why these aspects are necessary. If you make the wrong decision, not only is your entire organization at risk, but fixing the problem later will be costly. To establish a comprehensive plan for the process, you need to categorize your departments and work processes according to the type of organization you have. Where do you start?
Let's correct a common misconception. Always remember, digitizing an organization does not mean everything from start to finish is on a single application or website and you only interact with that. Instead, it means departments are independently digitized, and then the whole picture creates a digitized organization. Let's illustrate with examples to clarify the concept. When we say your plan should be broken down into several stages, you should separate your departments, then decide which systems each department and process need. For example, digitizing your accounting department is a significant step and should be done carefully. Once that step is completed, that department becomes digitized. Then, you proceed to the next step and digitize your HR department. After that, you want to digitize all processes in your organization and connect the departments together; at that point, you implement a Business Process Management System (BPMS).
When all your departments are digitized and connected, the organization becomes digitized. The first information you need from this section is that some departments should be independently digitized and should not be integrated with other departments. For example, the accounting department should have an accounting system. In the same way, HR should have an HR management system. It is never acceptable to buy a system claiming "this is a cashier system, but it also does accounting" or "this is an HR system, but it also does accounting." This holds for many other departments as well. For instance, the HR department should have an HR management system. The only time it is acceptable to combine all of these is with what is known as an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system, which means all departments, although different, are managed from one platform. For example, both accounting and HR are on the same platform, but each employee and department sees only their own relevant data. You may benefit from ERP, but you must ensure it is truly ERP and not an accounting system doing something else or an HR system doing something else.
What Should I Look For and What Questions Should I Ask?
Now let's clarify. You should ask the company implementing your transformation these questions and write down the answers along with your questions.
Security and Safety Questions
Every digital system should be protected in multiple layers.
Information Security
Ask how your information is protected. The answer to this question is encryption. The system you use must follow a certain standard of encryption. Encryption means that no data in the database is stored as plain text. Not even the IT staff or any third party can read it. Even if a cyberattack occurs, attackers cannot see or read any data.
System Security
Ask what has been done to protect the system. A robust and secure system should be well-coded. Security standards should be implemented. The system should support 2FA. SSL certificates should be used and HTTPS should be implemented. There should never be a backdoor. You might wonder how to know all this or trust it. The best way to ensure all these points and many more security aspects are met is to use a system that follows a recognized standard. For example, one of our products at Patris Company is the Karama, which we built according to ISO 15408 standards. When a digital system follows this standard, you don’t have to worry about any of the points mentioned above.
Handling Natural and Human Disasters
As mentioned earlier, once your organization is digitized, you will no longer use paper. But if the provider of your digital system has not considered disaster recovery, this could be risky. Natural and human disasters are numerous, such as fires, floods, electrical failures, theft, and many other incidents. You need to know where all your data and files are stored. Are they on a computer inside your organization? What if one of the incidents mentioned occurs? The answer to this question is that if the system is hosted on a computer within your organization, there should also be a backup computer, constantly backing up the main computer's data, preferably not in the same room. However, your organization should also have a dedicated server from a reputable provider like Amazon, Google Cloud, Digital Ocean, Akamai, Microsoft Azure, or any other provider. Alternatively, you can use any external backup solution outside your organization.
Some digital system providers might suggest you rely entirely on the cloud, meaning no computers within your organization. This is acceptable and there is nothing wrong with it. However, there should still be a backup server from a different provider to continuously back up the system. For example, if your system is on a Google Cloud platform, there should be another backup server, such as from Digital Ocean. The provider might tell you this is an additional cost and not necessary, or that they back up the system to a secondary server within the same company. Again, this is not entirely safe. There have been instances where large cloud computing companies have suffered fires and lost significant data. There have also been cases where companies were hacked, or suffered technical failures, losing their data.
Support Questions
The most critical aspect of digitizing your organization is support. If the biggest digital system is implemented and your employees and team do not know how to use it, it is as if it doesn’t exist. Or if you encounter a technical problem and no one is there to help, you are in big trouble. Ask the system provider how important the success of the process is to them. How much do they want you to be satisfied with the outcome? For example, at Patris Company, for any of our implemented systems, we provide six months of unlimited technical support to our clients, along with comprehensive training for the organization's employees until we are sure everything is clear and there are no questions left. We continuously monitor the system and ensure the process is successful. We also guarantee a full refund for up to three months if the system does not meet the client's expectations.
System Implementation and Functionality Questions
The most successful system for your organization is one built on the foundations of your country, culture, and work style. Our goal is not to say a globally renowned system is not successful. But a BPMS or HR management system built by an American company for the American market is never as suitable for your organization as a system built by a company from your own country. Additionally, it fully supports your language. It is designed for your specific issues and challenges, and aligns with your work style and environment.
Flexibility and Modification Questions
The final thing to ask about is the system's flexibility and ability to adapt. How flexible is the system for any requirement? Whatever you want, can it be done? If the system cannot be modified or is not flexible, or you have no authority over it, or you need to go back to the provider for any modification, the system is not successful. You might constantly need to make changes to your work, alter your processes. You cannot have a system that doesn’t allow that or gives you no authority.
Conclusion
We hope this article is helpful to you. Of course, there are many more questions that should be asked and points that should be considered, but we tried to cover the most important ones. If you have any other questions, please leave a comment below and we will be happy to answer them. Additionally, whenever you decide to digitize your organization, our consultants are more than happy and ready to assist you. Just contact us or click to request a demo.
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