| | APRIL 201919CIOReview89 percent of organizations have adopted or plan to adopt a "digital-first" business strategy, with key investments including artificial intelligence (AI), big data analytics, cloud, IoT, and mobility according to IDG's 2018 State of Digital Business Transformation."A flexible, integrated communications platform allows for collaboration tools that are highly relevant to how employees work in today's digital era"These technologies are considered top drivers of successful digital transformation. So, why is it that only 19 percent of companies believe they are disrupting the market with their transformation efforts? This is according to a new IDC report published in partnership with Avaya, in which 69 percent of companies admit their efforts are "less than extremely successful."Now well into the transformation journey, organizations are adjusting their strategy to better align expectations with outcomes. They must not just adopt but evolve through the use of digital technologies to deliver game-changing innovation. Critical to these adjustments is the transformation of business communications.Poor-quality communication is arguably the greatest barrier to transformation success, reducing flexibility/agility for 55 percent of surveyed enterprises and increasing costs for 56 percent. Meanwhile, 80 percent of enterprises believe improved communications better controls costs and 72 percent say it delivers higher quality customer experience (CX). Also mentioned were "improved employee productivity and efficiency" (cited as enterprises' No. 1 driver of transformation), as well as "faster product/service introduction."Sustainable digital transformation is driven by a core focus on communications, period.Four Key Areas in Business Communications for Successful Digital TransformationConsidering this, what must organizations do to get the best results from their digital transformation initiatives? IDC's report indicates four key enablers of successful, communication-enabled transformation:1. Embedding is EssentialPutting the right unified communications tools in place is just the start. To deliver faster, more intelligent and more adaptive customer and employee experiences, companies must radically change how work gets done by embedding communications directly into processes, workflows and applications. Over 90 percent of surveyed enterprises believe embedded communications is "important" 4 KEY ENABLERS TO SUCCESSFUL DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION OF BUSINESS COMMUNICATIONSBy Frank Ciccone, VP U.S. Sales, AvayaFrank Ciccone
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