What does the future of your industry or market look like? Modern brands can’t only think about the present when planning their digital strategies and must instead consider what could happen in the future.

That’s why companies must select the right technology solutions that allow them to digitally transform, create more efficient processes, and future-proof their businesses. According to McKinsey, nine out of ten C-suite executives say their organizations have pursued a digital transformation over the last two years. However, not every company has seen the results they’re looking for.

So, what’s the missing link? Digital enablement.

In this article, we’ll explain what digital enablement is, how it differs from digital transformation, and how Content Bloom supports our clients in achieving it.

What is Digital Enablement?

Digital enablement is the set of tools and processes supplied to an organization to help ensure a successful digital transformation. It aligns leadership on strategic goals to improve the business and equips the organization to adapt once digitization is complete.

Enablement transforms processes to support digital endeavors, requiring buy-in from stakeholders and creating onboarding processes for teams to adapt. It aligns the entire organization around a vision and provides training to leverage new technologies and initiatives as they become available.

Effective communication strategies are crucial for faster adoption of new technologies, helping people within the organization adopt behaviors that ensure digitalization success.

Digital Transformation vs. Digital Enablement

Digital enablement is often confused with digital transformation. To understand why, we first need to understand what transformation entails.

“Digital transformation can refer to anything from IT modernization (for example, cloud computing), to digital optimization, to the invention of new digital business models. The term is widely used in public-sector organizations to refer to modest initiatives such as putting services online or legacy modernization.”

Gartner

Digital Transformation

This involves leveraging digital technologies to create new or modify existing business processes, culture, and customer experiences to meet changing business and market requirements. It encompasses a range of initiatives from IT modernization, such as cloud computing, to digital optimization and creating new digital business models.

Digital Enablement

While transformation focuses on modernization and change, enablement provides the foundation to ensure transformation is possible and successful. It involves equipping the organization with the necessary tools, processes, and training to support digital initiatives. The combination of digital transformation and digital enablement helps organizations become future-proof, adopting best-of-breed technologies and the right behaviors to adapt as things evolve.

The Need for Digital Enablement and Future-Proof Technology

Businesses that fail to transform digitally can quickly fall behind the competition. Lack of digital innovation pressures companies as customers prefer those that provide the experiences they want with speed and precision. Hence, digital enablement and future-proof technologies are essential. Some benefits include:

• Strategic Alignment: Ensures transformation strategy aligns with the wider company vision and strategic initiatives.
• Increased Flexibility and Adaptability: Allows businesses to adapt to changes in the digital environment and adjust strategies to meet new requirements.
• More Efficiency: Streamlines processes to prevent delays, ensuring clear communication and workflow.
• Reduced Vendor Lock-In: Helps select future-proof technology to avoid being locked into difficult vendor situations.
• Move to Modularity: Encourages selecting best-of-breed solutions that can be swapped out as needed.
• Improved Customer Experience: Ensures teams operate efficiently to provide seamless and engaging customer experiences.

Enabling Your Future Business

With growing digital trends and an abundance of data, brands can feel overwhelmed about choosing the right technologies to achieve digital transformation, secure their future, and leave legacy platforms behind. However, aligning organizational culture, strategy, and leadership is crucial.

Content Bloom is an enterprise digital consultancy with expertise in tools that support digital enablement goals. Our range of end-to-end digital consulting services and customized processes helps future-proof your business.

Our headless technology and content management expertise enable you to launch digital experiences and adapt to changing customer demands using cutting-edge technology. We offer managed services, CMS migrations, custom development, and more to address various business challenges.

Digital enablement isn’t just about technology — it’s about how your people and processes integrate with it. Our discovery process and analysis workshops identify necessary steps and align potential solutions with your overall goals.

Ready to begin your digital enablement process?

FAQ

Why is digital enablement important?

Digital enablement helps to guarantee a successful digital transformation. It ensures that a business implements technology that aligns with its overall strategy increases the efficiency and productivity of employees, and leads to an improved customer experience.

What are the goals of digital enablement?

The goals of digital enablement focus on enhancing an organization’s use of digital technologies to improve efficiency, enhance customer experiences, drive innovation, increase agility, and empower employees. This comprehensive approach aims to transform business processes and models, integrating digital solutions across all aspects of the organization to deliver better value and performance.

What is the difference between technology enablement and digital enablement?

Technology enablement specifically involves integrating and optimizing technology within an organization, focusing on the infrastructure and tools needed for technological functions. In contrast, digital enablement is broader, encompassing not only the integration of technology but also the cultural and operational changes necessary to leverage these digital tools for transformative business effects. Digital enablement seeks to fundamentally alter how businesses operate and deliver value to customers.

What does enablement mean in technology?

Enablement in technology refers to making technology accessible and useful to its users within an organization. It involves setting up the appropriate infrastructure and providing the necessary training and support to ensure that technology is used efficiently and productively. The goal is to empower individuals and enhance processes through technology, making it a critical component of achieving broader business objectives.