Digital Transformation – A Trapeze Act?

Imparting training to employees to make them job-ready isn’t a new idea.

- K S Viswanathan, Vice President (Industry Initiatives), NASSCOM

Historically, organizations have had specific role-based skills training but have shied away from exploiting a broad range of cutting-edge technology. There’s a clear shift now, accentuated by great change in technology, unprecedented data generation and a massive surge in digital connectivity, which is incredulous.

Amidst the din, the NASSCOM-led Future skills program, espouses a certain dimension, that of, 9-66- 155. Which means, 9 new technologies, 66 job roles and 155 new skills, specific to the IT industry will now be the defining construct of the opportunities that lie ahead for 4 million people. A recent Gartner Whitepaper likens it to “Digital Dexterity” which isn’t off the mark either. The pathway is not straight forward, and recent corporate history is replete with unsuccessful attempts.

It’s also common knowledge that the digital transformations made have been in varying degrees,and it may be worthwhile to look at a few instances to draw upon interlinkages and shared learnings.

BFSI

For instance, there are dominant reasons why this sector is undergoing digital transformation. Improved customer experience, reduced processing time and cost, expansion into new markets (emphasis on Tier 3 locations where having physical outlets may not be cost-effective), and the mountainous heaps of data that can be leveraged to draw customer insights, are unarguably strong enough reasons.

Constraints? Sure. Security threats, ensuring network stability, challenges faced while integrating with legacy systems, enabling solutions for low-bandwidth users and balancing the twin pulls of regular fire-fighting vis-à-vis strategic growth, are some such.