What’s the cost of not going digital?

FILE: TRANSFORMATIVE. Ana Aboitiz-Delgado (2nd from left), talks about the need for digital transformation for companies to be more efficient and successful. (PNA photo by Cristina Arayata)

MANILA — While the word “disruption” may be synonymous to chaos and problems, the same word is used to denote enhancements and leveraging in the field of technology.

However, adapting to technology seems overwhelming to some. It might look complicated, and some businesses think adapting to the continuously evolving technology would just take them a huge investment.

The question is, what’s the cost of not going digital?

This was raised by Ambe Tierro, senior managing director of Advanced Technology Centers in the Philippines, during the Women’s Business and Leadership Summit on Friday in Makati City.

She noted that going digital may be costly, but doing otherwise would result to irrelevance and obsolescence.

“Look at what happened to Nokia. They (were) not innovating enough. (Another company,) Kodak, thought people would always want their pictures printed. So the question (for companies) should be, ‘what’s the cost of not going digital?’,” she remarked.

Tierro emphasized that while some people view “disruption” as a problem, the technology actually makes people more efficient, and enable businesses to engage with their customers better.

Dannah Majarocon, Lalamove Philippines managing director, expressed the same point of view.

“The industry has always changed over the years. Companies need to look (for ways) to be different from others,” she said, adding that while “disruption” looks like a negative word, it happens to different industries.

For the Lalamove executive, she said the company sees that the Philippine market is very ready when it comes to going digital.

“Even as simple as using Facebook to sell your goods online means going digital,” she continued.

Majarocon also cited that getting an item delivered right away used to be a luxury.

“Logistics has always been there. Convenience is really something that people are willing to pay for,” she said.

High investment necessary for the logistics has been a challenge for Lalamove. The company, however, has been in the Philippines for three years now, and currently has close to 40,000 partner drivers.

The executive said Lalamove was able to make customers realize that they could get the services they need without breaking the bank. “For the drivers, instead of their vehicles sitting there, they’re using it to earn extra,” she added.

Going digital

The forum’s panelists shared some points to ponder when going digital.

“When we were told we need ‘transformation’, we took those words to heart, said Ana Aboitiz-Delgado, head for Consumer Finance, UnionBank of the Philippines.

Aboitiz-Delgado said they were told that if they want to be a good retail bank, they should go digital.

“So three years ago, we launched this (digital bank). We realized (from customer feedback) that nobody likes to be in the physical branch. People there would mostly say, ‘You already know me, but you keep on asking these documents’.”

She also said that when Unionbank decided to adapt transformation, the first thing it considered was actually not the technology, but people — customers.

“Openness, I think, is very important,” said Myla Villanueva, chairman of Novare Technologies, as she referred to a company’s willingness to adapt with the technologies.

Meanwhile, the panelists also pointed out that going digital leverages the company’s capabilities.

Artificial intelligence, for instance, Majarocon said, is not just about chat bots.

AI recognizes patterns. For instance, it would suggest what things people could buy, after recognizing a pattern.

“This would tell you something like, ‘people who bought this also bought this’,” she explained.

Microsoft’s Enterprise Commercial director, Irene Catane, on the other hand, presented a video wherein AI was used to create an avatar that could speak a foreign language. As such, this avatar can be used when delivering a speech abroad, for example.

Finally, the panelists reminded the attendees to always consider security when going digital.

“Security should always be on top of the minds of the organizations. If you’re not protected, you’d be vulnerable to attackers,” Majarocon said.