Digital has moved beyond the buzzword stage and has transformed into being the vocal point of the organisation. The [digital] evolution is now a practical reality and organisations need to embrace the efficiencies it provides.

One only needs to look at how cellular and mobile technologies have become integrated in all aspects of our lives to realise this. These solutions transcend industries with companies and employees requiring some form of mobile device or connectivity to do business.

But even though mobile integration discussions are taking place across a diverse range of businesses, the human element must not be forgotten. While it is good to digitalise the product or solution offering, the end-user must remain the focus. Over the past several years, technology was the driving force around this new approach. But today, more companies are adopting a people-centric methodology of getting the most out of the digital journey.

This digitalisation of products and services will see more people in South Africa benefitting from a connected experience. And even though mobile application development is getting most of the attention, elements like security, governance, and risk management remain fundamental.

In the rush to embrace new digital technology, organisations still need to keep full accountability of applications and ensure that a true business case exists prior to investing in it. This is resulting in more applications being developed based on solid business practice and allowing companies to plug it into their existing processes and systems.

This is resulting in the growing popularity of software development kits that take the mobile application to the next customisable level. An additional advantage of these kits is that it makes the technology accessible to smaller businesses with limited budgets. It becomes a case of not reinventing the wheel but finding the best ways to enhance an application to meet the business requirements of a company.

Clearly, digital transformation is bringing technology to the masses. But companies need to do things differently if they are to shake up the market. Irrespective of what is done, it bears remembering that change is not something that takes place overnight. Many of the mobile success achieved by businesses today are the result of years of experience and continually innovation to meet changing market requirements.

But despite the promise of digitalisation, many companies are still stuck in a traditional mindset. Fortunately, the real-time nature of the digital business requires change to happen sooner rather than later. Those who can best adapt to this landscape will be the businesses that attract the most customer interest in the foreseeable future.