There’snodoubtt echnologyhasdr ast

icall
ychangedhow t hewor l
dlives,
social
izes,anddoesbusi nessovert helastfew decades.Unpr ecedent
edgr owth
inthet echnol
ogysect orhassparkedadi gitalr
evoluti
ont hathasspreadacross
thedevel opi
ngwor l
d.Whi lelessthan7per centofthewor l
dwasonl i
nei n2000,
todayoverhal ftheglobalpopulationhasi nternetaccess,andt her
earecur r
ent
ly
mor ecellphonesinthewor l
dt hanpeopl e.

Toremai ncompet iti

veandr elevanti ntoday’
sbusinessenvironment,all
busines ses—from thesmal lestmom- and-popshopt oFor tune500
corpor ations—mus tintegratet echnologyintoeveryfacetoft hei
roperati
on.A
McKi nseyGl obalSurveyondi gi taltr
ansformati
onsrepor t
sthatmoret haneight
intenr espondent ssayt heiror ganizati
onshaveunder takensucheffor t
si nt
he
pastfiveyear s.Clear l
y,ITexecut i
vesmus teit
herleadt heway,keepup...orf al
l
behind.

Thent heCOVI D-19pandemi cbroughtanew senseofur gency,forcingbusinesses

tofast-tracktheirdigitalizati
ont omeett henew t echnologicalreali
tyand
changi ngneedsoft her oughl y42per centofUSempl oyeeswhonow wor kfrom
home.Andt hatnumberi snotlikel
yt ochange.Inasur veyconduct edby
LiveCar eer,anonliner esumeandj obsear chconsulti
ngser vice,61per centofthe
white-collarworker ssur veyedsaidt heywantt heircompanyt olett hem work
remot elyindefinitely,whi le90per centof1 30humanr esourceleader ssurveyed
byGar tner(aglobalr esear chandadvi soryfirm)sai dtheypl antol etempl oyees
continuewor ki
ngr emot elyatleastpartoft heti
me,evenaf teravacci neiswidely
adopt ed.

Butwhatdoesdi gi
talt
ransf
or mati
onmean? I tcanmeanever ythi
ngfrom
goingpaper l
ess,todataanalyti
csandar t
ifici
alint
ell
igence,toautomati
ng
processes,dependingonyourper spect
ive.However,forjustaboutevery
business,i
talsomeans:

i
ncr
easedeffici
encyandpr
oduct
ivi
ty
r
evenuegr
owt
h
i
mpr
ovedwor
kflow
i
ncr
easedconnect
ivi
tywi
thcus
tomer
s
hi
ghercus
tomerandempl
oyeesat
isf
act
ion
opt
imi
zedpr
oces
ses
empower
ingempl
oyees
 Spendingondi git
alt ransfor
mat i
oni sexpectedtor each$6.8t ri
ll
ionby2023.
Butwhi l
edigitalt
r ansformati
onisi mperati
vet oacompany’ ssuccess,r
esearch
showst hat70per centofdi git
altransf
ormationsfallshortoftheirobjecti
ves,
with$112mi l
li
onlos tforevery$1bi l
li
oninves t
ed.Thi sisi
nlargepar tbecause
compani esmus tr
el i
nquishlong-standingbusinesspr acti
cesinfavorofnew
onesthatmayseem vagueorover whelming.Let ’
sf aceit—changei sunsett
li
ng.

Muchofacompany’ ssuccessingoi
ngdi gi
taldependsont heITmanager.The
rol
eofCI OsandITmanager shaschangedsignificant
lyalongwi t
htechnology.
Today,ITmanager
sar ethepri
marydr i
versofbusinessi
nnovationandplayan
importantr
olei
nbot hinst
igat
ingandexecutingdigit
altransf
ormati
ons t
rategy.

Thesefivekeyfact
orsi
nfluenceacompany’sabi
li
tyt
oreal
izet
hesucces
sful
i
mpl ement
ati
onofadigit
ali
zedworkpl
ace.

Fi
veFact
orsofSucces
s

1 A Di
gital
lyDrivenCult
ure–Whil
etechnologyi
simport
ant,thepeopl
efactori
s
cr
ucialtosuccess.Commit
mentandengagementfrom theCEO t
omi ddl
e
managementi skeytoaffecti
ngchange.

2 Defined Goal s–I

nordert
osuccessful
lydigit
ali
ze,compani
esmustdetermine
whatt heyneedandwhytheyaredigit
ali
zing.Whatisthegoal?Oncether
ei sa
clearvisi
on,t
heITmanagercanthendeterminet hebes
tstr
ategyli
nkedto
specificoutcomes.
 TopGoal
sforDi
git
ali
zing:

Copewi themer gencies

Savetime
Makecompl ianceeasier
I
ncrease flexibil
it
yi nst
affing(especi
allywhenwor
kingr
emot
ely)
Str
eaml i
neoper ati
ons
I
mpr overesponset i
meandeffici ency
Cutcosts
I
ncreasecustomerandempl oyeesati
sfact
ion

3 Findingt heRi ghtSolution–Mos tcompani esr el

yont heirITmanagerorI T
depar tmentt oi dent
ifythebes tsoluti
ont omeett hei rgoals.TheI Tmanagerhas
theexper tiseandknowst hetechnologylandscapet hebes t,andistheref
ore
uniquelyposi tionedtor esear
chandfindsol ut
ionsforaseaml essuser
exper i
ence.Inmanycases,I Tmanager slookf or“freemi ums, ”orfree,
open- sourcesof tware.Opensour cesoftwar eopt i
onsmaysui tacompany' s
needsas- is;ifnot,mos toffermor ecustomi zedopt ionsf oraf ee.

4 Implement ati
on,Hos ti
ngandMai ntenance–Cl ear l
y,beingabl etoimpl ement,
host,andmai nt
ainyourdi git
ali
zedpl atformi sintegraltoi tssuccess.I
Tmanager s
2 can o f
ten download and i
mp leme ntfree open-so urce optionsthems el
ves,oropt
forasof twaresoluti
ont hatoffer sturn-keyser vices,includingconsultati
on,
system configur at
ion,trai
ning,andr oll
out ;hosting;and/ orongoi ngsupport
services.

5 Coll
abor ati
on-Di git
altransformationi
st hr
eet i
mesmor esuccessf
ulwhen
busi
nes sesinvestindigit
altalent
,suchasanI Tteam.Succes
salsor equir
estheIT
team collaborat
ingwi t
hmanager s,employees,andcoll
eaguestodet erminethei
r
needs,aswel lastrai
ningt eam member soncet echnol
ogyisimplement ed.
 Digit
alizingyourcompany’ shumanr esourcesdepar t
mentmaybeoneoft hebest
movesyoucanmakeasanI Tmanager ,parti
cularl
yduri
ngt heCOVI D pandemi
c,
whenamaj orit
yofempl oyeesarewor ki
ngf rom home.Aswi thanydigital
tr
ansfor mat i
on,ali
gningtheobjecti
onaltransformati
onalobject
ivesof
organizat i
onswi t
ht heHRdepar t
menti skey.

HumanResour
cesmanagementsof
twar
ecanbecl
assi
fiedi
ntot
hreemai
n
cat
egor
ies:

Payr
ollSof
twar
e
LeaveandAt
tendanceManagementSof
twar
e
Empl
oyeeManagementSof
twar
e(r
ecr
uit
ing,t
rai
ning,eval
uat
ion,et
c.)

1 Movi
ngf
rom Papert
oDi
git
al
Movi ngf r
om apaper -basedt odigi
talHRenvi ronmentoffer saweal thof
benefit s.Paperdocumentmanagementandar chi
vingcanbei ntensi
ve,
time-consumi ng,andexpensi ve.Accordi
ngt oDevel opingPeopl eGlobally,57
percentofofficewor kersspendonehourperdaysear chingfordocument s.
Aut omat i
ngyourHRs ystem meanst hatwithacoupl eofcli
cks,userscan
readilyfindt hedocument stheyneed,savingtimet hatcanbebet terspent
elsewher eandmi ni
mi zi
nghumaner r
or.Digit
alizi
ngHRdocument salso
ensur essensi
tivedat aispr otect
edandcanhel pmeetr egulat
ionsori ndustry
compl i
ancegui deli
nes.

2 Cent
ral
izi
ngSys
tems

Goingdi gitalalsos tr
eaml i
nespr ocesses.Tradit i
onally,HRdepar tmentsutili
ze
multi
pl esys t
emsf ordi ffer
entf uncti
ons.Adopt ingacent r
alizeds yst
em all
ows
HRmanager stoadj us tandenhancebusi nesspr ocessesqui cklyandeffici ent l
y.
Staff caneasi lydevel opandi mpl ementconsi s
t entproces sesf orpayrol
l,
benefit s,r
ecr uiti
ng,onboar di
ng,timeoff,andr ecogni t
ion.Andwi thnumer ous
employeescur rentlywor kingremot ely,acentralizeds yst
em pr ovidesbetter
organizati
onalsuppor t.Withacent r
al i
zedsystem,humanr esour cemanager s
canalsomor eeasi lycommuni catewi themployees—whet hert heyli
veinNew
YorkorTi mbukt u.
3 Sel
f-Ser
viceFaci
li
ties

Ti
meandAt tendance
Onli
neHRdocument s
BenefitsEnr
oll
ment
Payr
oll
EmployeeTrai
ning
Noti
ficati
ons

4 DoThi
ngsBet
ter
,Fas
terandCheaper
:
TheBenefit
sofDi
git
all
yTr
ansf
ormi
ngYourHRDepar
tment
HRmanagementsof twarecanhel pyourHRdepar tmentfuncti
onati t sbest,wit
h
modul esthatcatertoallofyourHRneedsf rom r
ecrui
tmentandonboar di
ngt o
developmentandr et
ention,andevensepar ati
on.Digi
tal
lytransf
or mi ngyourHR
departmentcanl owercos ts,i
ncreaseproducti
vit
yandempl oyeesat isfact
ion,and
i
mpr ovesecurityandaccount abil
ity.HRmanagementsoftwar ealsoal lows
manager stosuperviseempl oyeesnomat terwheretheyare,whichi spar t
icul
arl
y
advantageousdur i
ngCOVI D.

How?Consi
deral
lthet
hingsHRmanagementsof
twar
ecando:

EmployeeManagement:manageandacces
sallyours
ensit
iveempl
oyeedat
a
thr
oughoneorgani
zed,secur
e,andcent
ral
lyl
ocateddat
abas e.

Leave/Pai
dTi
me-
off Management
:cr
eat
eandmanagemul
ti
plet
ypesofl
eave.

Ti
meTr
acki
ng:t
rackyourempl
oyees
’ti
me,over
time,andeffici
ency.

Per
for
manceManagement
:tr
ackempl
oyeeper
for
mancet
iedt
ocus
tomi
zed
obj
ect
ives
.

Recr
uit
ment
:st
reaml
inet
hehi
ri
ngpr
oces
s.

HRAdmi
nis
trat
ion:s
ecur
elys
tor
eandmai
ntai
nempl
oyeedat
a.

Tr
avelandExpens
eTr
acker
:manageexpens
es.

Gr
aphi
cRepor
ting:cr
eat
eandvi
ew cus
tomi
zedr
epor
ts.

EmployeeDisci
pli
ne:t
rackandmai
ntai
nal
ldi
sci
pli
nar
ycas
esal
ongwi
th
act
ionstaken.

EmploymentCompl
iance:makepol
ici
esandpr
ocedur
eseas
ilyacces
sibl
eto
al
lemployees
.

DocumentManagement :r
educemanualworkl
oadandcentr
allymanageal
l
youri
mportantcompanydocumentsinoneplace,pl
uspubl
ishnew
document
sandedi texi
sti
ngdocumentsasneeded.

Tr
aini
ng:cr
eat
eandmanagei
n-hous
etr
aini
ngcour
ses
.
“
Or
angeHRM.Per
sonal
izedHRSof
twar
eThatBr
ingsYourEmpl
”
oyeesToget
her
.