Digital transformation and business survival

Although the central banks and the States took various monetary and budgetary policy measures to support the most affected sectors, the digital sector was not neglected at all. The stakes of sovereignity about this subject have been exacerbated between the three major powers, the United States, China and the European Union, with, among other things, the publication by the European Commission of draft regulations under the Digital Services Act (DSA) and the Digital Markets Act (DMA) on December 15th, 2020. The aim of the latter consists in guaranteeing fair competition between players and fighting illegal or harmful contents.

These regulations underline the importance of the challenges behind seemingly simple streaming or home delivery services or meeting solutions. But as we know it, the stakes, before being of political nature, are above all commercial. This is what reveals a recent McKinsey*'s study [mettez bien la référence complète de cette étude en bas de page] on how Covid-19 has accelerated the digital transformation of businesses. The word ""accelerated"" is weak, since the consulting firm estimates that the crisis allowed companies to save seven years in their digitisation process. While health or financial and professional services have been transformed more deeply than the packaged consumers’ goods industry, some transformations have been massively adopted by companies, such as homeworking. When faced with the urgency of the situation, many obstacles have been removed, such as the organisation of the industry into silos or the obsolescence of IT infrastructures.

The odds are that very few companies will turn back the clock once this crisis is over. Because while digital is a matter of state of mind, it is also a matter of methodology. Having an online website or being present on a social network makes a good start, but it is not enough to be qualified as a digital company.

Digital covers many disciplines that are too often only known to insiders. When combined together, these various disciplines deeply transform a company and allow it to be more efficient and sustainable.