Digitisation or Digitalisation? We settle the difference once and for all.
In today’s evolving technology world, understanding the difference between Digitisation and Digitalisation is essential to developing your business’ digital strategy.
Before the digital age, society operated with functional and material processes. A newspaper was your primary source of information. Now, of course, you can access the news of the world at the click of a button, thanks to the digital revolution and its continuously evolving network. We can call the process of turning the analogue into the digital: Digitisation.
1. Digitisation is the conversion of analogue to digital
Simply put, Digitisation means to convert something into digital format. For example, bank statements that were traditionally sent via mail are now available via an app or digital format. Easy. Here are a few more:
- Changing an article from a hand-written document to a digital copy
- Storing NHS patient records on private computers instead of in material folders
- Delivering employee payslips via an HR online portal rather than in print format
Now that we are familiar with digitisation, what is digitalisation? The terms have been confused with one another countless times, so let’s take a closer look.
2. Digitalisation is how the digital world impacts people and work
Digitalisation means converting business processes to use digital technologies. For example, meetings once held in person are now often held remotely by video conference. Digitalisation allows us to bypass the logistics of gathering in one place — we can now collaborate virtually while being in separate locations. More examples include:
- Self-service checkouts instead of a working cashier
- Retail customers shopping online via ecommerce websites
- Using cloud computing to store, distribute, and analyse information and documents
So how does this apply to your business?
There are countless examples of organisations being left behind because they chose not to evolve with new technologies. This ever-changing sphere requires an IT solution that adapts and succeeds with change. Those that do not adapt risk losing competitive advantage and even customers — because digital is not going anywhere soon.
The challenge of digitisation is less in receiving digital data and more in knowing what to do with it and how to respond. This is where digitalisation comes in. For industrial systems, digitalisation involves connecting, processing, and reacting to data. A recent example within the finance sector is blockchain, which underpins digital currencies and automatically executed smart contracts. This automation is a key component of digitalisation.
Affecting the Mid-Market
Mid-sized businesses are affected by both digitisation and digitalisation. They are large enough to generate huge quantities of digital data from customer interactions, social media, and other sources. However, their systems — especially those implemented before scaling — may not be able to cope with the increasing volume of data. It’s imperative to have an IT solution that can adapt and succeed in an ever-evolving professional environment.
Similarly, plans for business expansion can be limited by IT systems and networks originally designed for smaller needs. Small business solutions do not scale well to meet mid-sized demands. They often lack manageability, flexible security, and the ability to consolidate data from multiple sources for analysis and business insights.
Key Considerations
Functionality, affordability, and adaptability are crucial for mid-sized companies. These businesses must have future-proofed solutions that are simple to manage and secure enough to protect customer, employee, and company data.
Digital Space is committed to helping mid-sized and enterprise businesses navigate the evolving nature of digital transformation. If you wish to speak to us about your technology requirements, please click here.
