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2 Increasing Role of Technologies
2 Increasing Role of Technologies
For a large part of the 2010 decade, you would be hard-pressed to meet someone running a business who was not talking about digital transformation. The size of the enterprise did not matter. From small mom-and-pop enterprises to start-ups to global conglomerates, if you weren’t digitally transforming your business in some manner, you were labelled a laggard who was not likely to survive the transition into the next decade.1 Or at least that’s what consultants and technology experts had everyone believe.
What exactly digital transformation meant varied depending on the nature and size of the business, but at its heart, it was about using new and emerging technology to fundamentally transform how core processes were being run and operated. This was also a culmination of the changes that had been triggered by the entry and gradual spread of computers in the workplace, a shift that had started a few decades earlier.
For the longest time, computing was synonymous with mainframe computers: large machines that took up the entire room and were inaccessible to all but a select few. That started changing in the 1980s with the advent of the personal computer. Cheaper microprocessors and improvements in hardware and software resulted in computers becoming compact and cheaper, opening up a whole new market for companies manufacturing them.
In addition to home buyers who started buying computers for their personal use, companies started investing more in computers and making them available to different functions within the business to see how they could be used effectively by different departments. The first steps towards digital transformation of business were taken in the 1980s and 1990s as traditional enterprises started adopting personal computers in the workplace.
In the early days, computers were restricted to the accounts and finance sections with software being used to better manage employee payroll systems and accounting. Over time, the IT industry took shape in India in the late 1980s, which is when things started changing. Suddenly, students were learning how to code in college or at dedicated coaching classes, aspiring for a software job. Computers started making an entry into people’s homes, increasing their familiarity with how to use these in the workplace.
The biggest factor driving the shift towards digitisation in the 1990s was the drop in prices of personal computers.2 This shift was triggered with the launch of Intel’s Pentium chip in 1993, which paved the way for this transformation. At the same time, there was an improvement in the graphical user interfaces (GUIs), most notably, Microsoft Windows with Windows 95. This made computers more accessible for non-technical users, resulting in widespread adoption across offices.
Affordability and ease of use together made people start exploring other uses for computers in areas like finance, documentation and human resources (HR). As people became familiar with the Office suite of products like word processing and spreadsheets, computers started spreading into other departments across the organisation. This spread was further compounded by the launch of dedicated software solutions from companies like Adobe or Autodesk, which provided customised solutions for specific needs like accounts or design management.
练习题
Which statement best captures the core meaning of digital transformation in the passage?
What was identified as the biggest factor driving digitisation in the 1990s?
In the early phase of workplace computer adoption, computers were mainly used in which areas?
Which factors helped make computers widely usable and adoptable across offices? Select all that apply.
During much of the 2010s, digital transformation was discussed only by large global corporations, not by small businesses or start-ups.
The spread of digital transformation in business was linked to the earlier entry and gradual spread of computers in workplaces.
Mainframe computers were small, inexpensive, and easily accessible to most employees before the rise of personal computers.
The launch of Intel's ___ chip in 1993 helped trigger the shift towards digitisation in the 1990s.
Explain how affordability and ease of use helped computers spread across different departments in organisations.
How did the growth of India's IT industry in the late 1980s contribute to workplace computer adoption? Also relate this to the idea that change management is continuous in technology-driven companies.
Which option best explains why digital transformation became such an important business focus in the s?
Which factors helped computers spread from a limited technical or finance role to wider use across organisations? Select all that apply.
Because personal computers became cheaper and easier to use, businesses could simply adopt them without worrying about implementation; therefore, technology alone guarantees successful digital transformation.
When computers spread from accounts and payroll into functions like documentation and , this showed that digital transformation was not just about buying machines, but about changing ; in large organisations, this also requires aligning many stakeholders.
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