Forum "New approach to enterprise digital transformation - Get it right to win". Photo: VCCI

Change in mindset

At the forum "New approach to enterprise digital transformation - Get it right to win" organized by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), Nguyen Quang Bao, Deputy General Director of Viet Capital Securities JSC (VCSC), said that without applying information technology, businesses, especially securities units, cannot exist.

For example, the transaction volume of VCSC has increased 1,000 times compared to 14 years ago when the business was established. This is all thanks to digital transformation. This work must come from the mindset of the leaders and be based on the assessment of the business. As a result, businesses will know the level of the application of information technology, and then offer solutions to change and upgrade.

Sharing the same opinion, Nguyen Duc Hai, Director of LitCommerce Company, said that business leaders must have the right mindset and understanding of digital transformation to apply it correctly and successfully.

"Improper application will create a problem, making the enterprise's apparatus more cumbersome, and personnel perform digital transformation forcibly. Thus, they will not be able to do well and not promote the effectiveness of digital transformation,” said Hai.

Regarding the mindset in digital transformation, Hai said that it is necessary to think in two directions, namely input and output. According to him, first of all, determine what input and output needs, then model all stages in the business, from human resources, CEO, to marketing and product development, and customer care management.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Manh Quan, Director of the Enterprise Research and Development Institute, also said that the capacity of Vietnamese enterprises is still low compared to the global level in this transition period. This requires businesses to be nimble and exploit their potential. However, the solution for digital transformation must be through assessing the capacity of each enterprise to have appropriate plans.

Three stages for digital transformation

To guide businesses in digital transformation, Nguyen Duc Trung, Deputy Director of Enterprise Development Department, Ministry of Planning and Investment, said that the digital transformation of enterprises would be divided into three phases.

The first stage is to apply digital technology to the business model and management model of the enterprise through technology solutions and data. From there, the following stages are guaranteed to improve the efficiency of business, production and management of the enterprise.

The second stage is to apply digital technology to other different areas of the business such as building a management reporting system (including management reporting indicators from collected data) and ensuring connectivity between databases.

The third stage is the complete digital transformation of business models and governance models, completing databases and digital platforms for businesses by integrating the database of functions and departments into a centralized and transparent data system, applying an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system to build plans, budgets, and forecast cash flow from integrated databases and apply digital technology to create new products (R&D).

Thus, by applying such methods and recommendations, digital transformation will help businesses develop business models, create new products and services, and improve governance efficiency, resource use, and decision-making capabilities.

However, according to businesses, barriers and difficulties in digital transformation is that the cost of implementing digital transformation not only includes the cost of renting and buying software and solutions, but may also incur additional costs such as the cost of changing the process, training personnel to adapt to the new process; investment costs for information technology infrastructure, sometimes having to change or remove traditional systems; costs in ensuring safety and network security.

Dr. Luong Minh Huan, Director of the Enterprise Development Institute, VCCI, said that enterprises still faced difficulties in the lack of infrastructure; fear of leakage of personal and business data; and the improper rules and regulations for digitization.

Especially, small and medium-sized enterprises have difficulties in terms of resources. However, Covid-19 is a “push” for businesses to realize the superiority of the digital economy. Therefore, it is the responsibility of enterprises to innovate business models, establish a governance model based on digital technology, towards creative, sustainable and inclusive development goals.

The Ministry of Planning and Investment is promoting the implementation of a program to support businesses in digital transformation for the 2021-2025 period. The goal of this program is to support the promotion of digital transformation in enterprises through integration and application of digital technology to improve production and business efficiency and competitiveness, creating new values for enterprises.

Regarding the program's goals in 2022, it will focus on three main packages. The first package is to support the digital transformation for small-scale businesses, businesses that start digital transformation; the state budget spends a part of the budget from VND20-50 million/enterprise/year. The second package is to accelerate digital transformation for growing businesses, supporting no more than VND100 million/year for medium sized enterprises. The third package is to support businesses in digital transformation towards export markets, supporting up to 50% of the funding for creating and maintaining accounts on cross-border e-commerce platforms.