Digital transformation and the adoption of modern technology is mandatory for any organization, regardless of its activity, because these modern technologies achieve leadership and sustainability for the organization and create competitive opportunities for organizations by enhancing the quality of life of communities, reducing the time and cost of providing services and products, enhancing the safety of the work environment, increasing revenues, proliferation and other known positive effects of digital transformation. 

Despite the importance of adopting modern technologies for organizations and their great ability to change and develop business methods, but this transformation and adoption faces many challenges as they are still new technologies that have not been explored or tested on a large scale.

To adopt modern technologies, it is necessary to understand the challenges that accompany them and look for ways to facilitate their widespread adoption. Understanding these challenges is an important and influential factor in the transition towards the adoption of these technologies. 

But what are the real factors and challenges that prevent the adoption of modern technology within companies

Corporate culture

Employees tend to continue working in the ways they are used to, arguing that "it always worked that way". This situation precludes the possibility of adopting and using new technologies. Employees may also feel threatened by not having the necessary technical knowledge or having to leave their safety zone to learn emerging technologies. It is understood that not everyone - no matter how hard they try - will have the necessary skills to work with the latest technologies.

Weak leadership support for the transition towards the adoption of modern technologies : 

The transition to the adoption of modern technologies needs to receive real support from top management, otherwise it will fail due to the loss of necessary resources and momentum. According to experience, organizations will be able to make a significant technical change only if the senior leadership considers this change and transformation a priority, and seeks to convey this message to the entire organization.

The high cost of adopting technologies 

When we talk about the high cost of adopting modern technologies, we are talking about the rise of three main factors in this axis : 

1-the financial cost required to apply the projects of adopting modern technologies, is usually very high, especially in the first days of the launch of these technologies, this high cost may be an obstacle to the adoption of these technologies . 

2-time is the second criterion, studying the requirements, required standards, procurement procedures, applying and testing these technologies, data transfer and staff training all this takes time. Critical time employees may not easily have with the tasks assigned to them. 

3-experience: usually the adoption of modern technologies requires expertise that may not be available in institutions and obtaining this knowledge and experience may require additional costs that will be a burden on institutions . 

Lack of a clear and agreed plan for the adoption of modern technologies

It is necessary to develop a tight and agreed plan among all stakeholders in the organization for how to adopt modern technology in the organization, with specific stages, outputs and responsibilities, focusing on spreading awareness among employees of the importance of adopting modern technologies to enhance their confidence and gain the necessary support internally.

The lack of harmonization of processes and procedures to comply with the project of adopting modern technologies 

The digital transformation project and the adoption of modern technologies require a comprehensive development and modernization of the internal processes and procedures of the organization, and the lack of coordination and development at the same time in conjunction with the application of modern technologies may lead to the failure of the transformation project in whole or in part, depending on the size of those changes required . 

Weak principle of teamwork

It is difficult to implement a digital transformation project in enterprises that do not have the principle of teamwork as an institutional value, therefore, the first step is to work on strengthening the culture of family spirit and internal cooperation between teams that use new and old technologies of working together, without feeling competition or threats. 

Finally, the journey of adopting modern applications is a long and continuous journey, and the criterion for its success is to integrate them into the daily operations of the organization, and in order for this integration process to take place smoothly, it is necessary to take into account the previously mentioned updates and deal with them within the change plan to be adopted by the organization . 

Ahmed Saad al-Badawi 

Information technology consultant . 

Zakat fund