Their digital transformation journey is predicated on building and running the IT infrastructure that can take them to the future. There are four distinct yet important forces in attaining this: digital technology innovation, application and infrastructure modernization, new consumption models, and the changing talent landscape. Each of these forces is both disrupting traditional IT execution and enabling the next-generation IT organization. Each must be attended to thoughtfully and boldly if an organization is to truly transform.
Innovations driving digital transformation technology include the wave of new devices and sensors that we are connecting in our new Internet of Things (IoT) world. Nontraditional IT assets like vehicles, manufacturing machines, control devices, cameras, and wearables are being connected at great scale and driving volumes of new data that organizations can use to analyze and make better decisions more quickly. Other digital transformation technologies include collaboration tools like Cisco Spark, Microsoft Skype, or Slack. The data from these devices combined with new abilities to analyze and collaborate are making digital transformation very valuable for enterprises large and small.
Application and Infrastructure Modernization is another enabling technology area that is a requirement for effective digital transformation. Using agile development techniques in a DevOps environment is now the gold standard for applications. And hybrid or multi cloud is the new standard to deploy, host, and manage your applications. All of this is enabled with a software-defined data center and a software-defined network.
Cloud—public, private, hybrid—is driving enterprises to rethink how they consume technology. The flexible consumption models that are available from public cloud players allow clients to own enough infrastructure for their steady state and rent the capacity they need for peak activity.
Lastly, the Changing Talent Landscape is disrupting how all of this is being executed. The demands of younger employees are challenging companies and institutions to change how they organize and work. In addition, lack of availability of top technical talent and certain digital specialties is causing enterprises to rely more than ever on integrators and service providers to execute their transformation projects.
To successfully plan and execute digital transformation projects, organizations would be wise to understand the four forces that are driving and impacting these projects and use that understanding to harness the power these innovations can bring. In this way, they will maximize the value of these projects, and impact the agility and speed they provide to gain a competitive edge and improved customer experience.
