The combination of technological advances, evolving expectations in the experience age, process evolution and new business models, are forcing organisations to take digital transformation (DX) seriously. While making the business case for a DX investment can take a long time as organisations gather facts to support their investments, those who have already invested are reaping the benefits, with 61 per cent of organisations realising a higher revenue growth than their non-transformed competitors, according to Micro Focus. (1)
Peter Fuller, managing director, Australia and New Zealand, Micro Focus, said, “Now that the world is in the experience age rather than the information age, DX can have a huge impact on how organisations develop and market their products as well improving internal efficiencies.”
DX is based on the same foundation principles (planning, preparation, and prioritisation) that organisations should abide by for any project. For organisations, embracing DX means being better prepared for change as a digital business and creating stronger customer engagement.
There are four main pillars which underpin DX: DevOps; hybrid IT management; predictive analysis; and security, risk, and governance. If all these components are used in conjunction with each other, organisations can move faster with greater agility and greater insights, all while protecting the things that matter most to them. Prioritising one pillar over the others will still deliver different benefits for the organisation. However, these concepts do overlap so, if organisations narrow their focus to just one pillar, it could be to their detriment in the long run.
For organisations unsure of whether to commit to DX, the numbers tell a compelling story:
- 61 per cent of organisations are realising higher revenue growth than competitors (2)
- 93 per cent of top-performing CIOs say they are better prepared to change as a digital business (3)
- 80 per cent use digital transformation to create stronger customer engagement (4)
- 73 per cent believe that DevOps can increase the ability to release software with improved security and reliability. (5)
For those wondering what their competitors are doing, the numbers confirm that DX is high on everyone’s radars: cloud-based IT spending will reach 60 per cent of total IT spend by 2020 (6)
Peter Fuller said, “DX is fluid in terms of how organisations adopt it and what benefits they gain from it. It’s not necessary to rip-and-replace; organisations can still benefit from legacy systems and many may elect to modernise existing technology rather than the costlier and riskier approach of replacing all systems at once. Thus, while DX can seem a costly investment to some, the benefits that these organisations could gain far outweigh the cost.”
References:
(1) Harvey Nash KPMG CIO Survey 2018
(2) Harvey Nash KPMG CIO Survey 2018
(3) Gartner Research, Mastering the New Business Executive Job of the CIO 2018
(4) CapGemini Digital Transformation Institute Survey, Digital Culture 2017
(5) DevOps.com, DevOps Adoption: The Driving Force of the Industry 2018
(6) Forbes IDC: Four Trends in Cloud Computing CIOs Should Prepare For In 2019
