DX
There’s no question that digital transformation (DX) is at the top of virtually every organization’s watch list in 2019. A combination of technology advances, evolving customer expectations, process evolutions, and new business models are forcing IT and line-of-business executive’s hands on next steps. In the end, the decisions they make on how to address these changes will have a direct impact on differentiation, growth and scale, profitability, customer satisfaction and speed-to-market. Learn more here: What is Digital Transformation?
My experience has been that what many organizations struggle with isn’t deciding if DX is important, but instead deciding to get started. Often with complex projects where there isn’t a clear precedent, the business case can at first seem a bit hazy. This can put an organization in a position where they spend months (or years) digging for some facts around which they can make a case for investment. In fact, we’ve had numerous customers come to us and request data in support their business case, and we’ve thus amassed a good deal of relevant market data in responding to those inquiries.
While some of this data may be proprietary and/or very specific to a given company or vertical, there are a number of facts that we have aggregated over time about the benefits of DX, and its key pillars, that would be useful in virtually any scenario. We’ve even developed an infographic to highlight some of the key points, which may be useful in your endeavors as well.
What’s in the numbers?
As you review the image (the full one’s available by clicking the link), take note that we’ve deliberately chosen to represent DX in the form of a tall building. Like DX, building a large structure requires planning, preparation, and (importantly) prioritization. Both also require starting from a solid foundation.
What are the 4 pillars of DX?
What we hear most often is that the key pillars of a DX strategy tend to gravitate around four key areas: Enterprise DevOps, Hybrid IT Management, Predictive Analytics, and Security, Risk & Governance. In short, organizations want to move faster, with greater agility, and with greater insights, all while protecting the things the matter most.
These four critical axioms are represented in the middle of the image, as windows looking into the building. Within each, you’ll see that there are some very specific reasons to prioritize each one. What’s important for organizations to understand, however, is that while you may prioritize one vs. another, a sound strategy will need to take all into account from the outset – as these items often overlap, and artificially narrow decisions can negatively impact others downstream. Visibility is therefore key when prioritizing.
Finally, note the foundational elements pictured, as this provides important insight on how to move forward with the construction of a DX project. It is often assumed that the only way to build something new is to start from scratch. It must be noted that, in most cases, an organization has made significant investments in IT that are enabling real benefits; ripping out these systems may degrade the ROI on those investments and put critical revenue (or cost savings/risk mitigation) at risk. That’s why so many CIOs are pursuing a DX strategy by modernizing existing technology.
To learn more about Micro Focus and its DT strategy, go to: microfocus.com/DT or find me on Twitter to talk more. Follow this link, or click on the image below to view the full infographic:
