The speed at which digital transformation is happening for most firms has never been faster. Both push and pull factors are driving the need for companies to both digitize their processes and become more efficient around the identification and management of digital business solutions.
However, challenges of connectivity, operational management and financial demands all stand in the way of enterprises truly reaping the benefits of digitization.
A recent paper by Danish firm, Kostner identified a number of ways businesses can overcome these challenges and be in a position to achieve the potential that digitalization presents.
Use existing co-connection centres to both increase speed and reduce cost
Creating managed and safe connections to service providers will increase speed, while using a co-connection centre will remove the cost of dedicated fibre connections. Establishing fibre connections to major cloud providers and services providers is a complex, time-consuming, and costly task. Solving the connectivity challenge through co-connection centres is key to getting a good level of cost efficiency.
Make sure you have a clear view of what systems you are currently using
Effective management of your digital systems requires a clear view of what you are using and who is using it so that you can respond to changes in service functionality, price and the needs of your users.
Ensure you can support the services on offer and protect business continuity
It becomes more challenging to have support and management competencies in-house when the range of services is wider. Consider outsourcing the support need to a third-party.
Keep cost management to the fore
Kostner predicts that spend on digital technology will increase four-fold in the next 5-8 years driven by increase in consumption outstripping cost efficiencies, a shift in costs from human resources to technical resources and the need to implement new technologies to respond to developments such as working from home. Successfully controlling and managing these costs will determine the financial success of your company. This requires both frequent analysis and optimisation of costs and ensuring that there is a clear understanding in the business about who is responsible for cost management across both purchase and consumption in the Everything-as-a-Service world.
The benefit that can be reaped from achieving greater economies of scale through technology is declining as business growth is slower than technological output. However, business customers still want to have dedicated hardware at their control, driving a move to an Everything-as-a-Service approach.
A consumption-based infrastructure service offers the benefits of scale without the company having to have the demand for space or make the investment needed. These services can be offered at rates much lower than smaller individual companies can present, primarily due to economy of scale in the human- and management software side of producing an infrastructure service.
Move to a managed infrastructure service model
The most effective way to transform your business is through the management of your IT infrastructure as a service model. Kostner predicts that most customers will have one or more managed infrastructure service in use in the next 12-18 months.
Enterprises are more focused than ever on digitization. Leadership demands speed and agility, often leveraging the public cloud providers. Firms that take advantage of the opportunities a management model presents to have a robust and agile IT set-up, will reap important benefits.
Get in touch if you’d like to hear more about how we can help you drive digital transformation in your business.