A Leap Towards Digital-First Ecosystem

Article by Amit Mehta, Director – Modern Data Centre, Dell Technologies 

We live in an era where technology is always changing. With newer innovations marking the technology landscape and the unprecedented race for “Digital Transformation” by enterprises, it has become almost imperative for organizations IT teams bring in innovation to their existing infrastructures, adopt emerging technology and deploy digital-first strategies. It has now become common to see companies go all out on the “digital” part of digital transformation projects– IT upgrades, the optimisation of digital channels, investments in technology talent, and more. Often neglected, however, are the change management, socialisation and communication elements that are essential to the ultimate success of this new focus on IT.

Currently, the business landscape in India is rife with disruption, much of it driven by organizations using technology in newer or innovative ways,to survive and thrive the digital ecosystem circulating around businesses. According to a study conducted by ESG, 90% of the Indian respondents believed that to succeed and stay ahead of the competition, their organizations IT department needs to adopt IT transformation. This indicates the extent to which IT department needs to be an integrated element to the success of an organization. Another salient finding of the study states that transformed companies in India are 6.5 times more likely to be involved in business-strategy development compared with their counterparts.

Therefore, technology-enabled change can only work its magic when there is a clearly-defined and broadly understood vision of both of how that transformation will unfold in reality, and of its end-to-end goals. Hence, alignment between IT and business is essential to creating a common ground that will facilitate and encourage all-encompassing change.

Amit Mehta of Dell Technologies describes a future ready scenario and role of evolving technologies.

This can be achieved through a mix of conversation, education and empowerment amongst the full range of key stakeholders:

Demystify change – via education and transparency

Despite the buzz of positive sentiment around business transformation trends, there remains a general state of apprehension about disruption within the C-suite. Simply put, in the corporate world, change is necessary but rarely a straightforward business.

In that context, business functions about to fire the starting-gun on transformation projects need to be facilitating advance-conversations around the need for change and what it will entail for all parties concerned,with a focus on IT – a crucial engine for innovation and growth.

To continue thriving amidst the changing tides of the business world, organisations must establish an open and honest line of communication between their business and IT functions to facilitate the ongoing education of new business needs and the technologies required to support them.

Mutual empowerment for a long-term symbiosis

Despite their close association, IT and digital transformation projects cannot rest in the hands of IT teams alone. The two need to go hand -in - hand and the change must come from the business itself this must be a collaboration, where feedback, insights and iteration come together to form a robust view of where the business is lacking and what the future-state should be. Such two-way conversations will surface valuable information: bringing hidden complexities and inefficiencies to light, and allowing the IT team to get to the heart of the issue and identify the right solutions.

CIOs can fast-track this goal by implementing clear processes to ease internal transitions – with a focus on enabling end-users to quickly gauge and evaluate the effectiveness of new solutions – as well as associated metrics.

Faced with challenges including the fast pace of technological advancement and ever-changing consumer behaviour, it is essential that all stakeholders within an organisation work in a collaborative fashion to understand the imperatives for change, and how that change can be well structured, designed and enacted as smartly as possible. This is key to thriving in the whirlwind of constant evolution and progress that defines today’s ever evolving business landscape.