The word “transformation” may very well be the most common term in business today. But what exactly does it mean? Ask ten business and IT operations professionals to define the term transformation, and you will likely get ten different answers. For most enterprises, the conversation about transformation is about increasing responsiveness by delivering scalable services that meet consumer demand, aligning solutions with business objectives and reducing management complexity.
Although true digital transformation requires a multi-pronged approach that leverages a host of new technologies, one of the key components is cloud computing. Organizations that can tap into unlimited resources via cloud services can facilitate the customer experience and rapid business change today’s market demands. Underneath questions about how to make a business more consumer-oriented are questions about how to migrate legacy services to the cloud, how to secure data in the cloud and how to manage multiple cloud service providers and agreements.
One aspect most transformation initiatives have in common is the fact that they are often seen as challenging. Successful projects require careful planning, communication and management of a wide range of products, services and stakeholders. While many believe the key to transformation is either in modernizing their applications, re-architecting their infrastructure or optimizing their operations to keep up with the pace of today’s business, it’s actually a combination of all three areas. The complexity with transformation is that each of these can have distinct objectives, priorities, challenges and opportunities, and – when successful – varying benefits to the business.
Read my recent ISG white paper Digital Transformation: Three Areas of Focus to Enhance Business Value – co-authored by Mindtree – which outlines the optimal approach to transformation with a focus on efforts that modernize infrastructure, applications and operations to help achieve business goals.
About the author
Dave Goodman is ISG’s cloud subject matter expert and thought leader with a focus on enterprise infrastructures, business service management, cloud solutions and services. Dave oversees the strategy and definition of cloud consulting services and meets with CxO’s to understand pain points in adopting cloud and advise on strategic decisions. He is a solution visionary experienced in defining future technology roadmaps, communicating strategy and business value to customers, corporate executive management, and technical teams.