4 ways CIOs are rethinking digital transformationAdam Glaser
Digital transformation (DX) is all about evolving an organization to new levels of agility, control, and value with its data and operations. As organizations learn to better strategize and implement their modernization initiatives, DX methodologies will continue to evolve.
Rethinking 4 key DX focus areas
The field of digital transformation—the tools, tactics, systems, and architectures that govern the modernization effort—is itself undergoing a transformation, enabling new approaches in artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), DevSecOps, automation, low-code, and other advances.
As game-changing capabilities and pioneering use cases pile up in the DX marketplace, here are 4 ways this evolution is prompting CIOs to rethink what’s possible.
1. Crafting automation strategy with a scalpel
It’s increasingly possible to fine-tune automation strategy. Whether it’s robotic process automation (RPA), AI, or other forms of automation, knowing which tool makes sense in which scenario is key. And this extends to fine-tuning the human component, tailoring exactly where and how people interact with automation tools for troubleshooting and decision support.
2. Low-code is solving the 'build-vs.-buy' conundrum
Intuitive low-code tools can eliminate that false choice between speed (buy) and flexibility (build) by empowering those closest to the business to map out the processes and delegate tasks to developers. And low-code doesn’t come with the capability tradeoffs of simplistic no-code tools. Developer productivity soars and businesses end up with highly bespoke software that meets their unique needs up to 10x faster than using traditional developer tools.
3. Enterprise-grade security can support both scale and velocity
Security and velocity don’t need to be mutually exclusive. By using modern platforms, digital transformation projects can materially enhance enterprise security while delivering business value at the same time. The key is ensuring core technologies support a DevSecOps approach to baking security into the development process combined with continuous improvement loops to iterate on security as the organization scales.
4. Architecting for the total experience
Orchestrating DX across the total experience means orchestrating modernization steps across legacy and cloud applications and a diverse array of endpoints, from smartphones to old laptops. More efficient data management leads to improved processes and workflows that cross organizational, geographical, and regulatory domains.
What allows CIOs to rethink all these areas of transformation are the increasing capabilities enabled by enhanced technologies and coordinated implementation strategies. Rushed implementations can lead to deploying solutions that may not be ready, resulting in a makeshift approach to transformation. This leaves the organization with multiple tools, all geared toward a specific use—with little to no integration or interoperability, plus technical debt from duplicate or overlapping functionality.
This transition from planning to implementation is especially tricky for CIOs and other C-suite stakeholders. IT decision-makers must retain visibility and control of the overall DX effort without being pulled into the countless day-to-day integration tasks and decisions. This can be addressed by developing a DX framework that ensures all new capabilities rolling out are orchestrated and all stakeholders are working together in a seamless fashion. It’s a formalized plan that may include detailed maps and templates of core systems and processes.
The DX framework and the entire modernization effort ideally are supported by a stronger underlying approach to data management—one that breaks down data silos to dramatically improve information access and agility.
The most advanced of these data management environments is known as data fabric. This is when information is no longer locked away in disparate systems and difficult to access in a usable format but rather freely available for collaboration and innovation among any number of stakeholders and development teams in the organization.
Transforming DX's potential
A well-implemented, leading-edge DX initiative dramatically improves the ability of CIOs and their teams to oversee the entire organization with a central process, data, and application hub. This enables the businesses to integrate diverse new and existing solutions, continually iterate both data and architecture upgrades, and support unlimited access and sharing of data.
Taken together, these steps toward more advanced and effective DX will drastically improve operations, security, and value across the enterprise.
5 Harvard Business Review articles that will resonate with CIOs right nowKatie Sanders
Through our partnership with Harvard Business Review, we regularly refresh our resource library with five new HBR articles that CIOs and IT leaders will value highly. Check out the curated pieces below, available to readers now.
People are outraged! Whether it's climate change, COVID restrictions, taxes, or inflation, there will always be a current event that managers have to manage through. What’s the best way to lead in a polarized and uncertain world? In this report, Oxford University professor Karthik Ramanna considers this perfect storm of three forces: (1) Many people feel unhopeful about the future. (2) Many feel, rightly or wrongly, that the game has been rigged against them. (3) Many are being drawn toward ideologies that legitimize an us–versus–them approach. So how can we comfort and encourage managers in this age of outrage? Download this report to reveal a 5-step framework for dealing with the outrage.
Uncertainties around digitalization have bounced back after a huge boost during the pandemic. Companies are now on a mission to make sure the digitalization makes a purposeful and sustainable impact on the business—and doesn’t just follow the next tech hype. For digital transformation to be meaningful and lasting, companies must think about changes in products and processes more than changes in technology. However, the promises of shiny new tech cause many organizations to dedicate too many resources and too much attention to the technology side of digital transformation projects. One approach to counter this imbalance is to think of digitalization as a business model innovation rather than technology-related change. The author of this article shows how one simple, popular tool—the business model canvas—can facilitate the necessary shift in perspective. Discover the 4 ways this business model can help your organization sketch out and transform its business models by downloading this report.
Feeling unsure about your artificial intelligence (AI) initiatives? Many organizations are starting small and staying cautious. The component that will truly add economic value is deployment on a large scale. While putting out feelers may deliver valuable insights, it likely won’t be enough to achieve true transformation. Experimentation can take you only so far. The Deloitte executives who authored this article have identified 30 companies that have gone all-in on AI and achieved success, as well as 10 actions those companies took to become successful AI adopters. Want to learn how to attack these tasks? Download this report to discover how AI—applied strategically and in large doses—will be critical to the success of almost every business in the future.
Gathering insight is key to strategic success because it creates a competitive advantage. But first, you must determine what strategic factors are most relevant to your organization’s key stakeholders. Achieving this means you must create the conditions to gather this insight. Consider Darwin’s insights on evolution and adaptation; they changed how we think about life on Earth. Therefore, he is regarded by many as one of the greatest scientists. He achieved this partially through simple, introspective walks. But this takes some time.
ChatGPT has shown us the power of generative AI to take on tasks traditionally associated with “knowledge work.” But we won’t solely rely on machines in the future; we’ll always need the human touch. A technology that enables more people to complete a task because of assistance from a machine can produce positive results: entirely new systems with new business models and jobs and workflows. AI will be no different: To unlock ChatGPT’s potential, we must harness the new capabilities to benefit society by asking what new systems and organizations can be built with these new tools.
With a number of new challenges on the horizon this year—from economic concerns to supply issues to heightened customer and employee expectations—CIOs are being called to build greater resilience and agility into their organization’s DNA.
New research from Harvard Business Review Analytic Services identifies how and why CIOs are prioritizing adaptability in their digital transformation efforts and the non-negotiable skills they are bringing to the table to meet the elevated expectations that now come with the CIO role.
Digital transformation: 4 trends to pay attention to right nowKelly Vincent
The pandemic propelled many businesses to adopt digital technologies faster than ever before. While the immediate rush to adopt new technologies and services that address pandemic-related challenges has subsided, investing in digital transformation has not: Worldwide spend on new technologies and services is steadily increasing year over year and will reach US$3.4 trillion by 2026, according to recent Statista research.
Here are four trends that could help your enterprise ramp up its digital transformation strategy:
1. Accelerating automation
Pre-pandemic, many organizations across all industries hesitated to automate tasks due to concerns that technology could not be trusted to deliver accurate results. According to a recent Intuit survey, the number-one issue accountants have with AI adoption is trusting its accuracy.
However, many business leaders are now tuning into the possibilities that automation offers. We are at the tipping point of automation becoming much more widespread: McKinsey reported that 70% of organizations are at least piloting automation technologies in one or more business units or functions. One of this technology’s many benefits is time savings, so businesses can empower their teams to work smarter and focus on more important strategic or creative tasks.
Automation also eliminates human error, which is an inevitable part of data entry and other manual processes that can have a notable impact on a business. If your business isn’t focused on automation now, it will be soon.
2. Leveraging valuable data
Countless businesses are leveraging data today, but not all utilize it to the fullest extent. Often there’s so much data available that the business isn’t sure how to sift and make informed decisions from it.
With accelerated digital transformation and the increased adoption of various tools over the last few years, businesses have an abundance of data at their disposal. I expect to see businesses implement more technology solutions to help them understand and act on what their data is showing.
For example, if yours is a product-based business, you can analyze sales insights to identify your customers’ top preferences and make smart decisions about inventory. This will ultimately help your business grow faster.
Driving a successful digital transformation strategy is possible only if you’re commanding a lean ship, and cloud-based software solutions make it easier to manage and streamline operations. More than 82% of businesses reported reduced costs after adopting cloud technology.
Organizations will also become more proactive and skilled at preparing their teams for technology adoption. Businesses are implementing processes to ensure the successful rollout of new tools. They are allocating resources for training and oversight to encourage the swift adoption of cutting-edge technologies.
By dedicating time to help your teams understand how to leverage the tools available, you’ll be able to work more efficiently, and your business can be more focused on growth instead of playing catch-up.
If your company is truly going to digitally transform, you must reexamine the foundations of its strategies and the systems that support them. This is where bottlenecks typically exist. Understanding these four trends in digital transformation will help your organization usher in a new era of operating that will help you thrive under current and future market conditions.
Banking is a complex business. From the customer perspective—especially for individuals and small businesses—banks are mainly businesses that lend money, accept deposits, and facilitate money movements in and out.
There are a lot of nuances and shapes within these three categories, but at the core, this is what most customers perceive. Nothing particularly challenging to operate if you have good technology, processes, and teams.
However, banks’ raw material—fiat money, or currency that is not backed by a commodity such as gold or silver—makes them integral to the economic system. Banks are arteries and veins of the economic system and facilitate the execution of central banks’ monetary policies.
This is a big responsibility that encompasses big risks. Bank failures or misbehaviors don’t just impact this one bank’s continuity or profitability; they have the potential to damage people, businesses, industries, or even national economies.
To some extent, the health of the financial system depends on the trust of people and businesses in the banking system.
This leads to regulation and control. Regulators and supervisors protect customers from the complexity and risks of the banking system, as well as ensure that only non-prohibited activities can occur within. Therefore, banks establish internal controls to make sure their activities are in compliance with regulatory requirements.
Embedded finance
Embedded finance is a transformational move in the financial services industry. It encompasses different business models, such as partnership banking, banking-as-a-service, buy now/pay later, and open finance. Their commonality is that banks leverage other companies as channel partners.
Those models require specific capabilities from the technology, processes, control, and organizational perspective. The journey for banks to embedded finance will be formed by building blocks that provide those capabilities.
Embedding financial services into nonfinancial customer journeys means that banking services are distributed by non-banks – that is, non-regulated entities.
This has a huge impact on banks’ control functions because all operational risk controls were designed considering distribution channels—either physical or digital—owned by banks. Now, banks must learn how to maintain regulatory compliance and control risks for the end-to-end financial service, even when third parties are part of the value chain.
The disruption is very visible for control functions, but it also deeply affects business and technology functions.
Embedded financial services are leading banks to open their business, control, and technology functions. This is a deeply transformational change as banks are closed by design and for a reason: risk control.
Now that you've seen the challenges, consider the capabilities banks need for embedded finance. Stay tuned for my next article to learn more.
[Want insights on talent and innovation from former financial services IT leaders? Get the ebook:Meet the Bankers.]
Increasingly, financial services are being embedded into nonfinancial customer journeys. Where does regulatory compliance fit in?
Agile transformation: 3 obstacles and how to overcome themLenka Pincot
Large-scope transformations have become a new norm. Organizations are looking at how to strengthen their ability to adapt and respond to enterprise-wide challenges, global-scale disruptions, and socioeconomic tensions.
As much as 87% of respondents to a recent IDG survey commissioned by Insight Enterprises said their organizations are pursuing some type of digital transformation, with 46% saying they are undertaking enterprise-wide initiatives.
Organizations expect their transformation efforts will help them become more flexible, respond more easily to increased customer expectations, and better align strategic priorities with teams' and departments’ actions. In other words, to become agile on an enterprise level.
But leaders who are intent on enhancing organizational agility often face ingrained or cultural challenges that threaten to derail their efforts. Here are three of the leading obstacles that can undermine an agile transformation and suggestions for how to overcome them.
1. Resistance to changing priorities
Being agile is associated with iterative, incremental advances and often runs headlong into a cultural tendency to “stick to the plan.” This often manifests itself with:
Cross-departmental disagreements over the most important thing to do at the moment
Resistance to relocating resources to important but under-resourced areas
An inability to shift to a value-based roadmap from a functional-scope mindset
The first two issues typically require senior management involvement, which is when problems can arise. While significant resources are often devoted to team building within the cross-functional agile team, few, if any, are earmarked for team building among the larger team or among senior managers. Yet disagreements among this senior team can directly affect cooperation levels among the cross-functional teams below them.
The solution often lies in reorienting team-building efforts to encompass senior leaders as well as cross-functional team members.
As with any team, the senior management team needs to align on a common purpose and objectives that directly support the organization’s purpose. It’s helpful to use the Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) method and manage change initiatives as an agile portfolio, frequently reevaluating the value they deliver instead of maintaining a prioritized to-do list.
Tackling the final issue—shifting to a value-based roadmap—requires constant reinforcement of the agile iterative delivery approach with customer value as the primary focus. One way to bring this to life is to share real-world examples of how teams can build value. In these examples, make sure to position technology as the enabler instead of the goal.
2. Lack of project visibility
Operating in a completely open and transparent manner can be challenging for cross-functional teams—particularly in the beginning. But it is essential for the success of any agile transformation.
Transparency needs to encompass all aspects of the project: its purpose and rationale, the kinds of work the teams are doing, and areas where they are investing resources. It also should include open and direct feedback about what’s working and what’s not.
[ Need to explain key Agile and DevOps terms to others? Get our cheat sheet:DevOps glossary.]
Focusing on these weak spots can be particularly challenging, especially for new teams, but it’s critical for improving the quality of estimates, maintaining work-in-progress limits, and remaining focused on delivering customer value.
One way to drive project transparency is to first agree on which communications tool to use and then dedicate an individual or team to collecting and sharing this information across teams.
It’s also important to create a safe environment where teams are given space to learn fast and pivot quickly when needed. The goal is to cultivate a culture of trust between and among teams, an environment where people are comfortable sharing their opinions and where senior company managers adopt a servant leadership approach.
Business and IT alignment is critical in establishing effective cross-functional teams, but it can be difficult to achieve due to organizational issues and resistance to change. Even when organizational change is possible, achieving full alignment may not be enough. People may need time to adjust to new structures, new organizational roles and responsibilities, and more agile ways of working.
To address the issue of business and IT alignment, focus on an aspect of team collaboration that yields benefits regardless of how teams are structured: the language you speak together.
Think about it: Language is often the root of issues between business units and IT teams.
To bridge this gap, user stories are an indispensable tool because user stories focus on customer value. They help clarify the ultimate value that the customer should take from the project—not only the who and the what but also the why.
This is a far cry from talking about functional specifications or potential solutions. By telling user stories, teams can align with a shared understanding of customer value. The stories can help clarify the business team’s thinking about what adds value to the customer. And they can help the IT team stay focused on designing the solution. User stories then become the link, rallying teams around a common purpose and allowing them to do what they do best.
Establishing such a common language helps create a culture of alignment that brings business and IT teams closer together. Organizational redesign can then be deployed to support this culture and drive even greater levels of collaboration and cooperation.
Business transformations are no longer one-off events with a clear beginning and end. As organizations undergo continuous transformation, it’s more important than ever to recognize and overcome obstacles to agile transformation. To do so, consider investing in upskilling and credentialing team members now. It’s very likely the quest for organizational agility will stay around.
Digital transformation: 3 ways it improves hybrid workRitish Reddy
The business world has undergone a massive change in recent years. CIOs have had to adopt a new mindset while exploring new ways for their companies to approach hybrid work. Successful hybrid work models offer businesses and employees a flexible working arrangement that accommodates both parties. Many companies are now doubling down on this model.
In a 2022 CISCO Global Hybrid Work Study comprising 28,000 full-time employees across 27 markets, most respondents cited improvements in well-being, work-life balance, relationships, and even personal confidence in hybrid settings. The survey included those across different generations, gender, and seniority.
Most (62 percent) attributed the improvement in work-life balance to more flexible work schedules, while 53 percent credited significantly reduced or eliminated commuting time as a major factor.
As businesses continue to adapt to this new way of working, CIOs need to ensure their digital transformation efforts are helping to shape the future of hybrid work. Here are three ways to lead the charge.
1. Explore digital transformation initiatives that enhance collaboration
For IT teams, one of the biggest challenges of remote work is ensuring effective collaboration. Digital transformation enables distributed employees to work together seamlessly, regardless of their location.
Cloud-native solutions, videoconferencing, and collaboration tools enable remote teams to communicate and share files in real time, making it easier to work together on projects. They also help prevent remote workers from feeling isolated, closing the gap between in-person and remote teams.
CIOs have embraced big changes over the years, with the very heart of digital transformation being cloud-based applications. With these tools enabling collaboration, meetings, and file sharing, IT teams can focus on security protocols. They need to develop provisioning and permissions for such tools while regularly monitoring to ensure the right employees have proper access.
Software-as-a-service (SaaS) management tools are also finding a place in the market to help IT teams have a better view of this process, especially in larger enterprises that use hundreds or more apps.
2. Leverage data to empower effective decision-making
CIOs know all too well the traditional 9-to-5 workday is no longer the norm as more employees demand flexibility in their work schedules. Digital transformation has enabled employees to work from anywhere at any time, helping to improve their work-life balance. The ability to work remotely has also allowed employees to choose their working environment, whether that’s in a quiet coffee shop, a co-working space, or a home office.
While most employees welcome this flexibility, CIOs are still working to accommodate the way that digital transformation has changed workflows.
Top priorities include ensuring that decision-makers have enough actionable data to act swiftly. In the move from on-prem to the cloud, CIOs are responsible for augmenting their tech stack with tools that keep information flowing, optimize data, and prevent silos. These smaller teams can make faster decisions while ensuring approvals by appropriate stakeholders. To improve flexibility, CIOs must empower their teams to adopt tools that take on these initiatives.
3. Use platforms that automate tasks and provide transparent workflows
Digital transformation significantly improves how work is done, increasing efficiency and productivity. But part of digital transformation also includes operational transformation and improving workflow at a granular level.
The transition to remote and hybrid work requires new processes to be built into existing workflows. Additional approvals and check-ins increase transparency but can sometimes add extra steps to the process.
Enter automation. Automation tools can quickly and accurately handle many manual and repetitive tasks, allowing employees to focus on higher-value activities. However, many organizations still struggle to manually handle internal operations such as requests, approvals, and service tickets, causing delays and inefficiencies. These operations become roadblocks that prevent IT leaders from moving on to larger digital transformation initiatives.
To overcome this, CIOs can encourage their organizations to leverage work management solutions that increase visibility into their workflows, bringing stakeholders, from upper management to entry-level, on the same page. Managers can use these solutions to set clear objectives and delegate responsibilities to hybrid teams. When every team member can see a project’s status in real time, it helps to ensure that progress is being made.
These solutions enable project managers to use tools and dashboards to track performance against monthly or quarterly KPIs. In turn, employees feel empowered to own their action items, which boosts productivity.
By giving everyone in the organization a birds-eye view, digital transformation is helping organizations redefine collaboration, use data to improve workplace flexibility, and discover platforms that automate tasks and enhance visibility. And by facilitating a more efficient and productive workplace, transformation gives employees greater flexibility and control over their work-life balance, reducing burnout and ultimately benefiting both the organization and its workforce.
In today’s hybrid world, digital transformation does much more than boost operational efficiencies. Here are three examples of how it supports disparate teams.
7 digital transformation barriers to overcomeDean Guida
Digital transformation is the integration of digital technology into all areas of a business resulting in fundamental changes to how businesses operate and deliver value. It helps streamline operations, increase efficiency, gain deeper insights into customers’ needs and behavior, foster innovation, and drive business growth.
Digital transformation is no longer a choice; it’s a necessity for organizations to remain competitive. While digital transformation can bring many benefits to organizations, it also poses a handful of challenges.
These are the top 7 barriers that organizations may face during digital transformation.
1. Change resistance
One of the most significant challenges during a digital transformation is resistance to change.
Even if a change sets your organization up for future success, some people won’t quickly warm to the idea. Employees and managers may resist using new tools and technologies due to fear of change in their workflow. Change is uncomfortable, but it’s also inevitable, and resistance can slow down the transformation process.
Digital transformation leaders and CEOs should communicate the reasons for the change, focusing on the benefits and what employees can expect. Addressing employees’ concerns is also key to overcoming this challenge. Leaders must listen to the reason for the resistance and provide solutions to any concerns.
Remember that your view of the change and digital transformation can highly affect your employees. If you communicate uncertainty and fear, your employees will too. Demonstrate a positive attitude and model the desired mindset for your employees.
There are many reasons that organizations still use legacy systems that are incompatible with modern digital solutions. First, replacing those legacy systems can be a very time-consuming and expensive process. Second, many organizations feel more comfortable using what they already know and fear the uncertainty and the investment in a new digital solution that requires user training and time for adoption.
This digital transformation challenge is tied to change resistance, and overcoming both can be achieved through effective communication. Clearly communicate with your employees the benefits of the new technology and how it can help them in their daily workflow. Assure them that the necessary training will be provided and that positive or negative feedback is welcome.
3. Communication and collaboration silos
Difficulties communicating and collaborating with team members remains a challenge to digital transformation. An all-in-one digital workplace becomes of great value to organizations looking to increase productivity and improve communication and collaboration.
All-in-one digital workplaces are an integral part of digital transformation. They provide teams with the tools to get their work done, including the means to manage workload and projects efficiently and effectively.
Tools that integrate crucial digital transformation aspects like project and content management, chat, and data analytics in one software can increase productivity, communication, and results.
4. Technology choices
While undergoing a digital transformation journey, CIOs and digital transformation leaders are under constant pressure. They must search the market for the right technology to replace their legacy systems and processes. However, when in a rush to satisfy CEO and stakeholder requests, this all-important decision-making process suffers.
Another challenge during the digital transformation process is the abundance of choices on the market. Your organization should have a strategic plan and know what’s needed to solve problems prior to evaluating which technologies to invest in.
The first step is conducting a thorough needs assessment to define your organization’s requirements and goals. Then you can effectively evaluate different technology options, considering factors such as ease of use, scalability, integration, flexibility, adaptability, and cost.
[ How can automation free up more staff time for innovation? Get the complementary eBook: Managing IT with automation. ]
5. Security concerns
Cybersecurity and privacy are a top priority for organizations, but they are also a great concern. Most digital transformations involve moving business data to the cloud and integrating it into one centralized system for easier access.
To address security concerns, organizations must implement a comprehensive security strategy that includes risk assessment, security policies and procedures, employee security training, and incident response plans.
Cybersecurity measures currently in place by businesses are increasingly being rendered obsolete by the growing sophistication of cybercriminals, according to The World Economic Forum’s The Global Risks Report 2022. More innovative security breach methods could more easily target and damage organizations with poor system integrations. API abuse can seriously affect organizations by exposing their company secrets and even lead to hackers stealing customer data.
To address security concerns, organizations must implement a comprehensive security strategy that includes risk assessment, security policies and procedures, employee security training, and incident response plans. And finally, continuous monitoring is key to identifying and preventing security threats before they occur.
6. Evolving customer needs
While evolving customer needs present opportunities for businesses, they can also pose significant challenges during the digital transformation process. Organizations will need to take these needs into consideration as they implement new digital channels. When an organization is struggling with digital transformation, providing a seamless customer experience online, on mobile, on social media, and in-store can be a real challenge.
Organizations need to invest in the right technologies and strategies to meet customer needs that can change over time. They must build a customer-centric culture, embrace data analytics tools to gain deep insights into customer behavior, and incorporate AI technologies and automation to improve customer experience.
Data is one of the foundations of digital transformation. Customer insights give you information about their behavior, preferences, and potential future buying decisions. So, the way you collect and organize this data is crucial. Effective data management can give your organization a competitive edge. Ineffective data management, however, can lead to lost customers and flawed business decisions.
Prioritizing efficient data management practices is the solution to this challenge. This involves establishing processes and policies that enable your organization to collect, store, retrieve, analyze, and utilize data in a way that is secure, accurate, and compliant with relevant regulations. This is no easy task, and it requires a lot of knowledge and expertise.
Fortunately, there are many reputable data analytics, data management, and data storage services available. Finding a partner that can accommodate all your data needs and be trusted with your organization’s and customers’ data is the best way to conquer this digital transformation challenge.
The world is becoming more digitally connected, and organizations that do not adapt increase their chances of failure. Digital transformation is not an option—it’s a necessity. Although the digital transformation process comes with its own set of challenges, those who implement it well will find greater productivity, improved efficiency, enhanced customer experience, and ultimately business growth and profits.
AI democratization: Is your organization prepared? Nitin Kumar
Once upon a time, you could be an expert generalist in managing IT infrastructure. Today? Not so much. Modern digital environments encompass so many constituent services and specializations that it’s impossible for any individual to truly master them all.
At the same time, the importance of IT infrastructure, and the extent to which organizations rely on it for basic business continuity, has never been greater.
As compute costs trend lower, and natural language queries and machine learning (ML) usability advance, we’re witnessing what we call the “democratization of AI.” This trend has many facets, but they boil down to a basic reality: The power of algorithmic analysis is no longer locked away where only data scientists can access it. Suddenly, anyone can do so.
This change will have profound effects on IT operations for every organization. And if you’re not taking steps to capitalize on it, you should be.
Democratizing AI
To support today’s sprawling business infrastructures, most organizations maintain multiple dedicated teams. Each focuses on a specialized domain (applications, networking, servers, cloud), typically using domain-specific tools, and working with domain-specific data.
This level of specialization is needed to diagnose problems and keep each part of the infrastructure healthy. Yet inevitably, it creates data silos that fragment information across the end-to-end environment, making it more difficult to support.
The AI advantage
But what happens when more people can access AI-enabled data and insights? They can:
Make better decisions
Each day in the life of an IT engineer involves dozens, sometimes hundreds of decisions. (Does this alert require further investigation? How should I remediate this failure? Which software version should I deploy? Which configuration is optimal for my environment?)
With siloed data and visibility, people often make those decisions based on limited information. By applying algorithmic analysis broadly, more people can make data-driven choices that collectively produce more reliable, better-performing infrastructures.
Provide better experiences
With more data and deeper insights, operations teams get better at ensuring high-quality experiences. For example, the ability to correlate signals across data silos and quickly isolate root causes reduces Mean Time to Detect and Mean Time to Repair (MTTD/MTTR)–two of the most important metrics affecting user experience. Algorithmic analysis can also work proactively, surfacing hidden systemic issues and identifying degradations before they become customer-impacting failures.
Improve efficiency
As more teams in an organization adopt ML tools, the walls between isolated data silos break down. It becomes easier for specialists in different domains to speak the same language and address systemic issues spanning organizational boundaries.
The net result is a virtuous circle, where infrastructure teams get progressively better informed, faster, and more effective. Organizations can start with narrow use cases or easily solvable issues to augment individual domain-specific tasks. Over time, the aggregate impact of those successes grows. More people adopt ML techniques, and data-driven decision-making expands to new use cases, fueling ongoing innovation and efficiencies across the business.
If AI democratization sounds like a trend you’d like to get behind, you’re not alone. Here are some basic steps to prepare for data-driven operations in your organization.
Break down data silos
Initially, many in the AI industry focused on building ever more sophisticated ML models. What those making the most progress have found, however, is that data quality matters as much as the model itself. If infrastructure data is fragmented and incomplete, even the most advanced tools will deliver poor results.
To get better outcomes more quickly, focus on making sure that data is clean, properly contextualized, and ready for analysis. Systems across your infrastructure should bring all data, from all sources together–not just storing it in one place, but applying proper context to enable a holistic view.
Achieving widespread AI adoption requires an evolution in culture and mindset as much as technology. Everyone from the CIO to low-level engineers should be working to achieve at least a basic understanding of ML, so they can envision how it can impact their work. If data scientists are the only ones who understand data and algorithms, frontline network engineers will never recognize opportunities to solve day-to-day problems using these techniques.
At the same time, the value data scientists provide will be limited, because they don’t have the domain expertise to understand how to best apply algorithmic analysis. When everyone has basic fluency with data and ML tools, new opportunities to save time, optimize quality, and improve decision-making will arise organically.
Choose the right tools
Look for AIOps solutions designed with extensive domain knowledge that can connect and contextualize data across domains and vendors in your infrastructure. Effective solutions should also natively integrate with existing communications channels (ticketing systems, Teams, Slack, etc.) so that insights can be quickly shared across teams.
By taking steps now, you can put your organization in a position to keep pace with the relentless growth of complexity in IT infrastructure. You can empower frontline engineers with data-driven insights to work smarter and faster while more highly skilled staff focus on critical issues and strategic projects. You can adopt a healthier growth model for your business, where everyone becomes progressively more data-savvy and effective, and continually finds new ways to use AI to achieve better outcomes.
[ Check out our primer on 10 key artificial intelligence terms for IT and business leaders:Cheat sheet: AI glossary. ]
The power of artificial intelligence is fast becoming accessible to a wide range of users. Here's what you need to know to start your AI-powered transformation
From tradition to transformation: 5 steps to drive digital adoption Richard Rabins
Digital transformation refers to the integration of digital technology into all areas of a business, resulting in fundamental changes to how the business operates and delivers value to customers. It is a strategic process of utilizing technology to fundamentally improve business processes, customer experiences, and overall performance. One Gartner report reveals that 56 percent of CEOs say that revenue growth came as a direct result of digital improvements.
A digital transformation strategy is essential for organizations in today’s business environment. Some of the benefits of having a digital transformation strategy include the following:
Increased efficiency: A digital transformation strategy can help streamline business processes and automate repetitive tasks, freeing up valuable resources and improving overall efficiency.
Improved customer experiences: Digital technology can enhance the customer experience, providing personalized and convenient customer interactions and improving customer loyalty.
Enhanced data collection and analysis: With digital technology, organizations can collect and analyze vast amounts of data, providing valuable insights into customer behavior and preferences and enabling informed decision-making.
Competitive advantage: Organizations that embrace digital transformation stay ahead of the competition and gain a competitive advantage in their industry.
Increased agility: A digital transformation strategy enables organizations to quickly adapt to changes in the business environment and respond to new opportunities, helping to drive innovation and growth.
5 tips to guide your digital transformation strategy
Keep the following principles and tips in mind as you form your transformation strategy.
1. Recognize the challenges of digital transformation
Digital transformation is not always easy or smooth. Many challenges hinder or slow digital transformation efforts, including:
Resistance to change: Employees and stakeholders may be resistant to change, especially if they are comfortable with the existing processes and systems.
Lack of skills and expertise: The rapid pace of technological change means that organizations often struggle to find employees with the right skills and expertise to implement and manage digital transformation initiatives effectively.
Resistance from legacy systems and processes: Digital transformation can disrupt traditional workflows and ways of doing business, requiring organizations to manage cultural change and adapt to new ways of working.
2. Define a clear vision
Digital transformation must begin with a clear, defined mission and vision statement. Here’s how to achieve that:
Define the overall goals and objectives: Organization leaders should have a clear understanding of what they hope to achieve through digital transformation, such as improved customer experiences, increased efficiency, or enhanced data analysis.
Identify the areas that require transformation: Identify the most critical initiatives to pursue based on their impact on the business objectives and their feasibility.
Develop a roadmap: Create a detailed roadmap that outlines the steps required to achieve the target state, including technology upgrades, process improvements, training, and cultural changes.
3. Build a strong digital foundation
Building a strong digital foundation is essential for organizations looking to successfully undergo digital transformation. This provides the necessary infrastructure and capabilities to support digital initiatives and enables organizations to take full advantage of new technologies.
Here are some tips for building a strong digital foundation:
Invest in technology infrastructure: Invest in modern, scalable technology infrastructure that can support digital initiatives, including low-code/no-code software, cloud computing, data management systems, and network infrastructure.
Invest in the existing team: Hiring new employees costs much more than investing in your existing team. By providing access to training, your team can support digital initiatives while already being ahead in understanding the existing business.
Implement data security and privacy measures: Ensure the digital foundation is secure, with robust security measures in place to protect against cyber threats. This includes identifying and managing risks, implementing security measures, supporting citizen developer governance, and regularly testing and updating the strategy.
Building a strong digital foundation increases the likelihood of success for your digital transformation initiatives and sets the stage for future growth and success.
4. Encourage employee participation
Encouraging employee participation is a key factor in the success of digital transformation initiatives. Here are some ways to encourage employee participation:
Upskill: Offer development opportunities for employees to build the skills and knowledge needed for digital transformation. This includes training in new technologies, processes, and best practices. Training and development can help build employee confidence and engagement in the initiative.
Recognize and reward contributions: Recognize and reward employees for their contributions to the digital transformation initiative. This could include recognition programs, promotions, and bonuses.
Foster a culture of collaboration: Encourage collaboration and cross-functional teamwork. Create a culture that values diverse perspectives and encourages employees to share their ideas and experiences. Many tools aid digital transformation by improving collaboration and aligning IT with business needs.
Measuring success and continuous improvement are critical elements of a successful digital transformation strategy. Here are some key factors to consider when measuring success and driving continuous improvement:
Establish key performance indicators: Define clear goals and metrics (key performance indicators, or KPIs) for the digital transformation initiative and establish a system for tracking and measuring progress against these goals. These KPIs should align with your organization’s goals and objectives and be regularly reviewed and updated as needed.
Monitor progress of the transformation process: Regularly monitor progress against KPIs and use data and analytics to identify areas for improvement.
Adapt and improve the process as necessary: Regularly assess the progress of the digital transformation initiative and use this information to make changes and improvements as needed. Continuously refine processes related to technology, data management, and customer service to improve efficiency and effectiveness.
Digital transformation is a continuous process that includes challenges. It involves navigating complex technological landscapes, addressing potential cybersecurity risks, and ensuring digital initiatives align with broader business goals. Additionally, digital transformation can require significant investments in new technologies and skill development, which may not be feasible for all organizations.
Despite these challenges, digital transformation remains essential for organizations seeking to remain competitive in today’s rapidly evolving business landscape. Those that successfully embrace digital transformation can gain a competitive edge, increase customer satisfaction, and create new business opportunities.
Cybersecurity hiring: Drive transformation through new talent pipelines Linda Walsh
The evolving technology landscape has spurred business transformation across industries – driving efficiency and unlocking new opportunities for companies to scale and increase impact.
But as businesses evolve, potential threats are expanding too. Business leaders must navigate an increasingly complex, ever-changing world of cybersecurity imperatives that require innovative approaches to mitigate these new risks.
Deloitte Global’s 2023 Future of Cyber Survey revealed that 70 percent of C-level respondents reported that cybersecurity issues appeared on their board’s agenda on a regular basis, either monthly or quarterly. With artificial intelligence (AI) and cognitive computing among leaders’ top five digital transformation priorities, businesses are exploring new use cases for these technologies in cybersecurity systems – leveraging the tools for containment and response as threats increase.
These new technologies are driving digital transformation, and in turn, they require new skills and innovative thinking from today’s workforce.
However, the same survey shows that these high-maturity organizations are significantly more likely to cite a lack of skilled cyber professionals as a top challenge. This cyber talent shortage does not simply mean a lack of candidates. Rather, the industry is experiencing a gap in sourcing the right professionals – those who can help organizations drive AI and other cyber-leading practices to their full potential.
The application of these new technologies requires human thinking with a nuanced understanding of decision-making processes. As a result, sourcing the right talent will require looking at a wider variety of candidates, including those with nontraditional tech backgrounds.
Beyond the traditional
Candidates with non-technical backgrounds can bring the essentials needed to implement creative solutions quickly and in high-pressure environments. Hiring managers should go beyond a candidate’s technical expertise, assessing real-world experience and transferrable skills, to determine if they have the resilience to succeed in a rapidly changing cyber ecosystem and remain adaptive and agile amid a crisis.
Additionally, businesses need to consider how to build agile, well-equipped teams who bring the breadth and depth of experience needed to match today’s evolving needs. For some, that might be going beyond traditional boundaries, opening roles in new geographies outside of “traditional” tech centers where possible.
It could also mean creating and implementing “train to hire” programs that build a strong candidate’s technical expertise. New tools, like augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR), can train candidates from nontraditional backgrounds, ensuring relevant experience in a controlled environment that still allows full immersion into critical job functions.
Collaborating with academia to build programming into curriculums is another avenue to help the next generation of employees build multidimensional technical expertise that complements the intangible value diverse candidates can bring to teams.
A diversely skilled team with deep-rooted, broad knowledge and expertise will be better equipped to navigate, implement, and operate solutions at scale. Businesses should diversify talent pipelines as they drive digital transformation priorities and leverage AI and other cyber-leading strategies to fortify operations and achieve long-term success.
This moment in time presents business leaders with a unique inflection point to disrupt legacy approaches to hiring and welcome and nurture next-generation talent with broader skillsets and more diverse thinking – those who can weather the storm while continuing to protect the enterprise.
Evolving technology and a continuing skills shortage require a new approach to recruiting. Here's how to broaden your talent pool and your organization's innovation
