Digital transformation is an ongoing set of objectives for most enterprises, but there is a constantly changing scope of what the term means. CIOs recognize that there’s never going to be a point at which digital transformation has been achieved; as new technology rolls out, the finish line keeps moving.
Twenty years ago, going digital meant scanning all of your documents in an attempt to go paperless, or that your IT department was developing an online brochure that would serve as your website. Or in what seemed like a disconnected set of advances, field personnel were equipped with cell phones and laptops.
Today, digital transformation is still evolving, and there are different ways in which it is impacting enterprises as new technology becomes available and more widespread in use:
Digital disruption: New technology is disrupting the ways in which business processes are completed. Line of business managers are pushing for cloud solutions that help them gain a competitive edge at the customer level, either with more user-friendly interfaces or with technology that promotes efficiency and cost savings.
As a result, IT personnel are racing to keep up the pace with designing infrastructure solutions that can handle the networking demands of a wide range of cloud applications. Enterprises are forced to balance the handling of daily IT management and tasks with a broader focus on optimizing the entire technology stack.
Hybrid solutions: In many cases, the push and pull of digital transformation are managed through a hybrid solution of both on-premise and multi-cloud solutions. CIOs are able to maximize cost savings and take a gradual approach to cloud adoption, optimizing legacy systems that are not easily moved to the cloud.
There are some drawbacks to the hybrid approach to digital transformation. Line of business managers may promote cloud sprawl through the demand for multiple cloud applications that may overlap somewhat, but without providing a comprehensive solution. IT personnel may also be forced to work with multiple cloud services providers, all with monthly subscriptions, service level agreements, and security concerns to manage.
Overall, a hybrid environment presents an attractive alternative to either remaining committed to a fully on-premise system, which can be expensive and maintenance-heavy, or taking the dive into a fully cloud-dependent environment, which can spiral out of control without the right policies in place.
At AMD Technology, we partner with leading telecom and cloud providers to bring enterprise-grade communication services to our clients. To learn more about what digital transformation can do for your business processes and how we can become your trusted technology advisor, contact us today.