Enterprise computing: investing in technology
DIGITAL transformation is a journey, not a destination. As such, the process of transformation is continuous. A business must be able to respond to the need for innovation, rapid change adoption, and all the emerging opportunities that arise from this fundamental paradigm shift that is the digital age of business.
Last week we covered digital focus, which is one of the elements under the first pillar of the digital transformation roadmap, strategy and vision. This pillar consists of three key areas: digital strategy, digital focus, and investments. Today we explore investments. For a business to fully realise digital transformational change across its business models, business processes, products and services, investments must be made that are specifically for digital transformation initiatives. It is these investments that will fuel the journey by sustaining the continuous cycle of change and innovation.
Technology debt
A major issue of many organisations, however, is how to grapple with the technical or technology debt that exists. The “tech debt” is a concept that originated in the software development world. It speaks to the estimated cost of additional rework now needed because someone decided on a quick fix solution a few years ago, instead of using the right approach that would have either taken longer and cost more at the time. As the fable goes, you have to pay the piper!
We have seen many organisations that have applied band-aid solutions in their environment for years. Now that time has come to transform digitally, these “patched up” systems cannot be easily upgraded to take them to the next level.
Forklift or upgrade? That is the choice many business leaders often wrestle with as they try to answer the question, “Where should we focus these investments for digital transformation?”
Here are a couple of key areas where investments should be focused:
• Customer experience assessments (CX)
• Employee engagement and empowerment
• New business models
• Business process redesign and optimisation
• Infrastructure and platforms
• Digital services mastery
• Innovation programmes
Each of the areas described above represents critical components that attract a fair amount of investment. Careful consideration and intelligent prioritisation are essential if businesses are to realise the real benefits during this part of the digital transformation journey.
Trevor Forrest is Founder and CEO of 876 Technology Solutions. Christopher Reckord is CEO of Managed IT services provider ttech Limited. Collectively, they have approximately 80 years of experience helping organisations of varying sizes procure and implement information technology solutions and transform digitally.