As with all large trends, commentators and analysts look to help business leaders simplify complex concepts so that they can contextualize them as they apply to particular businesses or organizational models. By and large, this is a good thing, but it has a downside as well. In the case of Digital Transformation, the language of simplicity can lead to the belief that it is a “one and done” exercise or at least a monolithic process, without nuance.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
In the real, messy world, Digital Transformation is about finding the right balance of priorities, people, processes, partners, and technologies. The key thing to remember is that the reasons behind the need to transform isn’t about using technology for the sake of technology but instead is about using the tools of speed and scale to improve and promote the business. As such, it requires clarity about priorities, trade-offs, and outcomes. Digital Transformation is about ongoing accountability to the business and thus must be a managed process.
Take, for instance, cloud migration, a key part of Digital Transformation. A typical enterprise has thousands of applications, covering hundreds of workloads. Which ones should be moved to the cloud first? Which ones should be monitored? These are questions that must be answered based on the needs of the business and the priorities set forth by both IT and the business side. Moreover, when these workloads and applications are migrated, they still need monitoring and measuring to ensure that they are actually rendering productivity gains and cost savings while staying evergreen.
To get there, companies need to create a clear roadmap for Digital Transformation with a great deal of thought about priorities. They need to assure that they enlist the help of a progressive partner who can bring to bear the power of people, process, and technology to the journey. They also need to determine what Applications most support the Business Transformation they are seeking. Finally, they must have alignment between IT and the business.
The scale and importance of this process—especially for large enterprises and government institutions—cannot be underestimated.
Understanding just how important this is, we started CloudFit to help bring ease, speed, scale, and accountability to the Digital Transformation and cloud migrations processes. With a combination of IP, software, and experienced personnel, we partner with large organizations on these key aspects of Digital Transformation and ensure that the process is managed, sustainable, and maintained. We have an enviable track record and decades of hands-on experience with large cloud platforms.
Most of all, we operate with the philosophy of accountability. Digital Transformation is a journey and you need clear results at every stage.
