IT Transformation Is Essential to Digital Transformation

Enterprises are seeking to transform IT departments into more agile, efficient, and service-oriented organizations. Cloud computing is a key step in this process.

Enterprise digital transformation first requires that enterprises rethink their viewpoint on IT, moving away from traditional methods and instead seeking to deliver IT-as-a-Service.

This automation-enabled approach can improve responsiveness to changing business needs such as:

  • Proliferation of IoT devices as key business enablers
  • The explosive growth of data collected, stored, and available for use
  • Advanced analytics opening new and previously unimagined opportunities
  • A whole new world of security needs as data flows freely between the edge, the core, and the cloud

IT departments are challenging themselves to evolve to a more service-oriented posture so they can do a better job of meeting the business’s needs. CIOs seeking to provide true IT-as-a-Service are aggressively driving these initiatives such as:

  • Automation of functions to provide self-service capability to business users
  • Cultivation of a service mindset and the operation of IT as a customer-focused business unit
  • Acceleration of application development and rollout
  • Reduction of infrastructure and operating costs to free up budget for funding of digital transformation initiatives

Enterprises consider their IT investment strategy to be a key tool in driving DX.  In fact, investment in IT to support digital transformation and growth is the number one consideration driving IT investment strategies today (Figure 1).

Fig 1
Top Motivators Behind IT Investment Decisions
We are investing in IT to support our company's digital transformation and growth
 
We look to contain/minimize IT operating costs as much as possible
 
We look to use third party/outsourcing/cloud firms to supplement in-house resources wherever possible
 
We take a proactive, broadly implemented cloud-first approach to new application deployments
 
We follow an ad-hoc approach in which projects and activities are driven by the needs of individual teams
 

Source: IDC Hybrid Cloud Market Survey, Sponsored by Dell EMC, March 2017

 

By enabling self-service for internal customers and providing increased financial transparency, IT-as-a-Service is an important new tool in aligning IT with LOB’s objectives and creating increased business value. IT transformation can drive performance improvements in revenue, business agility, and the strategic application of technology. IT transformation ranked highest among enterprises’ digital transformation priorities in IDC’s 2016 study, “Partner of the Future: How to Embrace Opportunities in the Digital Economy.”

Enterprises undergoing this IT transformation are busy rethinking their business operations, how they use information, and what technology to deploy to keep it all working. Cloud Infrastructure-as-a-Service is a key enabler of IT transformation due to its potential for improving responsiveness, time-to-value, and efficiency of budgetary spend.