Speeding up digital transformation

How Disrupters are Using aaS to Speed Up Digital Transformation

In Digital Transformation by Daniel NewmanLeave a Comment

Speeding up digital transformation

You know what makes for an agile and efficient digital transformation? A commitment to using resources efficiently—including, most importantly, human capital. That’s why many companies are speeding up digital transformation with new technology models, including the booming as-a-Service (aaS) model. Flexible. Efficient. Affordable. The aaS model levels the playing field for big and small companies both, allowing them to experiment with AI, big data, machine learning, and more—all while freeing up time for our core employees to focus on how to keep the company moving where it needs to go: forward.

Still, let’s face it: tech is sexy. And one of the biggest problems in digital transformation today is the tendency to adopt technology because of what can do, rather than choosing only the technology that can do something important for our specific company. The aaS framework is also useful in providing the flexibility to try new things without the commitment—and to select only the solutions we need in speeding up digital transformation for our customers.

Speeding Up Digital Transformation: The Must-Haves

As I’ve said before, aaS allows all of us to experience “the latest and greatest” in technology and invest our resources in only the one(s) that suits our company and customers the best. That’s how the most successful companies do it. Below are a few of the main tech components of any digital transformation, and how aaS is speeding up digital transformation through their work.

Cloud Security as a Service

Back in 2015, just 5 percent of big companies used cloud security. But 2020, that number will likely hit 85 percent. Which side of the majority would you rather fall on? Turns out, using an expert to keep clouds secure is faster cheaper, easier, and more secure than trying to manage that feat in-house. Anyone working in a cloud or hybrid cloud environment needs to offer their IT and cybersecurity teams some headspace by utilizing CsaaS.

Hybrid IT as a Service

Honestly, basically everyone is operating some form of hybrid IT right now, whether they want to or not. It’s a mix of IT infrastructure—legacy, cloud, on-premise—that companies use to meet their day-to-day needs. Research shows hybrid IT leads to higher business agility (46 percent), better customer service (41 percent) and quicker product development (34 percent). It also leads to a lot of fragmentation—fragmentation you can hire someone else to manage. Talking about making headspace for digital transformation.

Mobility as a Service

Pardon me while I excuse the BYOD trend—most likely for good—in exchange for Mobility as a Service. This is, in my opinion, another sure bet in speeding up digital transformation. While BYOD seemed like a no-brainer in saving companies money, it turns out the savings got eaten up in security and compatibility headaches. But companies such as Sprint are helping over-fragmented companies simplify digital transformation with all-inclusive programs that bundle devices, support, service, and data. With MaaS, companies can lease tech assets for a certain time, rather than purchase them for perpetuity. They also enjoy stronger security and fewer compatibility disasters. Both of those things? Key to speeding up digital transformation.

Software as a Service

Honestly, most companies are already using this, even if it means utilizing Office 365 across the enterprise. Still, SaaS is speeding up digital transformation by giving companies that ala carte functionality described at the start of the article, for any number of process improvements. Deutsche Bank, for instance, started using SaaS for invoice processing and contract compliance and realized a 15 percent cost savings. That’s the beauty of outsourcing services that other companies do better than you do!

In a world where technology—and customer expectations—change by the second, it’s imperative that companies increase their capacity and agility in every possible process and department. The aaS model is beautiful because it offers companies—of all sizes!—the chance to utilize the very best technology and insights without having to understand that technology, or even hire someone else who does. In tech terms, aaS is like giving every company in the world a VR headset that lets them function at the same level as every other top-performing company in the world—and for their customers to see them that way, as well. When it comes to digital transformation, that’s what it’s all about.

This post was brought to you by IBM Global Technology Services. For more content like this, visit IT Biz Advisor.

Daniel Newman is the Principal Analyst of Futurum Research and the CEO of Broadsuite Media Group. Living his life at the intersection of people and technology, Daniel works with the world’s largest technology brands exploring Digital Transformation and how it is influencing the enterprise. From Big Data to IoT to Cloud Computing, Newman makes the connections between business, people and tech that are required for companies to benefit most from their technology projects, which leads to his ideas regularly being cited in CIO.Com, CIO Review and hundreds of other sites across the world. A 5x Best Selling Author including his most recent “Building Dragons: Digital Transformation in the Experience Economy,” Daniel is also a Forbes, Entrepreneur and Huffington Post Contributor. MBA and Graduate Adjunct Professor, Daniel Newman is a Chicago Native and his speaking takes him around the world each year as he shares his vision of the role technology will play in our future.

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