We are already 3months in for the year 2019. For a lot of enterprises their digital agenda is taking shape in forms of annual plans and business reviews. Digital transformation is a complex process that changes how enterprises work and go to market, which creates long-term opportunity for partners equipped to take customers on this on-going digital journey. Which is why we thought this is a perfect opportunity to share a few tips and recommendations from Sonata Software that may help you think clearly for your digital strategy ahead.
With 60% of enterprises now implementing an organization-wide digital platform strategy, IDC forecasts that the digital transformation opportunity will exceed $20 trillion, or 20% of global GDP. Businesses worldwide are on course to invest $1.7 trillion in 2019 across the spectrum of IT (software, services, hardware), and partners focused on modern digital platforms and cloud services will see the majority of that spend.
Innovative business models and transformative technologies will be at the heart of this new change. Born digital players have proved that a platform strategy is the best bet for the enterprise to grow and remain competitive in the market. What enterprise must do is to take the digital platform strategy to their advantage and build an ecosystem of customers, partners and suppliers.
“By 2019, IDC predicts all digitally transformed organizations will generate at least 45% of their revenue from “future of commerce” business models. And by 2020, in over half of Global 2000 firms, revenue growth from information-based products and services will be twice the growth rate of the balance of the portfolio.”
Perhaps the most neglected part in the digital transformation process is the business transformation. With so much focus on new technologies, the underlying business assumption takes a back seat and that is where so many digital projects do not succeed. We have to understand that business transformation is at the heart of the overall digital strategy change. IDC predicts a few key trends that will dominate the digital transformation opportunity.
Digital Platforms and Ecosystems
Enterprise will undergo a full organization wide digital platform strategy that will be the core of this transformation change. They will build ecosystems that will engage the larger picture. Instead of going narrow with just technology focus, this approach has much bigger implications
Cloud
Needless to say, cloud applications will explode. The sheer benefit of migrating from Capex to Opex is just cannot be ignored. Enterprises will spend on cloud services, cloud enabling hardware, software and services, creating a $500 billion opportunity and a diversified cloud environment.
Hyper agile applications
Enterprises will also make a shift towards creating a hyper agile architecture. It’s inevitable. IDC predicts that by 2021, over 80% of the application development on cloud platforms (PaaS) using micro services and cloud functions, and over 95% of new micro services deployed in containers will be hosted on a hyper agile architecture that will ensure faster and scalable framework.
Reimagined customer engagement
Tailored made customer experience will be created by leveraging customer data for actionable insights. This kind of personalized digital experience with targeted offers and specific recommendations will help create an unforgettable brand experience. The investments made in big data, analytics, AI, and CRM, to facilitate customer engagement will eventually payoff.
Optimizing business operations
The business needs to be uber responsive and this can be achieved by improving service levels and reducing operational costs. All the products and service needs to be re-imagined in a digital context. The operations needs to be transformed into more adaptive, agile, and efficient in meeting internal need and customer requirements.
The opportunity what can be done with digital platforms is enormous and we are just staring at the starting point. We need to put the larger picture always in the perspective. Just focusing on the technology itself won’t suffice. The right mix of business and tech strategy together will bring value to the overall digital platform strategy. That is why at Sonata our Platformation™ strategy is paying off well for our customers accelerating their digital agenda and scale.
We would love to hear your take on what are your top business priority that is aligned to the larger picture.