Digital Transformation: The term has been around since it was coined more than one decade ago. However, I think we can all agree that “the use of technology to radically improve the performance or reach of a business” has really gained momentum during the COVID-19 pandemic- 19 starts.
As we all remember, the entire world went digital within weeks and businesses raced to meet the skyrocketing consumer demand for digital products and services. In fact, according to McKinsey, global businesses have accelerated the adoption of digital services at an average rate of seven years – in just seven months. I clearly recall one of our clients describing how they had to create 70,000 home workers in three days!
The same McKinsey report found that most business leaders anticipate the digital transformation of society to be permanent. JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon certainly thinks the increased use of digital apps and services is here to stay. He recently announced a 26% increase into Chase’s technology budget, focusing the $12 billion investment on leveraging Chase’s portfolio of digital apps and services.
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However, providing innovative technologies is only half the job. There’s a problem stalking business leaders: They can’t let these systems fail.
A glitch in today’s complex IT ecosystem can cause a host of problems. And when one of these glitches crashes an application or a service, companies run the risk of disrupted revenue streams, depleted inventories, disrupted supply chains, lost productivity, and dissatisfaction with customer service. Customers can be quite vocal about their dismay. (Just ask businesses like Slack and Facebook.)
Uptime maintenance is imperative for business continuity, but ensuring availability is difficult. As businesses digitally transform and move their assets to the cloud and consumers use more digital innovations, the IT environment grows in size, complexity, and fragility.
Therefore, keeping applications and services running continuously should be the primary business goal. While traditional leaders have only delegated these responsibilities to the IT department, technology has become so critical to business success that availability can no longer stop there. It has to be a matter of culture and leadership.
Here are five steps executives can take to start capturing availability:
Elevate availability to number 1 priority.
When considering many business priorities, executives should consider the importance of availability. Does the company use a virtual or hybrid workforce? Does the company interact or transact with customers online? Is revenue generated from online transactions? Questions could continue to be industry-based, but most modern businesses would most likely agree that they rely on a set of apps and services for desired business outcomes.
Given the critical nature of digital applications and services – and their ability to continue to operate – executives should consider creating a culture around usability as an indicator. main performance. Practically speaking, executives can and should treat availability numbers similarly to sales figures or other revered business metrics. A senior management is responsible for the availability metrics and is considered responsible for the ongoing review and reporting of these and other KPIs of the business.
If executives really want to emphasize the importance of availability, they can incentivize their workforce. Business leaders can make availability a business goal that affects compensation, such as beating profit or sales goals. And they can link these availability metrics back bottom line.
Tout IT talent.
In the era of “every business is a software business,” businesses can no longer take tech talent out of sight, eliminating customer interaction. In fact, they should do the exact opposite, embody their IT department and make them part of the business’s core value proposition. Actively marketing a company’s technology and credentials builds trust in a brand’s digital presence.
Naturally, upskilling the IT team goes both ways. Executives must also show genuine trust and respect for these professionals. Even without extensive technical knowledge, business leaders can provide advanced tools make the working lives of teams easier by automating and improving service assurance. And they can give them the freedom to use modern paradigms like DevOps and the CI/CD pipeline. A respected, resourced, and supportive IT team will have a role to play in delivering innovations and protecting their availability.
Take constant innovation as a standard.
As most executives know, today’s digital business world requires constant innovation as a minimum requirement to keep up with the competition. This constant innovation requires executives to abandon risk-averse postures and embark on reinvention.
Of course, between digital innovation, reinvention, and even failure, usability remains the top priority. Executives need tools that allow businesses to experiment and sometimes falter with the least negative impact on their business. After all, stagnation is no longer an option.
Unleash the Dimon inside – invest!
If a business relies on disparate digital applications and services for business continuity, executives should ensure the entire infrastructure supporting those technologies is unmatched.
While only a lucky few have an extra $12 billion on hand to invest in technology, executives should lobby for a big slice of the pie to invest in technology. And technology investment shouldn’t stop at tools. Future-minded businesses invest in next-generation tools along with talent, training, and time to innovate.
Cultivate leadership teams with technical know-how.
Executives should ask themselves one simple question: does anyone on the top-level team have their past or even current core competencies? While leadership teams often have impressive qualifications — CPA, MBA, and JD — a few include engineers with actual coding experience. But given the importance of technology, executives should surround themselves with real tech practitioners.
A chief digital officer (CDO) can become a ready-made business leader. With a wealth of technical experience, this role can help executives understand and evaluate their company’s digital performance and balance digital transformation efforts with operations management.
Following these steps sends a clear message both internally and externally: innovation is no longer enough – innovations need to work, too. If executives want to maximize their digital investments and thrive in a digital-first world, they must embrace availability.
Phil Tee, Ph.D. is the co-founder and CEO of Moogsoft, a leading provider of artificial intelligence for IT operations (AIOps). Phil has founded and led many companies, including Micromuse, RiverSoft (IPO) and Njini (acquired by Riverbed). As an innovator and pioneer in the field of artificial intelligence, Phil has authored numerous peer-reviewed journals investigating the foundations of artificial intelligence, graph theory, and network topology, as well as such as filing more than 70 patents in the application of artificial intelligence.
