IT Transformation

What is IT Transformation?

This is a process by which an organization will align its IT needs with its overarching goals. It is only a part of digital transformation, and it focuses on how IT will deliver solutions to better support the organization’s business initiatives, and technology needs.

What are the Pillars of IT Transformation?

There are 3 main pillars to IT transformation and they all focus on the modernization of the organization. 

Pillar 1: Modern Infrastructure

This infrastructure is generally linked to cloud-enabled systems and includes applications such as AI, machine learning, and data analytics that apply to ongoing growth. It is geared towards keeping organizations efficient, agile, and reliable.

Pillar 2: Modern & Consistent Operations

This pillar focuses more on the management of operational infrastructure that is needed to ensure that the day-to-day runs smoothly. They usually include automation, tooling, and security and will also integrate public clouds/domains with your tech stack.

Pillar 3: Modern Service Delivery

The goal for organizations here is to unlock the true value of data, allowing them to have a clear view of what their capabilities are, and more importantly, what their new capabilities will be as the transformation progresses in order to drive ongoing strategic, data-driven decisions.

The Goal of IT Transformation

IT transformation should have set goals and outcomes. These may vary slightly depending on your organization, but there are a few common goals that should never be overlooked.

1 – Optimize Processes

Refining the repeated processes that occur every day. Continuous improvement will result in better-operating models and positive results. It can affect any function of the business and will be felt by everyone involved, from employees through to customers.

2 – Increase Efficiency

A natural by-product of improved processes, with IT Transformation there are new efficiencies in workflows, allowing employees to focus on vital functions.

3 – Become More Agile

Organizational agility is essential in the modern market. IT transformation will reduce decision-making time, and decrease learning cycles. It also allows the processing and interpreting of big data for the benefit of the organization.

4 – Improve Performance 

Create work environments where employee productivity is enabled throughout their day-to-day activities. Enterprise collaboration tools increase time-saving and collaborative efforts that often go unmeasured. Utilize platforms with integrated data and analytics to find what is working and what should be adjusted to achieve maximum results.

5 – Reduce Costs 

Always a key point for any organization. Whether via automation, self-service support, or self-paced training, the potential to minimize costs will only continue to grow as technology evolves and adapts to business needs.

What are the 4 Main Focal Points of IT Transformation?

1. Strategy– Aligning the digital transformation effort with the overall strategy.

2. Customers – Helping the organization create a customer experience that is consistent from the moment they hear about you until well after they become a customer.

3. Culture – Ensuring that the workforce has the mindsets, attitudes, and behaviors to accommodate transformations.

4. Data – Implementing and leveraging data and analytics to make informed decisions and enhance business processes.

IT Transformation vs. Digital Transformation

This can become a little confusing, so stay with us.

At its core, digital transformation will be software-empowered and employee- and customer-focused. IT transformation, on the other hand, is an overhaul of IT systems. These include network architecture, hardware, software, and how data is gathered, stored, and accessed.

IT transformation usually has a clear, well-defined end-state while digital transformation is an ongoing process of better handling change management, and has no defined end date.

Types of IT Transformation

Business IT Transformation

It is the use of digital technologies to create new business processes for new customer and market requirements. It will also impact business processes, culture, sales, marketing, and customer service.

IT Transformation in HR

The goal of transformation in HR may include aspects of digital transformation and usually has multiple layers. It will include automating HRM/HRIS processes, maximizing the employee experience, and improving the time usage of those involved.

It would also include the transformation of processes such as payroll, benefits, training & development, and performance management.

IT Transformation in Marketing

IT & digital transformation in marketing go hand-in-hand. It is a shift from complacency to the active pursuit of digital excellence.

This is achieved through the optimization of your digital channels. Specifically, refining your digital channels to gain deeper insights.

IT Transformation Examples

Netflix

Netflix’s shift from a DVD rental company (started in 1997) to a full streaming service (2007) represents a huge digital and IT transformation. They take about 10% of their revenue and reinvest in R&D—and this is expected to grow significantly. Their initial shift went from customers needing to rely on hardcopy film in the form of DVDs to focusing on digital streaming at a global scale.

The Hospitality Industry

Restaurants and coffee shops are slowly embracing both digital and IT Transformations more and more. We often see loyalty programs and app-based purchase options available to regular customers. But they also went through a transformation in the way that they track key operating performers behind the scenes.

Monitoring order times and prep times, return rates and discounts are often features being built into point of sale systems. The increase in delivery services such as UberEats and Wolt has also meant that the infrastructure in restaurants has had to evolve to accommodate.

IT Transformation Strategy

The strategy needs to start with a clear, coherent vision, not only of the state of IT but also of the business’s reasoning for the IT transformation. That vision should be developed with the input of senior management.

Foundational needs, scope, and scale all need to be considered too, and there should also be a clear timeline for the project.

The next step is to define the organization’s approach concerning partnerships and vendor management. It’s recommended to have a person dedicated to analyzing vendor and partnership performance. 

Constantly seek to refine implementation methods, including proof-of-concept exercises, pilots, and methods for testing new technologies and their influence on business processes.

All IT transformation strategies must include three important steps:

• The modernization of existing IT infrastructure, to improve efficiencies
• Automation of IT processes to reduce risk and accelerate the deployment of applications.
• Transformation of IT processes and operations to increase agility and alignment of goals, staff, and roles as much as possible.

IT Transformation Road Map

Organizations always need to prepare to modernize, automate, and transform their infrastructure.

The steps below can help build an IT transformation roadmap.

1. Prioritize your IT Pain Points

Identify the areas where your organization could be at risk—application data silos, lack of alignment with business needs and security, etc.

2. Define Application & Workload Requirements 

Always evaluate key performance factors like availability, scalability, speed, and flexibility. Accurately assessing the requirements of real-world business applications and workloads will in turn determine the optimal technology solutions.

3. Identify Technologies Crucial to Workloads

IT organizations use converged infrastructure or plan to do so. Most blend legacy systems and new solutions to automate service delivery of applications that support data analytics or desktop virtualization.

Ultimately, companies are expected to move towards a composable enterprise.

4. Develop a Deployment Strategy

When automating a business-critical application using a hybrid cloud, for example, weigh the benefits of converged, hyper-converged, and all-flash storage, so you can deploy with confidence.

5. Align Processes, People, and Culture

Understand how new business processes will affect employees and customers. Finding ways to help teams learn and adapt will transform your culture and processes for efficiency.

IT Transformation Challenges

Organizations that joined the scene many years ago often grapple with legacy applications, systems, and business models that constrain their ability to transform.

They also need to strategize ways to incorporate modern technologies and approaches—including the shifting of budgets away from traditional IT and toward new transformational initiatives.

As with any large-scale organizational change, IT transformation influences workflows, business rules, and, perhaps most importantly, the corporate culture.