Since the outbreak of the pandemic, the rate of digital transformation has risen dramatically across industries. As more customers move to remote working and online consumption, businesses’ reliance on technology, particularly cloud, data, AI, and other related technologies, has grown. The term “digital transformation” refers to a wide range of technology, business process, and human interaction experience changes, including both front-end and back-end technologies and procedures. Digital transformation is a continual process that aims to increase efficiency, improve security, and lower operating costs.
The migration to the cloud, as well as the modernization of infrastructure and applications through the use of cloud services, is a significant component of digital transformation. Many “low hanging” tasks have already been shifted to the cloud in recent years, leaving the more complex mission critical systems to be migrated. Many firms that have transferred more essential workloads to the cloud “as-is” are not investigating restructuring and re-architecting the applications to get additional value from cloud native technology.
Some of the most important considerations to consider when embarking on the Digital Transformation path are:
Multi-Step Journey – The digital transformation is a multi-step journey, with the starting point and number of steps required varying greatly from one commercial enterprise to the next. The key is to enlist the assistance of a trusted partner to assess the existing status of the business in terms of digital strategy and transformation, establish the objectives and goals of the transformation, and then develop a high-level strategy for the journey. A typical strategy roadmap might include many waves of projects that must be completed in order to reach the desired end state.
Plan and mobilise – Investing time in breaking down the digital transformation journey roadmap into more manageable initiatives is vital to the success of the transformation programme. Engaging experts to drive the deeper discovery and planning process ensures that the expert partners’ tested methods, processes, tools, and skills are leveraged to ensure a thorough understanding of the current state is attained, and a more detailed approach and plan for application migration or modernization is laid out.
Hybrid IT infrastructure — As the digital revolution continues, many applications and business activities will be dispersed over several cloud and on-premise systems. It is critical to review and conduct necessary projects to ensure that the manageability of this hybrid environment is not jeopardised by the considerable changes brought about by transformation programmes. Change management and risk management – Any change brings hazards into an already operational IT infrastructure. It is vital to implement a thorough change management and risk mitigation approach to enable a smooth migration programme with minimal disruptions to business users.
Skills, skills, assets, and tools — Collaborate with partners who have extensive experience managing and migrating major mission important settings for enterprises. These organisations contribute best practises, assets, resources, and extensive experience to support a successful migration and modernisation effort. The Line of Business and IT Teams’ Roles – IT teams and line of business teams are important to the success of the transformation effort. To contribute information about the business and its IT systems, these teams will need to actively participate during the discovery, planning, and migration phases. It is critical to build in enough time and effort from these teams when planning a transformation programme.
Governance and stakeholder engagement – Ensuring that a strong governance structure is created and implemented from the start of the programme is vital to its success. We will undoubtedly encounter hurdles and issues that will necessitate the participation of numerous stakeholders in order to choose the best course of action. As a result, establishing this governance and communicating it to the programme team will enable a smoother and faster resolution of difficulties in the programme. A combined architectural board comprised of the IT team, Line of Business representatives, and the partner’s would guarantee that the proper architectural decisions are made based on the various demands and objectives of the business and other stakeholders.
Last but not least, ensure that a strong testing plan is in place at all levels – technology, apps, and users. Early preparation of testing resources will address any possible issues before they have a negative impact on the business.
To summarise, digital transformation, including app migration and modernization, is an exciting journey that requires the company to be as involved as external specialised partners with significant experience dealing with major corporate clients and their mission important systems.
