FEATURE : DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION
decision makers surveyed rate their transformation strategies as effective . “ Red Hat helps companies of all types with their Digital Transformation journeys ,” he said . “ Along the way , we have identified five areas within an organisation that must commit to change to affect long-term success : leadership , product management , development , architecture and operations .”
Investec ’ s Thaver said in order to achieve scale and quality at pace , legacy , heavily integrated and monolithic application estates create great challenge . “ This hinders adoption . The aim should be building a composable , elastic technology estate ,” she said . “ In order to shape the future of the organisation it requires the right skillsets to drive and support the technologies , infrastructure , processes , products , services and people .”
According to Thaver , examples of Digital Transformation successes in business in Africa include M-PESA , a FinTech platform that changed the dynamics of e-commerce with its mobile money solution . “ It transformed the landscape in which it operated . It allowed for payments across the continent . At the time , it was a new business model adding superior value to the banked and unbanked through digital means ,” she said .
Digital Transformation goals
Andreas Bartsch , Head of Service Delivery , PBT Group , said at the heart of Digital Transformation lies the adoption of technology to transform services or businesses which implies the need to become a data-driven business . Bartsch said this requires a systemic approach that extends beyond using the latest technologies .
“ Digital Transformation is therefore less about ripping and replacing what has already been put in place and more about managing the transition into a cloud-enabled environment ,” he said . The COVID-19 pandemic and resultant lockdown conditions have put new focus and awareness on the need to adopt certain technologies to survive in the new operating environment . “ Each organisation will have unique business drivers requiring CIOs to become more agile in their thinking and internal systems and processes that are flexible in adapting to the changes required . To this end , the business benefits and challenges of the cloud must be understood and discussed at a boardroom level and a comprehensive review of the data the organisation has at its disposal must be undertaken .”
According to Marilyn Moodley , Country Leader , South Africa and West , East , Central Africa ( WECA ), SoftwareONE , Digital Transformation goes beyond technologies and involves processes . “ For example , businesses need adoption and change management to ensure that new ways of working and new concepts are implemented ,” she said . In addition , as cloud complexity increases , the trend towards using FinOps – also known as cloud financial management – will grow . Moodley explained that FinOps bring together technology , business and finance professionals in a way that helps them better understand cloud costs and make more informed decisions regarding the cloud – inherently increasing its business value . “ The major business outcomes include improving accountability for cloud spend , fostering a culture that examines IT resources through an operational and financial lens and encouraging data-driven decision-making ,” she said .
Going forward , Red Hat ’ s McDougall noted that Digital Transformation goals differ from organisation to organisation , but some of the common goals the company shares are enhanced customer experiences , speed and agility , reduction of costs , enhanced human performance and of course , competitive advantage . “ Even at a global level , the role of the CIO is becoming that of the business strategist . Gone are the days where the CIO focused solely on technology . Today , the CIO ’ s focus is on improving business outcomes , transforming business models , while being able to deliver real value to customers with enhanced experiences ,” he said . p
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