Today, digital acumen means much more than it ever has: it represents legitimacy, leadership, and standing. In order to transition their organizations to legitimacy, however, tech managers often struggle with digital transformation strategies. Managed services platforms can help.
The “Do-Or-Die” Part of Your Job
Nearly 90 percent of senior business leaders are calling digitalization of businesses not only a priority, but also a “do-or-die imperative,” according to the Harvard Business Review. It’s not hard to understand why.
The competitive landscape is more harrowing than ever: the average lifespan of U.S. corporations on the S&P 500 index has decreased significantly. In the ’60s, a company’s duration on the S&P averaged 33 years.
By 2027, that is expected to drop to 12 years, according to Innosight. The rise of digital technology platforms has been a driving force behind this disruption.
It’s true that if you want to stay relevant, a digital transformation strategy is the only way to compete in the sharing economy where instant access, personalized service and customer intimacy are table stakes.
In fact, IDC’s “FutureScape: Worldwide Digital Transformation 2018 Predictions” predicts that by the end of 2019, $1.7 trillion will be spent worldwide on digital transformation strategies, up 42 percent from 2017.
How to Get There
The path to digitalization can be challenging, but managed services are a critical accelerant in the process. Service-enabled digital transformation is leveling the playing field, allowing even the smallest of companies to compete with the largest enterprises, virtually anywhere in the world.
There are five key ways that a managed services platform supports a digital transformation approach:
Building Meaningful Customer Experiences
Like most major shifts, digital transformation is in large part propelled by evolving customer expectations. Analytical services help organizations capture and leverage unprecedented amounts of data, creating deeper and more nuanced customer profiles.
In turn, these profiles facilitate better-informed product and service development and deliver powerfully differentiated customer experiences.
One survey found that among those who have embraced the Everything as a Service (XaaS) model, 77 percent have increased customer retention, and 80 percent say they have introduced more personalized marketing.
Even if companies invest in Internet of Things (IoT)-enabled devices — without the means to harness the data — it becomes meaningless. Predictive and insightful services extract value from data, helping organizations drive business outcomes.
Positioning Employees for Success
Proactive management services enable companies to deliver a more agile and accessible workplace, supporting the growing “One Life” movement, where employees expect to circulate seamlessly between their professional and personal lives.
Digitized workflows provide secure, from-anywhere access. For instance, secure mobile print via the cloud allows employees to print using their smartphone or laptop from home, a hotel room, a coffee shop, or even an airport.
Now, employees have the capacity to collaborate despite the towns, countries or seas in between them.
As the number of devices used daily by professionals increases, flexible IT services allow users to focus on the capabilities of devices, rather than their management challenges. By applying a service that streamlines device management, employees’ daily success and digital benefits are maximized.
Grad Rosenbaum is the Vice President and General Manager of the Americas Solutions Business at HP. He is responsible for the go-to-market strategy, P&L, delivery execution and overall financial performance of the Americas print and personal systems services businesses. This includes the sale and delivery of managed print services, printing and workflow solutions, and personal systems services for HP’s consumer, corporate, enterprise and public-sector segments. In addition, Grad is responsible for HP’s System Integrator Alliances program for the Americas Region.
Establishing High-Impact Efficiency
IT budgets are under significant pressure. Reducing costs yet increasing service scale and capabilities are top priorities. One of the biggest benefits of moving to services is operational efficiencies.
Predictive services, powered by machine learning, can enable IT staffs to spend less time “keeping the lights on” and more time on innovation that supports the business. An IDC white paper reveals that such IT staff efficiencies can drive notable savings over time for organizations.
By transforming paper-based workflows into digital work streams, for example, thousands of manual processes — and the cost and errors they invite — are eliminated.
Every company must determine its best accounting principles, however, pay-for-use solutions, such as DaaS (Device-as-a-Service) can enable companies to move from a CapEx to an OpEx model, freeing up cash and delivering a more predictable cost.
Closing Gaps in Security and Accessibility
Digital formats mitigate the many security threats that paper documents pose. More often than not, critical documents are bogged down in unsecure and location-dependent form.
Digital work streams are more dynamic, secure, and accessible. By transforming to digital, information will assume a more process- and context-aware quality, enabling users of any application or device to access the material. This unique ability reduces exposure to vulnerabilities and improves regulation compliance.
Case-in-point: doctors now write prescriptions electronically and print them on a secure printer or send directly to the pharmacy.
No more paper prescriptions to lose. Banks no longer store massive amounts of checks; they securely print checks on demand. At any company, badge-enabled pull printing dramatically reduces the chance of sensitive information falling into the wrong hands by only printing once a badge is swiped.
Improved sustainability
A managed services platform contributes to sustainability objectives by creating smaller footprints and eliminating waste through proactive and automated responses to issues small and large.
From more efficient maintenance to the deployment of protocols, like sleep-mode, across entire fleets of devices, all tasks have potential for seamless productivity. Plus, solutions like DaaS ensure that companies always have the latest in energy-efficient devices and systems for properly recycling, reusing or disposing of old technology.
Read Next: Infographic: The Future of IT is Managed Services
A digital transformation strategy is the highway to a successful future, and managed services are the fuel. Services support innovation, increase productivity, improve safeguards and conserve resources.
At the same time, a managed services platform enables information to drive faster, more effective decision-making. The future is digital, is your business ready to transform?
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