Digital transformation requires a better understanding

Virima is here to help you transform digitally

Digital Transformation of business has been one of the most common trends in the IT industry during the past few years. It is because companies consider new ways to leverage and embed technology into their business processes.

From big data and IoT to cloud services and digitally-enabled user experiences, there is no question technology is changing quickly. Also, having a tremendous impact on the business landscape. For IT departments, digital transformation can be somewhat problematic.

While IT professionals are elated that business users see the value of the technology, it puts greater pressure on them. They are required to provide IT services that are always available, with the latest features and working together seamlessly. This ensures simple and intuitive user experiences.

(See, “ITSM in 2019: Are You Ready for Digital Transformation?”)

Consumer IT trends, particularly the ecosystem of mobile applications, have created an expectation about technology-enabled business processes. Many IT departments are not ready to deliver on this expectation.

Many consumer IT experiences are new and rely on simple, independent capabilities. For example, an app for one function, a web page for another, etc. Business-oriented IT environments and the capabilities they must support are far more complex.

As companies embark on the ITSM digital transformation journey, automation and technology -enabled experiences become more critical parts of how companies do business.

That can lead to significant productivity gains. But it also creates greater risk of technology failure impacting the business’s operational performance. For modern businesses, the technology just has to work. It is the job of your IT staff to make sure that happens.

Starting Point: Understanding What You Have

Use an IT asset discovery tool to identify assets in your environment if you lack a clear understanding of your IT assets. IT Configuration Management Database (CMDB) and IT Asset Management (ITAM) systems can provide the tools for aggregating components and mapping them to assemble the big picture of your IT environment.

(See, “Cover Your Assets: The Path Toward Digital Transformation”)

This insight enables you to make safe and effective changes, control IT costs, provide service assurance, and manage technology risks. These all depend on having a clear and complete understanding of what is in your environment. Also, how the various pieces are connected.

Driving Informed Decision-Making

Collecting the information about your environment is only the first step. Sharing this information with leaders, analysts, and operations staff is the first step to creating value for your business.

In digitally enabled businesses, complete, current and accurate data is essential not only to understand system performance, but also business-process performance. This data helps leaders understand where capacity constraints exist, how consistently activities are occurring, and where changes are needed to improve business performance.

Enabling Consistent Improvement

The real-value of digital transformation is realized through incremental improvements that are made to systems and business processes during a period of time, and as issues are identified, decisions are made and the impact of their results are measured.

Having a clear picture of how your IT environment works enables continuous improvement cycles to occur at a faster pace and with more predictable results. Over time, this allows the business to become more agile, and respond to challenges and opportunities quicker — improving profitability and competitive advantage.

For IT professionals, digital transformation is both an exciting and a scary trend. With the right tools and information, like those from Virima, to help them understand the full breadth of the IT environment and manage it as it evolves, your team will be able to provide the responsive and dependable services your business users require.

Virima is an industry leader in IT Discovery, IT Asset Management (ITAM), and IT Service Management (ITSM) solutions to help your IT team manage and optimize your IT environment for peak performance.