7 Trends to Watch in Digital Transformation

by Jim Sinur

Early trends in Digital Transformation included Mobile First capabilities for new revenue opportunities and getting to the Cloud for cost reasons. While these trends are still continuing to unfold, new trends have also emerged.

This blog identifies seven additional trends that are gaining momentum in the Digital Transformation arena.

1. Excellence in User Experience (UX)

Organizations now understand the importance of creating a superb user experience with the advent of ever-improving experiences with the likes of Amazon and Uber. Transforming your UX starts with mapping out your customer journey.

2. Surround Legacy Portfolios for Better Leverage

Organizations most often leverage existing systems’ assets before they replace them. This puts a premium on wrapping and composition of the old with the new.

3. Analytic Lead Efforts

Data visualization of new sources of data like signals/events/patterns and process actions is accelerating. Add cognitive assists to deal with the increasing speed of digital.

4. Process and Application Improvement

Digital isn’t free, so finding funding sources is a challenge. This puts a premium on optimizing processes and applications to wring out more money for future improvements and better profits. Process intelligence through mining is solid contributor here.

5. Exploration of IoT/Software Connection

IoT works well for contained situations like braking in a car. Now IoT will broaden its impact, with the combination with software and firmware to produce innovative solutions that can combine machines, software, and humans in new ways. More control can be put on the edge and only involve human intervention as needed.

6. Hyper Convergence

Convergence is already happening in the Cloud with reduction of Cloud specialists and the growth of Cloud biospheres. This convergence will continue for infrastructure plays such as big data and integration, but it will really accelerate to include business differentiating technologies such as process/work management, analytic/cognitive intelligence, integration, the internet of things, and business applications. The Digital Business Platform, which has high levels of convergence, is beginning to emerge and will gain momentum.

7. Real Digital Identity

From the customer’s perspective, Digital Identity is not focused on CX. While it’s deeply embedded in many places, where it exists, it is mostly aimed at supporting a specific technology or group of related technologies. This is beginning to change, starting with true digital identity vendors emerging now.

Bottom Line

The speed and complexity of digital transformations is increasing as organizations are pushing digital to the edge as they see the positive results. Trends to watch in this space will only continue to expand as we move closer to 2020.