The growth and pervasiveness of connected digital technologies has transformed how almost everything gets manufactured, delivered, bought, and sold around the world.
This unrelenting transformative force compels almost every business to pursue some form of digital transformation. And at most businesses, that transformation starts with and relies upon how IT services are delivered and their supporting IT resources are managed.
IT Often Starts at the Service Desk
Digital transformation means different things to different businesses. Generally, however, the term refers to evolving how a business conducts their business in response to increasing digitalization of supply chains and buyer journeys.
One factor pushing businesses toward digital transformation is the ease of use of consumer-oriented digital services, from Amazon.com to eBay to Pokémon GO. Workers increasingly challenge IT leaders and teams to deliver business applications and services as easy to navigate and use as the online shopping and entertainment options those workers use when they’re not working.
In March and April of 2018, the Service Desk Institute (SDI) conducted a survey of service desk professionals. The subject of the survey was digital transformation. Nearly half the respondents to that survey (43 percent) said their service desk teams had already undertaken at least one digital transformation project. An additional 26 percent said they had plans for such a project in the near future.
Respondents were also asked about where the push to undertake this transformation project came from within their organizations. Some 43% of respondents cited their service desk teams, making them second only to Management (70%).
More respondents cited their service desk teams as drivers of digital transformation projects than the business (41%) or the customers (30%).
In that same survey, respondents were also asked how they prepared for their digital transformation projects. The three most popular responses were “Reviewed and/or refined processes” (67% of respondents), “Engaged with customers to discuss needs” (65%), and “Engaged with service desk team to discuss implications” (63%).
These survey results make two things clear. Many organizations are pursuing or planning to pursue digital transformation projects. And those responsible for delivering, supporting, and managing IT-powered services are often on the front lines of these efforts.
How Best to Prepare?
Whether your business is actively pursuing or simply considering a transformation project, you want to make sure it and future efforts are built on a solid foundation. This means you need effective IT Service Management (ITSM) and IT Asset Management (ITAM), as well as a comprehensive, flexible Configuration Management Database (CMDB).
These resources will provide maximum usable information about your IT estate, including the interconnections that link your IT assets to each other, your IT and business services, and your users. That information will enable you to identify, prioritize, and successfully pursue your digital transformation projects, and improve service delivery generally as well.
(See, “Digital transformation requires a better understanding of your IT environment”)
As digital transformation takes root across your business, your ITAM and ITSM efforts must be tightly integrated with your cyber security measures. This is especially true if any Internet of Things (IoT) deployments are on the horizon.
IoT devices often lack manageability and security features, and are frequently targeted as illicit entry points into corporate networks
If your business isn’t already pursuing digital transformation, it likely soon will be. Before those efforts move much further along, you and your team should ensure your IT management resources and processes are up to the challenge.
With the right management solutions and business-driven processes in place, your business can pursue digital transformation confidently, effectively, and securely, in 2019 and beyond.
Virima: Your Digital Transformation Partner
Virima’s solutions for ITAM and ITSM can help your business prepare for and pursue digital transformation consistently and successfully.
They also produce useful, actionable reports about your IT environment, for IT managers and business decision makers.
Virima features can automatically discover and map your critical IT resources and the interconnections that link them to one another, your applications and services, and your users.
Virima is here to help. To get started, contact us today to schedule a demo and explore the possibilities!
