The Digital Transformation Journey - A Nearshore Americas Expert E-Book - 7

A Journey to the Digital Frontier

With that in mind, any organization embarking on a digital transformation requires an education in the four following key areas, as well as some of
the associated challenges, and the real beneﬁts that can be derived from well-informed execution:
Speed to market.
A digital approach requires a rapid response to changing customer requirements. New products and services must be rolled out more quickly, and
sales and marketing must be more adaptive. To help achieve this, small cross-functional teams can bring down corporate silos, reacting nimbly to
individual customer segments, and reaching into partner ecosystems.
Legacy modernization.
More traditional enterprises such as manufacturing, healthcare, and insurance, may be saddled with challenging legacy IT systems. By contrast,
younger media, consumer, and technology ﬁrms may have come of age in the digital era. From a technology perspective, "legacy" no longer refers
to old mainframe environments - it can also refer to home-grown ERP systems and some .NET applications. In eﬀect, any application with a shelf life
risks becoming "legacy". The good news is that any legacy system can be included in digital transformation, and that abrupt rip-and-replace
approaches are often not necessary. Instead, digital transformation allows for the new to replace the old as part of an ongoing, iterative cycle.
Services through apps.
Traditional enterprises are becoming software providers. Continuous development and DevOps exist in a world where speed is of the essence,
and where social media, push technologies, and mobile enablement are key. This does not mean that every service will be built from the ground
up; instead, many systems will be developed quickly from assembled components. The irony is that custom software development is coming back
into vogue, with companies wanting ﬂexible features and functionality that give them optimal control over service delivery.

The Digital Transformation Journey - A Nearshore Americas Expert E-Book

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Digital Transformation Journey - A Nearshore Americas Expert E-Book