Overcoming the challenges of digital transformation
Digital transformation is one of the steps on the way to a business being able to adopt artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, augmented reality (AR) and other advanced technologies that provide it with a competitive advantage. It is also seen as necessary for survival.
According to two recent reports from Gartner, there are indications that digital transformation is a priority in 2019:
"Growth is the number one priority for CEOs, and many see digital business as the primary means of achieving its growth objectives. Only 33% of enterprises have managed to reach the scaling stage of digital business." Getting to the Details of the Digital Platform: A Gartner Theme Insight Report, Bill Swanton, December 7, 2018
"Only 4% of organisations have no digital initiative at all, which signals a shift from digital as an option to digital as a mainstream platform." Smarter with Gartner, CIO Agenda 2019: Digital Maturity Reaches a Tipping Point, October 16, 2018
Digital transformation is forcing organisations to look at IT from more perspectives than ever before, as an effective strategy spans many different, previously disconnected, technology disciplines and investments.
Leading organisations today are looking for complete sets of solutions to achieve greater speed and agility, supported by a high level of protection and an advanced analytics ecosystem, to balance managing the top and bottom lines without the added risk of starting from scratch.
Helping enterprises succeed with their digital transformation is a key opportunity for channel players.
Why digital transformation is hard
According to Harvard Business Review writers, Thomas H. Davenport and George Westerman: “Digital transformation is an ongoing process of changing the way you do business. It requires foundational investments in skills, projects, infrastructure, and, often, in cleaning up IT systems. It requires mixing people, machines, and business processes, with all of the messiness that entails.”
In other words, a digital transformation project is a massive, complex project one that affects the whole of an organisation’s business, and needs to be approached with precision and a clear change management plan.
An enterprise will first look to its technology partners to understand the business outcomes of the planned transformation project, and then work closely with them to develop a solution that meets the technology needs in a holistic manner. Often a transformation project requires resources to be pulled together from many different sources. Only a channel partner is equipped to architect such a complete solution and needs to take their customer on a linear and carefully structured journey.
The components of a successful transformation
The more that an organisation can source its transformation technology from a single vendor, the simpler the overall process will be, as components will already be operating harmoniously with one another.
By combining industry-leading software and domain expertise in four core areas Micro Focus is now uniquely positioned to deliver on all critical aspects of enterprise digital transformation to help customers innovate faster with less risk.
Micro Focus has built solutions that target the four areas most critical to lasting digital transformation success:
1. Enterprise DevOps — Build and deliver better software faster
Winning the race to innovate requires a high-speed approach. Micro Focus solutions unleash the power of DevOps across the hybrid IT landscape, quickly bringing innovative ideas to life at the pace of business to securely deliver high quality software and services faster.
2. Hybrid IT management — Run and transform
IT Infrastructure, services and even purchasing models are rapidly evolving. Maximising business value and accelerating outcomes compels organisations to find new ways to extend existing investments and take advantage of new platforms – from containers to public clouds to Internet of Things (IoT). Micro Focus solutions help organisations run IT Ops at the speed of DevOps, delivering services on demand and generating operational and business insights, all while helping organisations address security, compliance and governance requirements.
3. Predictive analytics — Analyse in time to act
Data lakes are valuable only if the business can surface the insights hidden within its depths. Micro Focus helps leverage machine learning to transform unlimited volumes of data into accurate, actionable, automated insights at the speed of the business. Be in a position to make predictions and influence business outcomes quickly and efficiently with comprehensive and relevant real-time intelligence.
4. Security, risk, and governance — Secure what matters most
Cyber threats are escalating. Ageing apps and processes (along with new ones) are full of unforeseen risks. Privacy and compliance requirements are mounting. Micro Focus provides the industry's broadest set of integrated security, risk, and governance solutions, with an analytics-driven approach to securing what matters most - identities, applications and data.
For the channel, the opportunity lies in taking customers on the transformation journey, providing consultancy and structuring hardware infrastructure to best leverage the software. Successful digital transformation needs the holistic oversight and cross-vendor capabilities of channel organisations. It’s for this reason that Micro Focus hired Lachlan Downing as NZ country manager – his specific remit is to support the local channel facilitating Micro Focus support and resources throughout the sales cycle.
In February this year, Micro Focus also announced the launch of its new, unified partner program, which includes access to all products across the Micro Focus portfolio on a global scale. In conjunction with the new program, a new partner portal was introduced that streamlines and simplifies the ways partners engage with Micro Focus and customers.
Lachlan Downing said, “This year Micro Focus New Zealand has transitioned to a channel-centric model and we have also fine-tuned our partner program, which will streamline access to marketing development funds (MDF) for Gold and Platinum partners and will help accelerate turnaround time for deal registration, quotes and orders as well as build skills and capability through full access to our training and certification content.
“The announcement of the new Micro Focus partner program and portal demonstrates our continued commitment to providing an easier path for our partners to confidently generate predictable revenue, build pipeline and do business with us.”
Todd Parsons, Channel Director – Australia and New Zealand, Micro Focus, said, "The new partner program and portal brings together the full Micro Focus product portfolio and allows full access from one system and program. Leading up to this we were still working with multiple partner programs and systems as we completed the acquisition of HP’s software business. The new program will allow greater efficiencies but also ensure our customers and partners can more effectively utilise our portfolio of solutions and products.”