Overcome Obstacles of Digital Transformation: Find Your Inner Luke or Samwise

J.R.R. Tolkien considered Samwise Gamgee as “the chief hero” of his The Lord of the Rings trilogy. He was selfless and determined to help his neighbor and friend, Frodo, succeed in a nearly impossible quest. They were both physically small and, according to some, insignificant in the grand scheme of things; however, their focus and determination to support each other by using their unique skills towards the common goal proved to be more powerful and ultimately more successful than all of the forces lined up against them.

Likewise, working in IT these days can appear to be a seemingly impossible and oftentimes thankless role. On average, the business takes 61% of IT’s budget before IT even has a chance to decide where to spend it, and IT doesn’t have Batman’s unlimited funds. Users are clamoring for everything to be available and usable on their mobile devices, but IT supports over 300 applications on average, has to prioritize project requests, and manage vendors whose technology is not mobile or user friendly. The number of connected devices IT supports today is double what was supported a year ago and expected to hit 25 billion devices by 2020, nearly a 400% increase in 4 short years.

It’s nearly impossible to keep up with the changes demanded by internal and external customers, let alone on a budget that is half of what it should be to maintain existing systems and deliver innovation. In today’s IT landscape, how can you provide superior services to ensure you’re competitive in the market, achieve mobility the way your users expect, and manage the barrage of BYO-everything as an IT Hero should? How can you rise above the flood, leap tall buildings, and achieve success for your users?

The IT hero journey begins with one overarching goal in mind: Become the Chief Service Provider delivering the Digital Workplace. This is defined by Gartner as the “ongoing deliberate approach to delivering a more consumer-like computing environment to business users.”

Why not? Your users are no longer relegated to a BlackBerry. IT is also no longer restricted. Cloud, mobility, outsourcing, automation, social, big data analytics – these are just a few of the disruptive advancements that are providing IT with actionable information, technology and the power to become more competitive The impact IT has on all aspects of the business today is impressive and vast. All revenue producing departments rely on IT, as does human resources, facilities, marketing, legal, customer service, end-user engagement, and others.

The same applies to external customer facing services. Higher education student services are where so much focus and energy are applied. Healthcare providers need to digitize the doctors, nurses, and patient workplace experience; insurance appraisers and adjusters; manufacturing plant and warehouse workers. All demands are generated from the same question to the same group – what is the best way for IT to empower and support their customer base?

A true IT hero looks at his or her customers from the outside-in. Can the same technology that was developed in 2005 to log incidents and change requests truly engage a non-technical end-user trying to submit an incident, order a new laptop from a mobile device, download a whitelisted application, or manage today’s complex onboarding or off-boarding processes from a tablet? Is the user interface slick and intuitive so that the most non-technical gravitate towards business applications like they do their iPhone at home? Can your users do everything they need to from their smartphone? Are all assets, IT and non-IT, connected and not connected, managed from cradle to grave with associated contracts, warranties, stock, and reports accessible from a mobile device? The simple answer is no…but they can be. Thinking more strategically, how capable are you in IT at rolling out new services in line with business timelines, especially with current budgets and resources?

While the constant tide of challenges is not ebbing, there are answers to these questions and approaches that will ensure your organization’s success and your team’s rightful place amongst the IT Heroes of the world.

• Align IT as the Chief Service Provider with the mandate to create a Digital Workplace
• Leverage ITIL best practices to implement processes that support the end goal
• Prioritize budget and resources to address customer experience head-on
• Make mobility a key initiative

Now, as we are soon going to be talking all things Star Wars this holiday season, who is the hero – and why is it you?