Taking a New Approach to Digital Transformation

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If you feel like you’re just getting a handle on this digital transformation thing, get ready to face new challenges. Companies are investing a lot of money in digital initiatives and are constantly looking for what new technology can improve their approach. That approach, for many organizations, is a move toward becoming an autonomous enterprise.

The brain behind a digital transformation consists of hardware, software, and a carefully constructed network infrastructure. Unlike a brain, these individual technologies aren’t always in sync. Increasingly, organizations are seeking out ways to find more autonomy, and they’re doing this by considering how all of their technology can work together to improve workflow and make processes easier to manage.

To attain autonomy, it takes more than just IT leaders to get it done. The people in charge of budgets, often CEOs, have to be on board because there has to be buy-in at the highest levels. They must consider the various artificial intelligence and machine learning solutions that might work for creating a more autonomous enterprise and this can take some trial and error, which comes at a cost.

Autonomy happens when the right integration solutions are adopted, but because you are likely using disparate hardware and software across the company, integration isn’t always easy. Integration and automation are still considered fairly new concepts, which various vendors are making some headway into right now and are expected to continue to evolve to add more value for companies taking on the digital transformation.

Automation Advancement

One approach to automation is to use the right tools to improve workflows from the bottom up. This involves an intense employee-wide education program so employees are up to the challenge of working with new hardware or software. This can be ideal for a new company with a minimal amount of employees but might be too expensive and disruptive for a company with many employees and an array of legacy technology.

Another automation approach is to merge new automation with existing technology in a measured and systematic fashion. The automation tools are generally application agnostic, meaning they should work on proprietary equipment, which eases the problem of working with legacy equipment.

At Truth Comm, we’re the agent that can find you the right technology to ease your way into digital transformation. From upgrading SD-WAN to getting more productivity in your unified communications to sourcing and managing internet service providers — we are actively assisting clients in making the transition that will define their future. Contact us, and let’s talk about what you get when you partner with us.

Digital Transformation Made Easy Via Cloud-Based Solutions

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Answering the question “Where is your critical data?” shouldn’t be a huge challenge, but it often is. When preparing for a digital transformation, or even while you’re in the midst of one, it’s an important question to consider, as are the questions of how it’s accessed and how fast you can get your hands on it.

Perhaps what’s muddying the response to these questions is that there is often a problem with duplication, which means data is scattered about, making acquisition of one particular piece of data a massive undertaking. Yet, most organizations are producing abundant amounts of data on a daily basis and have to look toward methods of capturing it in the right place and organizing it appropriately.

Communication Malfunction

While most people within the workplace are responsible for generating their own data, they aren’t always knowledgeable of who can retrieve it for them. This can lead to silos of data being stored so each individual who creates it knows where to go to find it. That creates a problem down the line when others in the workplace need to access said data.

Departments are putting their data in silos, which might be connected to different technologies than the department down the hall. The communication malfunction extends, then, to the hardware — and perhaps software — necessary to access it. Making the issue even more complex is that software as a service (SaaS) is now highly utilized, which creates yet more silos to contend with.
This is something that needs to be addressed if digital transformation is going to be a success.

The Cloud Solution

Cloud-based services are stepping up to take some of the confusion out of the digital transformation process. The cloud is a unifying force when applied properly to the current data-silo conundrum. It offers scalability, cost savings, and a simplified method of managing data. Furthermore, the cloud, by design, is collaborative. Instead of departments essentially coveting their data, it’s shared throughout the organization.

Getting everyone onboard with a collaborative tool such as cloud-based services can offer its own set of challenges, which is why it’s wise to bring in a third-party agent to ensure that the technology needs are being met across the entire organization.

In fact, navigating the complexities of digital transformation can be made quite a bit less stressful with the right agent at your side. At Truth Comm, we’re providing the services that help clients break down the traditional data silo and achieve improved workflow. Contact us, and let’s find the solutions that will fit your business strategy.

New Developments Anticipated in Digital Transformation

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Enterprises continue to pursue digital transformation, all in the name of improving the customer experience and streamlining business processes. For most organizations, there never comes a day when digital transformation can be checked off as finished, but those pursuing it over the last several years are likely seeing major shifts in how their business competes or in their customer satisfaction metrics.

Digital transformation continues to change. Few enterprises have embraced a complete migration to a single cloud system and are instead finding individualized, unique paths to cloud solutions. The approach rarely follows a prescribed path, and technological development is adjusting and innovating to meet enterprise needs. Watch for several changes related to digital transformation to occur in the coming months:

Multi-Cloud Becomes the Standard. Enterprises are implementing a multi-cloud approach with diverse solutions under a single heterogeneous umbrella infrastructure in an effort to meet organizational needs. It offers flexibility for the enterprise to choose specific solutions to meet business requirements. Multi-cloud also helps enterprises eliminate the risk of too much dependence on a single provider, which can introduce system failure risk or financial vulnerability in the event of a breach. Choosing a multi-cloud approach helps decrease the risk of a disaster and its impact on the enterprise.

Public and Private Cloud Become Less Separate. The rigidity of the lines between public and private cloud is fading, with business leaders prioritizing access to new technologies and unlimited scalability. Public cloud solutions are beginning to enter the data center, elevating the importance of application performance interfaces (APIs) and control plans, and requiring a focus on who is managing each stream and where it is being run.

The Debate Between Containers and Virtual Machines Will Be Over. A new set of solutions will end the debate between virtual machines and containers. Users will launch a lightweight micro-virtual machine in a nonvirtualized setting in a microsecond. This allows enterprises to get the advantages of the security and workload isolation experienced in a virtual machine while capturing the efficiency that comes with containers. Expect to see more micro-virtual machines entering the market in the next year.

The Conflict Continues Between Agility and Governance. The pace at which public cloud solutions advance is impossible to match in terms of security, operability, governance, and reliability. The surge in demand for advanced cloud solutions is often checked by the complexity of all of a new solution’s implications for other areas of the IT environment. From networking complexity to cyber security challenges, organizations will continue to struggle to have the foundations in place to adopt new solutions.

The new era of digital transformation continues to equip organizations with new opportunities to improve end-user experiences, but in many cases, the underlying infrastructure struggles to keep pace with the innovation. Contact us at Truth Comm to equip your enterprise with the right solutions and strategy to take advantage of new innovations while protecting your systems and data.

Data Analysis Is Fueling Digital Transformation

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Enterprises are increasingly engaging in digital transformation strategies. These plans are generally driven by several trends in technology including cloud solutions, Internet of Things (IoT) devices and the management of the wealth of data that comes from these new tools. There are three basic types of data analytics that enterprises are accessing:

Descriptive analytics: This reporting tells the story of what’s been happening, such as how much inventory was sold of a certain product, or how many calls came into the contact center between noon and the end of the day.

Prescriptive analytics: These reports tell what should be done. Prescriptive analytics tell a company that they need to stock more of a particular product in late summer because it is increasingly in demand by school teachers.

Predictive analytics: This reporting anticipates what will happen based on descriptive data. If a customer has called your customer service line four times over four months to complain about an invoicing problem, predictive analytics recognizes the call number and anticipates what the customer will be calling to address.

Generally, any department within an enterprise could have a demand for various types of data analytics, but much of what is driving digital transformation is the desire to harness insights for a better customer or end-user experience. For instance, a company’s sales team using a customer relationship management solution can use the data analytics from that system to better understand potential customers. They can identify the problems a potential customer may be trying to solve, based on data gathered about why current customers use a certain product.

All types of enterprises across any industry benefit from data analytics and the introduction of a digital transformation plan. From determining the amount of ingredients to purchase for an assembly line at a bakery to anticipating when a piece of machinery may fail, data analytics save time, resources and costs.

It’s important to note that while many benefits stem from utilizing data analytics, there are risks as well. Many enterprises have invested heavily in data collection and storage, and even take the step of analyzing the data. Some fall short when it’s time to put the data to action and improve productivity or create cost-saving innovations. Data is only valuable when it is mobilized for the enterprise.

Real-time data can be particularly helpful in situations like assembly lines, where it can be used to improve quality control and address efficiency issues.

If you’re initiating a digital transformation strategy, contact us at Truth Comm. We can help you prioritize your decisions related to cloud migration and IoT investments, as well as create the right framework for data analysis that better informs your decision makers.

Digital Transformation: Who’s Making the Smooth Transition?

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Digital transformation isn’t the same for every organization. In fact, the definition can be different per entity. However, it’s rare to find a business that hasn’t embraced it in one form or another.

In some cases, the process is made difficult by the simple fact that people can be resistant to change. In many cases, change equals pain in the minds of employees. However, by focusing on the processes within digital transformation that bring positive results, change can be pain-free.

The telecom sector is one that is experiencing great change with the evolution of digital transformation. The goal for most is to please customers while lowering costs and improving flexibility. Mature markets aren’t expected to see as much change as those in emerging markets, mostly due to the multiplier effect the process has on economic growth.

For example, mobile subscriptions in Africa improved by a rate of 81% compared to 154% in Eastern Europe. By some accounts, the gross domestic product of emerging and developing markets will probably increase at double the rate of those in mature markets.

What most can agree upon with digital transformation is that there are common components, including automation, analytics, cloud, and open source processes. Automation is important in reducing cycle times in service creation and network configuration. At the same time, bringing open source to the forefront can lower capex and open the door for more innovation.

Operators need insight to thrive, and that’s what analytics in digital transformation brings to the table. Analytics are used to gain critical insights that set the stage for a better view of customer behavior over time.

Everyone wants a more cost-effective solution, which is what the cloud can offer to organizations. With cloud-based solutions, operators are able to incorporate more components that deliver better services and open up new channels for third parties to bring their value into the fold.

At Truth Comm, we’re focused on assisting clients who feel overwhelmed by all the telecom options available to them today. If you’re going through a digital transformation, we can position you in such a way that will put you ahead of the technology curve without adding confusion to the process. Contact us today to talk about making your digital transformation process pain-free.

To Plan a Digital Transformation, Start With Communications

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It’s a rare enterprise that’s not currently embarking on a digital transformation plan. While the speed of implementation may vary, companies are recognizing that without embracing digital technology, it will be impossible to remain competitive or offer a superior customer experience.

Whether it’s migrating data storage to the cloud or deploying a fleet of Internet of Things (IoT) devices, digital transformation relies heavily on the quality of communications that the enterprise has implemented. Advancing new technologies requires the efficiency of a quality communications tool and progress is dependent on end users having access to the communications format they prefer, whether that is voice, chat, email, or video.

Use end-to-end monitoring. Network problems usually show up first in voice communications, before they start affecting data. Searching for the problem can be tedious and time-consuming. Take a proactive approach by monitoring network activity from end to end so that any problems can be identified and repaired before end users notice any disruption.

Test the network extensively before adding new technology. In a lot of cases, there are unknowns in the network structure when layering on new unified communications tools. By completing an assessment before new tools are added, the team has visibility into what might be causing any issues. For instance, you can test the network to see what happens to voice quality as the number of simultaneous calls increases.

Change to a proactive approach. When you’re deep into a multi-year digital transformation plan, you should be taking a proactive approach to network monitoring. Set up thresholds to monitor key performance indicators like voice quality, so that long before your end user knows there’s a problem, you’ve already corrected it.

Prioritize the most important concerns. As your combination of on-site and hosted applications, communications formats, and data storage options all become more complex, you’re going to see more alerts telling you about possible network issues. In order to prevent alarm fatigue, where you cease paying attention to any of the problems, you’ll need to prioritize mission-critical alerts.

Get insight into the user’s experience. Network performance can tell you a lot about what the customer sees when they use your site. Latency, for instance, might indicate that you have an area of overcapacity that needs addressing.

Truth Comm helps you sort out which network technology is best for your needs.  We will match you with the networking solution that will fit the scalability and size of your business. Contact us for more information.

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