We’re in an age where it seems like everything is being offered as a service – from clothing to television and groceries. To thrive and not just survive in this new era, businesses need to meet customers’ evolving expectations. In order to do this, they need to implement disruptive processes and technology.
Raising the bar
With customer engagement expectations rising to new heights, business leaders need to raise the bar, too. Digital is no longer a channel – it is fundamental to the success of a business and a means to monetization of new models. To explore the status of organizations’ digital transformation efforts, SAP Hybris commissioned a Forrester Consulting Thought Leadership Paper, titled “Leverage Agile Software Development to Deliver Business Flexibility.” The paper reveals findings and key insights from a June 2017 survey of 285 marketing, line of business, and IT leaders.
As digital evolution forces businesses to deliver new products, services, and experiences better and faster than ever before, it was no surprise that the survey found that 90 percent of digital strategy decision-makers agree their organizations need to accelerate digital business. However, it also revealed that only one-third of organizations have a clearly defined and articulated digital strategy today. This is a clear disconnect that proves businesses acknowledge the importance of going digital but are unwilling to invest in the steps to do so.
Microservices = faster time to market
Respondents cited several challenges in embracing a digital strategy, despite its recognized benefits of automation, productivity, and transformation. Key factors preventing digital effectiveness included growth and variety of data, data security, and lack of internal skills. To achieve the flexibility and business agility needed to transform and thrive, many are turning to agile delivery practices, including a microservices approach – which drives faster time to market.
Survey findings uncover that the top benefits of transitioning to a microservices based software architecture include faster fault discovery and resolution, scalability, reduced dependence on a single technology stack, reduced development time, and lower operational costs. These are all factors that will help businesses to innovate and ultimately exceed customer demands.
It’s evident that organizations must transform, and this can only be done with an agile system in place.
