Digital Strategies that Position Enterprises in the Age of Technology

As customers’ expectations change, and the way we do business shifts further into the digital era, how companies implement their digital strategies must also change. For example, customers do business almost entirely digitally in one way or another. They use the web, social media, chatbots on landing pages, or are connected digitally in some other way that enables them to do business..

Companies’ entire reputations hang on the customer experience with the enterprise, whether it’s with their digital product or with how they interface with the company digitally in some other way. No longer, then, is enterprise technology led by back-end IT staff that only focus on the technology. The paradigm shift exists at the very core of how we understand IT to function. IT staff transition to the front-end, with their focus becoming ‘ground-zero’ for customer interaction.

In this article, we will cover three ways in which an enterprise can make these changes.

Out with the Technology-Mindset, and In with the Product-Mindset

In times past, the IT mission had been bits, bites. As long as the focus is on the zeros and the ones, all was fine. Glossy UX, cloudy usability, and easy setup are often viewed as overkill and fluff. Yet, the product that was built ‘not’ for the customer, is a thing of the past.

Customers desire a product that they want to use; that they even have fun using. An interface that ‘talks’ with customers should be intuitive and smart. Interfacing with the customer in such a way provides an experience, that if done correctly, will make the company or software product stand out.

To accomplish the outcomes listed above, IT leadership must refocus team priorities that are consistent with a business focus and not just a technical one. A meaningful understanding of the ‘user story’ within the agile methodology and the proper frame of mind by the engineers will nurture the product or solution to where the customer needs it.

Doing so requires more than just a robust engineering team. Additionally, team members with a deep understanding of business requirements and usability expectations must be integrated within the core engineering team. The focus and key performance indicator for such team members are to nurture deep business domain expertise, developing it into the culture of the IT departments.

Agile Methodology Adoption

Stability is essential while developing products and workflows. Agile methodologies, including Scrum, Kanban, and others have been proven to force the focus and planning for projects into one that solves the client's needs as set out in the user story in an iterative process. The agile discipline is essential in ensuring that enterprises are implementing the technology their customers expect. Software service providers and IT leaders must now start adhering to these methodologies and implementing them within their teams.

Determining Backend Architecture with the Future in Mind

Assessing resources and determining the functionality of back-end systems is essential, having in mind the goal of repurposing such resources in a way that would enable the implementation of the new product or services. The framework redesign should be stable multi-tiered enterprise architecture and must be optimized for speeds required by the front-end app development platforms, which requires millisecond response time for cloud-based apps.

Conclusion

Changing with the world around us isn’t easy; however, trying to catch up is even more difficult. The key is to try to be ahead of change, and that is where real innovation takes place. Transformation of our core focus is essential if innovation is going to happen.

To learn more about how Aloha Technology can provide innovative software products to your enterprise, CONTACT US. Our team would be happy to answer your questions.