Mark Smith's Analyst Perspectives

The technology industry has established itself as a pivotal force in its ability to help organizations become more intelligent and automated. But doing so has required a journey of epic proportions for most organizations that have had to endure a transition of competencies and skills that was, in many places, transitioned to consulting firms who were hired appropriately to manage changes. Unfortunately, this step led, in many cases, to an extended focus on digital transformation rather than the necessary modernization of business processes and technology. Through 2024, after concerted investment into digital transformation, one-half of organizations will require a new digital business and technology agenda for organizational resilience.

The challenge for organizations is that the considerable portfolio of technology investments available distracts from the potential of the digital transformation itself which is essential and must be the top priority. The measure for which is the effectiveness in using technology for optimal outcomes that is not always directly obvious. Through the modernization of applications and business processes, organizations have been able to define the differentiated experiences that optimize business results. In many cases, the expected efficiency is not possible with existing technology and requires a re-evaluation of the technology vendors being utilized.

In 2025, one-quarter of organizations will remain digitally ineffective in achieving business priorities for customer-, product- and people-related processes. Through an examination of the business trends from the technology industry, organizations can more confidently move forward. Let’s examine the top business trends for 2023:

• Digitize Business Processes for Monetization and Resilience.
  • The advancement, or establishment, of a digital business has introduced methods to modernize using digital technologies that enable the automation and workflow of business processes. The utilization of a digital platform designed to transfer responsibility of tasks from one individual to another can ensure the efficiency of business processes.
• Customer Experiences Require Leadership for Retention and Results.
  • The path to maximize customer lifetime value requires a focus toward personalized experiences utilizing technology designed for engagement and interaction. The adoption of applications designed for customer engagement with live or virtual agents helps ensure issue resolution and customer satisfaction.
• Excellence in Financial and Operational Performance Requires Modernization.
  • Generating timely financials necessitates applications in order to plan and close effectively, requiring finance teams to more assertively modernize their technology. The opportunity to use automation for repetitive processes and the consolidation of data can help ensure the most efficient means to obtain financial reporting for any set of requirements.
• Organizational Readiness Requires People Excellence in HCM Processes.
  • Utilizing the workforce efficiently requires engagement for maximum productivity and thus necessitates a focus on technology to support the experiences and engagement of the life cycle of employment and interactions with HR. Innovation in use of HCM applications is providing new opportunities to ensure that the skills and value of teams and people are expertly utilized by ensuring workers and managers are most optimally aligned and share mutual goals for the relationship.
• Revenue Excellence Requires Technology Designed for Outcomes.
  • Reaching targets from any revenue channel and/or department requires digital renovation with a focus on revenue operations and performance using applications that are fit for purpose. The utilization of technology designed for planning, optimization and revenue guides sales operations to reach goals and potential incentives.

To address these five key business trends, organizations must evaluate digital technology that can establish a modern computing environment and is engaged to the business priorities.

• Emerging Digital Technologies Modernize Work and Processes.
  • Advancing the organization’s potential requires the use of work management and digital communications designed for engagement across a hybrid workforce. Technology designed for defining and managing tasks to ensure execution can help assure proper utilization of resources.
• Use of Goals and Collaboration Govern Workforce Performance.
  • Embracing the use of objectives and goals (OKR) technology with collaboration guides activity to outcomes by engaging workers in a direct manner. The re-introduction of the principles of performance management across an organization requires applications designed to meet the priorities of business.
• Analytics and Planning Platforms Required to Support ESG (Environmental Social and Governance) Efficiently.
  • Utilizing modern, digital platforms for analytics and planning for sustainability decisions and goal setting will help ensure alignment to the sustainability and ESG efforts in any organization. To meet auditability of sustainability metrics, streamlining the complexity of data helps not only report on ESG but also plans for the improvement of an organization’s carbon footprint.
• Orchestration of Digital Processes Enable Workflow of Experiences.
  • Ensuring optimal experiences for any party inside or outside of the organization requires machine learning (ML) to personalize digital interactions enabled by the automation of workflows and processes. Optimizing interactions between people and machines starts with analyzing data to gain knowledge about where opportunity for improvement exists and how issues can be resolved before they occur.
• Integrate Hybrid Cloud Computing to Streamline for Business Continuity.
  • To properly unify the array of clouds for operations and insights requires the seamless integration of data and events. The discoverability and fabric of data should enable the ability to gain intelligence on the operations of technology and the business operations of the organization.

These top business and technology trends for 2023 will help you set your compass as to where your organization should assess its efforts to adapt to the necessity of becoming a modern and digital business. Organizations should not rest but rather take direct control of the technology destiny for their business requirements and examine the means to streamline business processes across the array of cloud computing environments being utilized.

Regards,

Mark Smith