This week, Micro Focus released a whitepaper in conjunction with IDC on the topic of digital transformation (DX).  IDC compiled information for this study from hundreds of interviews, and their annual survey of tens of thousands of IT and business decision makers, making them a top authority on digitally transforming the enterprise. 

Here are a few highlights:

DX is of Paramount Importance

IDC notes that digital transformation (DX) is not just another buzzword, but rather a vital directive – one that will help organizations remain relevant in a constantly evolving and competitive landscape.  It is expected that IT spending will continue to trend toward initiatives like these, which will help organizations deliver differentiated and compelling experiences or outcomes. 

In fact, IDC forecasts that by 2023, digital transformation spending will grow to over 50% of all IT investment, up from 36% today.

There are Four Core Pillars of DX

While DX touches virtually every corner of the organization and stakeholders often have differing priorities, there are usually clear intersections across the enterprise on what needs to be accomplished. 

Fundamentally, what organizations are trying to do is move faster, have greater agility, secure what matters most, and leverage insights to drive value.  These four core pillars of DX align directly to established – yet historically disconnected – software markets:

Enterprise DevOps – Users are hungry for “new and improved” today, not tomorrow. Ensure timely software delivery by optimizing value streams from request to business value. Align stakeholder priorities, strengthen collaboration, automate everything, and scale DevOps with confidence.
Hybrid IT Management – The IT landscape is a complex, dynamic hybrid of traditional and cloud-based technologies. Simplify hybrid complexity while transforming IT into a true service-driven organization to fully participate in digital business success.
Security, Risk & Governance – Safeguard the assets that matter most to organization: identities, applications and data. This is important all the time, but perhaps never more relevant than during a period of transition, when processes and technology are evolving.
Predictive Analytics – Learn more about unmet customer needs, under-funded parts of the business, and emerging business models to drive the top line.

The whitepaper describes each in detail, and the IT and business impact of pursuing DX initiatives in these core areas.

‘Smart DX’ Bridges the Existing and Emerging

While organizations recognize that they must evolve their IT practices to stay competitive, they also know that the core business systems and supporting processes they have developed over time are the lifeblood of the organization.  Instead of adopting a rip-and-replace strategy that can yield unacceptable risk, many instead wish to pursue a modernization strategy that bridges existing and emerging investments and technology.  In fact, the research indicates that 65% of enterprises will aggressively modernize systems of record, through 2023.

AI and Machine Learning are Critical DX Ingredients

Advanced analytics have historically been sold as stand-alone offerings. With additional requirements being placed on IT, and as organizations are finding new and better ways to bridge formerly distinct data silos, expectations are now also evolving.  AI/ML is now becoming a critical ingredient in all four core pillars of DX solutions.  For example:

– IDC predicts that by 2023, 66% of organizations will be beyond piloting AI/ML as part of application development, with nearly 10% optimizing AI/ML across development, design, quality, security, and deployment.
– IDC predicts that over the next few years enterprises that embrace new analytics and AI-driven solutions and processes will be able to double their knowledge worker productivity, and increase the success of new product and service introductions by 25%.
– 80% of organizations will devise and differentiate end-customer value measures by leveraging economies of intelligence through their platform ecosystems.

We are very excited to share the findings of this whitepaper and believe it will be a valuable reference for any organization currently planning – or in the middle of – a DX project.  In the end, we believe those who are able to evolve and attain the speed, agility, security and insights available from such initiatives will succeed in today’s rapidly evolving marketplace.  Those who do not will likely struggle.  The disparity is that stark.

Micro Focus has also just released some additional resources on this topic, which you might find useful as well:

– What is Digital Transformation: a FAQ-style summary touching on the facts of DX
– Digital Transformation Lookbook: A deeper-dive overview of what’s driving DX investments
– Micro Focus.com: an updated home page that focuses more on DX related solutions

If you have any questions for me personally please find me here on Twitter.

Joe Garber is Global Head, Strategy & Solutions at Micro Focus.