Channel must prepare for greater digital transformation complexity

The predictions for 2020 are starting to come in and one of the clear expectations is that the momentum around digital transformation projects is set to continue.

Spending from customers looking to use technology to support innovation and unleash efficiences will not stop, and given the uncertianty around Brexit is ending some delayed projects could be green lighted.

But 2020 is not going to be quite the same as 2019 with customer demands changing and it will mean more work for the channel as users look to be more ambitious.

"In 2020, organisations will increase their digital transformation ambitions. We will see fewer projects that focus on a single outcome or technology – whether AI, cloud, IoT or smart devices. Instead, digital innovation will encompass multiple technologies in projects that can truly transform a business. For instance, manufacturers will make their factory floors smarter; retailers will offer entirely new experiences to their customers; and local governments will ensure every member of the community can access essential services," said Felix Gerdes, director of digital innovation services, at Insight UK.

"Making multiple technologies and solutions work together to achieve these goals will often require specialist knowledge and skills the organisation does not possess. As the demand for skilled employees and contractors increases, more enterprises will seek the advice and abilities of solution integrators to help make their ambitions a reality," he added.

Neil Murphy, global vp at ABBYY, was also in agreement that the months ahead would see the demand of customers evolve, with him sharing the view that overhauling processes will become a necessity, not a nice-to-have.

He added that some of the current tools are not quite going far enough and there would need to be extra work going forward.

“With the process mining market set to triple by 2023, and as more complex deployments of digital transformation technologies ramp up, the ability to monitor a business’ processes will become critically important. However, individual technologies like RPA and BPM only have visibility over the steps they control – so new technology is needed to provide visibility of the process end-to-end," he said.

"To get the insights needed to improve customer service and operational efficiency, and ultimately boost profits, organisations will need to take advantage of process intelligence tools that go beyond more simple process mining," he added.

Wilson Raj, global director of customer intelligence at SAS, was among some looking at embracing AI and other tools to make life easier for those trying to change their businesses.

"In 2020, companies must turn to AI-driven automation to help operationalise those analytics if they are to remain competitive. With the deluge of data and proliferation of customer contact opportunities, it is no longer humanly possible to make the thousands of decisions required per second to deliver great CX without automation in the mix," he said.