Things are changing. In today’s digital ecosystem, businesses must continuously innovate their products and services to remain competitive. The COVID-19 pandemic further upended the markets and pushed many companies to the brink. Some had to suspend operations because they could neither open their physical stores nor go digital. Whatever the reason, organizations have heard the wake-up call. Many are looking to reinvent with technology, but most find it challenging to do so.
Digital Transformation is Essential
Many CIOs, CTOs, and policymakers fail to understand that digital transformation is a continuous process, not a one-time solution. Many businesses, however, treat it as the latter. Because of this misunderstanding, most reinvention processes fail before they even begin. To avoid this pitfall, IT leaders must adopt a strategic approach to change and use the right technology to ensure a successful transformation.
So, where do you start?
Choosing the right technology is ideal, but that’s only the beginning. To succeed, you need a scalable roadmap. In this article, we’ll discuss the top 5 technological approaches to reinventing your business.
1. How Can I Give Customers the Best User Experience Technology?
Customer expectations constantly change, but many businesses fail to change with them. Unfortunately, keeping up with evolving user demands is no mean feat. Many IT managers and senior developers say providing a great user experience is expensive to implement, especially when it comes to enterprise or IBM i applications. That said, providing a great user experience is mandatory. Customers expect certain UI features. They are used to a new generation of smart, user-centric devices that make the software more accessible. Because of this, businesses need to take the user perspective and ask, “Is this better?” before implementing changes. If your solutions don’t improve speed, productivity, efficiency, or ROI, they aren’t solutions. Gaining user adoption is critical, and you cannot achieve that without improving the user experience.
Technology also fuels customer demands. Emerging technologies shape the way users solve problems and how they interact with businesses. As a result, delivering a great user experience can be challenging and expensive, especially using a traditional development process. The key to success is adopting a technology that allows you to respond quickly to customer needs. A low code platform like LANSA is the perfect example of agile tech. With LANSA, your developers can build applications faster, with less complexity. LANSA is also easy to use. Its multiple deployments and migration capabilities make it easier to improve your user experience on any platform, like single or multitier Windows, Linux, and IBM i (System i, iSeries, AS/400) servers.
Get valuable insights on how you can provide the best user technology in this article about IBM AS400 system as well as how to distinguish between a mainframe and a standalone system in this IBM iSeries mainframe article.
2. How Can Technology Help My Employees Excel in the Face of Modernization and Migration?
Modernization takes a back seat in many organizations. After all, if it’s working, why fix it? It is flawed logic. Just because something gets you from point A to point B does not mean it’s the best way. It would help if you reached point B faster in today’s economy, and dated processes can’t help you achieve that. The amount of money spent on digital transformation and technology will reach $2.3 trillion in 2023. In other words, if you don’t modernize, you get left behind.
So how do you modernize? It starts with a modernization strategy. You don’t just start for the sake of it. First, you need to identify areas that need improvement. Some situations do not require new apps. Modernization, in this case, means adding functionality to existing screens. The key to success is investing in application modernization projects that result in a faster time to market, a better customer experience, and ultimately a higher ROI.
Choosing the Right Technology
Choosing the right technology is another factor critical to the success of your modernization plan. Some organizations hire more developers whenever there’s a need for improvements or new applications that require a different skillset. That usually results in a slower time to market. Among other things, it takes time to onboard new developers. In this case, you need a technology that makes it easy to improve and build modern applications without additional hiring quickly. With LANSA, you can create new applications while leveraging leverage your existing developer’s skillsets.
IT departments that use older development languages (like COBOL, RPG, PowerBuilder, or Visual Basic) often get caught in a downward spiral. It starts with a few developers who don’t have the opportunity or refuse to learn new tech. As a result, user requests for modernization and innovation are not met. This situation results in shadow IT — users creating their solutions. The ERP solution, its platform, and even the developers that support it develop a “negative legacy” image. The system officially goes into ‘maintenance mode .’ The company focuses efforts on getting off the platform and starting from scratch with something new.
Bemis Manufacturing decided to reverse that trend by capitalizing on its existing infrastructure and redeveloping where it needed to. The Bemis IT team re-trained in LANSA and has delivered one successful project after another. Four IT college graduates joined the team and familiarized themselves with LANSA in just a few weeks. The business solutions the team delivered with LANSA have resulted in productivity gains of over 20% and contributed to more effective decision-making.
Bemis Manufacturing case study using LANSA
3. Should I Automate Redundant Processes?
Most enterprises rely primarily on their IT departments to keep business operations running smoothly. However, a depleting developer pool and human inefficiency have left many companies with broken or redundant business processes. They lack the personnel. Many organizations also waste resources by having employees performing easily automated tasks. What’s more, these businesses face increased demand to execute labor-intensive processes more quickly. By automating more manual processes, companies reduce their dependency on their IT departments. Their IT staff can then focus on improving the business rather than merely keeping it afloat.
You can automate redundant processes using low-code platforms like LANSA. LANSA supports business automation by allowing you to build new solutions faster with integrated automation tools.
Learn more about improved enterprise solutions in this article on IBM AIX download free.
4. How Can I Utilize APIs to Turbocharge My Existing Infrastructure?
There is a wide variety of digital transformation solutions a business can utilize. Unfortunately, the choices are limited regarding affordability, simple implementation, and rapid, measurable ROI. One option, however, is powerful low-code development platforms that allow companies to leverage APIs in designing and building custom applications for their specific needs.
The API is another incredibly accessible technology. APIs also provide small to medium-sized companies with capabilities that were unimaginable just a few years ago. Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) act as a connection between different computers and software. They help developers establish communication between apps and third-party services and platforms. They are an essential tool that empowers developers to leverage third-party data, services, or functions they would otherwise need to create from scratch.
When it comes to digital transformation, APIs are remarkably valuable. They allow companies to quickly and effortlessly create complex and powerful multi-functional applications. According to the State of API Integration Report, 83% of tech specialists surveyed consider API integration critical to their work.
5. How Can I Streamline My IT With Low Code?
A lack of streamlined processes is one of the leading causes of delays. From prototyping to deployment, the average traditional development process takes four to nine months. With low code platforms, businesses can streamline existing processes without increasing costs or straining the development team. This process decreases the time needed to bring software to market. Facilitating rapid development and deployment of enterprise applications makes low-code platforms a tremendous digital transformation tool.
Are You Ready to Reinvent Your Business?
Low-code development platforms arm IT with the ability to develop and deliver enterprise applications rapidly. Compared to traditional application development, low-code greatly minimizes hand-coding in multiple languages. It also maximizes code re-use, reduces risk, and eliminates the need to find elusive and costly full-stack developers.
The goal of reinventing is to better position yourself to meet your customer needs, ultimately increase ROI, and remain competitive. In a digital economy, ROI equals IT output, and the best way to improve IT output is to provide your current staff with better development tools. LANSA is simply the best tool to empower your IT processes. It comes fully packed with features and solutions that’ll help you implement the five approaches discussed in this article.
Are you ready to empower your IT with the right tools? Contact us!