Expert: How to improve brands' digital transformation

For years, organizations have been told that digital transformation is key to survival as we go further into the tech-filled world of automation, cloud and AI. Those who listened were well equipped to handle the curveballs that came their way. Those who didn't, are still struggling to catch up as IT budgets shifted to support a remote workforce and keep struggling businesses afloat. But, what about those companies in the "in-between," whose projects got neglected while the pandemic took center stage? Here are three tips to help brands on-going digital transformations.

by Kristina Knight

First, don't automate unless you can validate

"Even if you can automate something a thousand times, there can still be a thousand mistakes. You really need to apply validation around that. That's what intent-based networking is doing as well starting at day zero with your operations because when you design it with operations in mind, you have the flexibility and the speed that you need. You should never have to choose between doing something fast and doing it right," said Zack Zilakakis, Marketing Lead, Apstra.

Second, ensure your tools are predictive

"With intent-based networking, we've taken from reactive to proactive, to predictive. And so we're able to say, this is how your network is going to operate and if it doesn't, we're going to go ahead and let you know. Or, if we believe there's going to be a problem, we're going to be predictive and let you know. And so they love that. It just makes their lives a lot easier. Now, they're able to grow their data center, they're able to grow their network footprint without relying or without having to rely on the whole resource perspective," said Zilakakis.

Third, it's not what you're trying to solve, but how to go about it

"The first thought is to usually start all over by ripping and replacing everything and starting fresh. This will undoubtedly give you bleeding edge technology but what organizations often forget about is that they have some core "legacy" systems along with intellectual property and processes that have evolved that are delivering real value. These records systems can't be re-created overnight, especially without degrading ROI or introducing added risk," said Zilakakis. "A better solution is to pursue a modernization strategy where you bring in technology that effectively bridges the old and the new. If you can find open and integrated backwards compatible technology to supplement what you already have then you can effectively run AND transform your technology at the same time. This is what I like to call strategic digital transformation, and it will bring that success rate up."

Tags: advertising, Apstra, digital transformation, digital transformation tips, ecommerce, mobile marketing