COVID-19 has made organizations rethink their online strategies and adopt approaches that are cost-efficient, productive, and securely delivering a digital experience. Today, the need for automation in enterprises has grown substantially and they are realizing that automation is the way ahead. “It is exciting to see both the public and private sectors in India creating growth opportunities through digital transformation. Initiatives, such as Digital India and the Smart Cities Mission, are contributing to modernization in the healthcare, communication, energy, banking, and technology sectors,” opines Geeman Yip, CEO of BitTitan, a SaaS-based cloud enablement provider based in Bellevue, Washington. In a conversation with CXO Outlook, Geeman Yip talks about the benefits of automation in digital transformation, best practices that an IT manager can adopt to streamline the IT process and much more.
How important is digital transformation for business? Which sectors have been most successful with digital transformation projects?
Digital transformation is critical for helping businesses keep up in a constantly changing market and focus on their core business. It is also essential for businesses that are seeking to use their data to expand revenue opportunities. There isn’t a designated path that businesses must take to transform. IT leaders should instead drive transformation in areas that will have the most impact on how the business operates. The risk of not evolving fast enough is great.
It is exciting to see both the public and private sectors in India creating growth opportunities through digital transformation. Initiatives, such as Digital India and the Smart Cities Mission, are contributing to modernization in the healthcare, communication, energy, banking, and technology sectors.
Do you think India is the most aggressive country in terms of deploying digital transformation? Why?
In the past year, many organisations accelerated digital transformation by adopting and upgrading technology to maintain business continuity company-wide. India is among the leaders driving the transformation to a digital economy with support from the country’s rapid cloud migration. With digital spending increasing India has been on a digital-first path, urged on by its aim of becoming a trillion-dollar digital economy by 2025.
Gartner anticipates public cloud spending to increase 29% between 2020 and 2021. Businesses have also benefited from government support and enhancements in internet connectivity, reach and affordability. This benefits India’s highly innovative tech community, which has put India among the leaders in digital transformation.
What is the impact on competition and innovations introduced in the market?
Introducing more competition to the market will drive the acceleration of innovation in addition to driving costs lower. Competition is great for adoption as organizations need to constantly innovate in order to maintain competitive advantage. The acceleration of digital transformation will enhance competition and pave the way for businesses to introduce more innovative products and services. It is changing how businesses gain an edge in the market as well as radically transforming business models, methods of production and distribution.
What are the key benefits of automation in digital transformation?
Automating business processes and disparate systems helps organizations streamline operations, which saves time and enhances productivity. As digital transformation efforts mature, the number of IT systems grows, and the management of these assets becomes increasingly complex. Automation simplifies these systems and allows manual processes to happen faster. Companies can also ensure that security and governance protocols are followed consistently.
At Voleer we help businesses focus on strategic tasks, manage outcomes, and solve problems proactively with a growing library of automation in categories which include productivity, security, governance, cost and adoption. We are currently integrated with Microsoft 365, Microsoft Azure, Zendesk and more, with additional integrations being built and these platforms are integral to the service that we provide to our clients.
How important is leadership? What are the best practices that an IT manager can adopt to streamline the IT process?
Strong leadership contributes to employee productivity and encourages teams to accomplish business objectives. It is also a key factor in the success of digital transformation plans. The leadership of IT managers will either help companies pave the way for benefits realized by digital adoption or take organizations backward with archaic technology and processes. IT managers should help other leaders understand that IT doesn’t just manage laptops and servers anymore. A strong, innovative IT team and leader can help propel digital transformation efforts forward. This can lead to growth from new revenue streams, improved customer experience, optimized internal processes and much more.
IT managers should look towards automation which can support the entire IT lifecycle. There are several areas where IT processes can be automated, and this allows IT professionals to concentrate on more intensive tasks. With Voleer’s no-code library of cloud-based, ready-to-launch automation, anyone can get started automating the systems they already use with just a few clicks.
What would be your word of advice to CIOs and IT executives who finally are ready to make this step and are just about to embark on the digital transformation journey?
My advice to CIOs and IT decision-makers is to not approach digital transformation as a one-time project of moving legacy applications to the cloud. Digital transformation is a mindset of leveraging technology to transform all aspects of their business.
Automation will be the reality for businesses. As new technologies emerge, IT leaders will need to be able to keep up with what is available on the market and quickly evaluate how it can add value, improve work processes, and serve as a competitive asset.
About Geeman Yip
Geeman Yip is the founder and CEO of BitTitan, a SaaS-based cloud enablement provider based in Bellevue, Washington. Geeman founded BitTitan in 2007 to help IT service providers and businesses assess, deploy and manage technology solutions in a rapidly changing cloud world. Prior to BitTitan, Geeman was a Program Manager for Microsoft Exchange, architecting what would become the foundation for today’s Office 365 suite. He has over two decades’ worth of experience in the software and IT spaces. Geeman holds a bachelor’s degree in information and computer science from the University of California, Irvine.