Which steps have to be taken in a digitization process?
A digital transformation starts like any other business project: with a strategy. What are my goals? What is my schedule?
On the other hand, there is an important specificity: we must innovate, taking into account history and technical debt. Very often we inherit old and sometimes outdated systems and infrastructure that often lack the agility to adapt to new needs. So that’s the challenge: How do you modernize an organization with agility using tools that are no longer sufficient? How do you execute large transformations with minimal disruption and negative business impact? Understanding what already exists is therefore one of the first questions you need to ask yourself when starting to digitize your business.
How should we approach and manage this tech debt problem?
It is therefore necessary to make existing processes and infrastructures agile without completely replacing them. That is the value of the solutions offered by ServiceNow: making the connection between the existing system and what we envision for the future.
With our platform we bring this flexibility while our partners bring their business and production knowledge. Technology without business knowledge and implementation skills is useless. And vice versa.
We also work well with large consulting and integration companies, regional integrators and specialists in their fields (HR, finance, etc.). Together we create solutions that are truly tailored to customer needs.
In summary, we combine our strengths: On the ServiceNow side, our tools enable us to carry out technical digital transformation projects. On the part of our partners, they have well-founded specialist knowledge in their favorite subjects.
We could almost speak of a perfect alliance with our partner ecosystem. You bring your expertise to build and execute a digital transformation strategy, and we deliver the solutions. We are all winners: our portfolio companies and of course the customers!
What our partners remember is the power and adaptability of our ServiceNow platform. In this way, they can look after their customers over the long term and further develop the solution as needed.
Do you also establish special connections with technology partners?
We have partnerships with major publishers such as Microsoft, Google, People Soft, IBM to name a few. That’s what we call “Work better together”.
In the last two decades, the paradigm has changed. The concept of “coopetition” developed out of the idea of competition, ie the interest of the customer comes before the individual interest of each publisher… And the interest of the customer lies in being able to benefit from innovative and valuable solutions.
For example, we embed some of our solutions into Microsoft’s, which simplifies the work of the customer, who no longer has to use two systems since everything is united in one.
And the human in all this?
In an ambitious digital transformation project, it is essential to involve all stakeholders. These are projects that can lead to profound changes in the user experience, which are carried out over several months or even years, so the support of everyone – from the highest hierarchical level to the operational teams – is essential. That is the challenge of change management.
When managing a project, communication is crucial. This is one of the most important elements when choosing a partner according to his problem.
In short, skill and talent are everything. Nothing would happen without people!