Kathy Gibson reports – The next phase of digital transformation will be driven by content services that are connected, cognitive, governed and secure.
This is the word from Ed McQuiston, executive vice-president and chief commercial officer at Hyland, presenting the keynote address at the company’s Summit meeting in Johannesburg today.
Hyland will drive this strategy through new features in its Alfresco and OnBase product sets, as well as new industry vertical solutions to complement the existing product and services offerings.
With Covid having changed the way organisations do business, digital transformation is progressing faster than ever.
“If I had walked into any organisation’s boardroom in January 2020 and suggested we send the whole company home within a week – it would have been considered impossible. And yet, for most of us, it quickly became possible because of necessity.
“And companies quickly looked at their analogue processes and had to figure out a way to do them digitally and remotely.”
He points out that CEOs have defined the internal focuses their companies will have to get to grips with in 2022 are:
* The Great Resignation;
* Accelerated digital transformation;
* Improved cash flow;
*Developing the next generation of leaders; and
* Modifying their business models.
Customer expectations are at the centre of these focuses. They have changed over the last two years, and digital services are at the centre of these expectations. “Do we leave those expectations at home. Or do we take them to work?” McQuiston asks. “You take them to work: you want the same experience you get at home at work.”
Customer experience is now vital for organisations, but it needs to interact with the experiences of the employees, with a connected experience delivered in an easy-to-use user interface.
These experiences are what inform decisions when it comes to selecting transformation technology, McQuiston explains.
Business imperatives in 2022 are about agility, growth and efficiency – so there is now a pressing need to have a complete view of all the information associated with any decision or process.
At the same time, market pressures in the form of increased competition, more responsibility for compliance and a struggling economy are hampering organisations’ ability to achieve their business imperatives.
Having a complete view of the right information, for the right people at the right time is more important than ever to give both customers and employees a better experience.
“So what don’t people just have it already?” McQuiston asks. “Because it is hard; and the information you need to run your business is everywhere.”
The reality is that companies store different kinds of information in different places, he points out.
Importantly, the right information is not necessarily all the information; getting it to the right people doesn’t mean giving it to everyone; and at the right time means just that – not all the time.
He adds that Hyland offers a family of solutions that are tied together in a low code base that allows users to conceive, build and deliver new business applications quickly.