Return to business as unusual: technology transformation and readiness assessment

The COVID-19 pandemic has transformed the way we work forever, and made it clear that a remote working model is not a “nice to have” for global businesses, but a prerequisite. Sampath Sowmyanarayan, President of Global Enterprise for Verizon Business and Boston Consulting Group have today published the second in a series of white papers exploring the workplace of the future, and particularly what businesses need to do to enable remote working as part of business as usual.

The first paper discussed the six imperatives that are needed to drive effective remote work, namely: 

1. A scalable network 
2. Cloud-ready applications 
3. Strong and secure mobile connectivity 
4. End-to-end monitoring of performance 
5. Zero-trust security 
6. A resilient end-user support model 

But of course, remote working is just one part of the workplace of the future, and you cannot look at the six imperatives outlined above in isolation - you need an overall technology transformation agenda in place. The second article therefore discusses how organizations can build a successful transformation agenda from both a technology and tactical perspective. The objective is to provide a path that all organizations can follow as they enter the new world of business as unusual. 

Sampath suggests that there are three key stages to be undertaken when organizations look to reshape their technology transformation agenda. 

1. Define your transformation vision and goals - establish a true baseline of your transformation start point, with a full technology discovery and inventory.
2. Focus on future-readying your people building blocks (workforce and talent) – you need to have the right talent in place with the right skillset to deliver on your transformation vision.
3. Build scalable and adaptable application, IT infrastructure, data and digital platforms (DDP) – ensure you have a modular, flexible IT architecture, which can adapt to whatever the future brings.

Many organizations don’t take the time to look in depth at these three factors - and that is a key reason why transformations fail. This second paper outlines the in-depth checklists that organizations should follow, and also emphasizes the importance of moving sequentially. You need to understand the agenda for your organization, then run through the checklist to assess if you have sufficient elements in place to begin - or continue - your transformation.

In July, we’ll publish the third paper in the series that will look at the specific work trends underpinning the future workplace and the implications of these on both people and leaders.

You can find out more on Sampath’s LinkedIn, or read the first and second white papers here.

You can find out more about Verizon Global Enterprise’s innovative solutions portfolio at enterprise.verizon.com.

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