Across the world , every industry – from banking , manufacturing and retail to entertainment , education and beyond – is executing on a digital strategy . Unfortunately , budgetary constraints , conservative operating models and gaps in the skillsets needed often get in the way .

On top of that , existing enterprise architectures can lack the necessary agility , scale , security and observability to drive technological changes and combat increasingly sophisticated cyberattacks .

So , how do we help those still struggling to fully realize their Digital Transformation journeys ?

First , some context on where most organizations are at . Most organizations today are in the second phase of their Digital Transformation journey . To continue moving forward , here are six essential technical capabilities they must have :

1 . Dynamic IT infrastructure . The acceleration of Digital Transformation has driven the rapid distribution of societies , users and applications beyond the data center . Traditional enterprise infrastructure architectures cannot adapt to this distributedness as they are based on fixed , static resources and locations . A modern IT infrastructure must be dynamic and able to leverage resources across data centers , clouds and edge environments .

2 . Data and insights . Enterprise data management and analytics can provide business value , even with traditional architectures and policies . Nevertheless , modernization is essential . Digital businesses are increasingly scaling their data architectures while breaking down data silos to mine more accurate , highfidelity insights . This is key to driving automation and real-time decision-making .

3 . App and app delivery . App delivery has evolved into a distinct discipline of technical capabilities and best practices necessary for scaling , distributing and delivering applications across diverse and elastic infrastructure environments . As pressure to improve performance increases , and users expect more from digital experiences , businesses will need to deliver applications more frequently and dynamically to meet changing business conditions .

4 . Observability and automation . A digital business must process and analyze digital signals to adapt to changing conditions . Those who master the skills of observability and automation will gain business advantages . This allows digital businesses to free up resources and double down on innovation , rather than just focusing on sustaining existing business capabilities .

5 . Site Reliability Engineering ( SRE ) practices . A critical organizational change necessary to effectively run a digital business based on data and applications is the adoption of SRE approaches to operations . By minimizing human intervention and leveraging automation that focuses on meeting service level objectives ( SLOs ) aligned with desired business outcomes , rather than purely technical measures , organizations can take full advantage of the benefits of data and automation . This allows digital businesses to respond faster and deliver new capabilities more frequently .

6 . Security . There is a broad need for enterprises to detect and eliminate security threats at every layer of the digital IT architecture . Secure deployment and policy enforcement is required , but not at the expense of the business . A traditional , binary security strategy based on a rigid IT architecture will no longer serve the business and can become a hindrance . Finding the ideal balance between security and performance is essential to any risk strategy .

Whichever way you look at it , IT leaders and CIOs are now in the driver ’ s seat for Digital Transformation . Those that succeed will continually strive to modernize IT by establishing a new standard : an enterprise architecture for digital business .

www . intelligentcio . com INTELLIGENTCIO NORTH AMERICA 33

Intelligent CIO North America Issue 33 | Page 33

Across the world , every industry – from banking , manufacturing and retail to entertainment , education and beyond – is executing on a digital strategy . Unfortunately , budgetary constraints , conservative operating models and gaps in the skillsets needed often get in the way .