Article Will Digital Ecosystems be the New Normal for Service Providers?
By Insight UK / 18 Feb 2022 / Topics: Cloud
By Insight UK / 18 Feb 2022 / Topics: Cloud
Digital transformation is like a stone in water: it creates one ripple after another and the circles get bigger and bigger. One ripple that is starting to show now is the emergence of digital ecosystems. What does this mean for service providers and for the future of your business? Will digital ecosystems become the new normal?
Before answering the question, we need to know what an ecosystem is. A digital ecosystem is a new business model in which IT partners collaborate to reach a common goal.
Now, collaboration isn’t new. The difference today, however, is that the purpose of collaboration is shifting from an IT value, such as maximum availability or low latency, to a customer value. An example? Your customer is looking for digital workplaces, but also requires IoT technology and high-level security, tailor-made for his sector. He wants it all, in one package deal.
An ecosystem connects IT providers in a partnership of co-creation and co-ownership, bridging boundaries between companies to find new ways of adding value to customers. Therefore, an ecosystem extends far beyond traditional collaboration.
The emergence of ecosystems is a further result of digital transformation. New (cloud) technologies and focus areas follow each other rapidly and are immediately available in the cloud. Your customers are eager to use them.
But there is one problem: it is impossible to keep doing everything yourself; even undesirable for a healthy business future. Whereas the key success factor for service providers used to be stability, this is now shifting towards flexibility. Customers expect a fluid IT environment. Stable and reliable as a fundamental requirement, but above all one that constantly adapts to their needs. You can no longer do this alone.
To thrive as a service provider in the future, you need an ecosystem to meet customer demands and expectations and gain access to desired markets. This requires a new way of thinking, in which competitors can simply become potential partners.
An open culture is crucial and must be based on cooperation and trust. Partners will have to be committed to connection and shared responsibility for a common goal and success. You need to choose an ecosystem that fits your business in terms of target group, mutual complementarities, competition, and also think about the role your business wants to play.
Service providers are in the ultimate position to take on the role of integrator in this new business model.
For a digital ecosystem to be successful, it needs a strong IT architecture; one that is flexible, accessible, cost-effective, secure and reliable. That means rethinking your business model. Think about how your business adapts to change. How you will move from old technology to new technology; bring simplicity to systems, processes and maintenance. How you will transform your business future success.
As ecosystems evolve and eco-partners develop stronger relationships, powerful partnerships emerge that create a new value chain focused on customer value rather than product benefits.
The time is right to leave traditional thinking, explore new possibilities for a healthy, resilient and innovative business and become a customer magnet. The digital ecosystem is on the move is fast becoming the new normal.
At Insight, we help service providers in realizing their business ambitions in a multi-cloud world. As a multi-vendor software licensing, workload, and cloud platform specialist, we can guide you through all stages of your strategic cloud journey. No matter where you are in your journey, we help you to find new ways forward and accelerate your business. Contact one of our cloud specialists for a talk
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