Why ecosystems should drive your digital transformation
Choosing the right partner as you transform your IT infrastructure and head into the cloud.
Several sayings in the English language remind us how important our connections are with other people.
It’s not what you know, it’s who you know… it’s not where you go, it’s who you travel with… Human beings understand that relationships matter profoundly, across every element of our lives.
But in the world of technology, we have a tendency to forget these relationships – and yet, they are vital for our virtual connections, too.
This last year has seen companies make a huge effort to digitise their infrastructures, and make the sudden leap to new ways of working, such as cloud. The focus has been largely functional: What do I do with my existing hardware assets? How do I lift and transform my workloads? How do I maintain secure connectivity? All of these are valid and important issues. But in relation to those sayings above, this work is focused on what you know, or more specifically on where you go. It’s not focused on who you’re with, or the relationships that you build along the way.
The fact is, when it comes to digital transformation, it’s critical we consider who we are going on the journey with.
Why is it always better to travel with someone you can trust?
While digitisation is a technical activity, it is, beyond anything else, an operational strategy. The purpose of digital transformation is to transform your legacy architectures so that your business has a platform for more meaningful interactions with other businesses and people: interactions that will offer greater efficiency, flexibility and innovation, which all lead to better growth opportunity.
It therefore follows that if you’re going to take steps to transform your IT infrastructure and head into the cloud, you also must think about the kind of partner you want to be close to and collaborate with in that new cloud world. This is who you’re with… if you think about it, it’s these relationships that, in truth, are the driving force for your whole transformation.
Of course, the technical transformation is fundamental too. So, it’s important to get it right and use the expertise and knowledge of experienced suppliers who bring learning with them.
How do you choose the right ecosystem for you?
When choosing the partner you want to support you on your transformation journey, start by exploring the different ecosystems they can provide you with access to: network providers; hyperscalers; SaaS providers; retail, media and content providers; and financial organisations, for example. Each of those ecosystems comprises a network of suppliers, partners and other customers… a whole new online business world, right at your digital fingertips to advance your own strategies and plans.
By putting those relationships at the heart of your transformation strategy, you’re unlocking incredible opportunities for collaboration and innovation to make sure your transformation is a success. And that close connectivity also means the chance to stay agile, reactive and competitive in today’s very changeable times.
As your market develops and changes, you’ll need the flexibility to react appropriately, and you’ll need your ecosystem to support this. You’ll want to capture the imagination of your next customers, to beat your competition with your agility, service and efficiency, and offer lower overheads through transformation and retiring legacy systems. Moving into the digital world with better choices for infrastructure and collaborative information exchange needs to be high priority on the strategic roadmap.
To learn more about how Equinix and BT could help you to build a close ecosystem get in touch.
To explore how leaders use their digital infrastructure to fuel growth, where it’s happening and how you can use interconnection to stay competitive, read the latest Equinix Global Interconnection Index report.