Insights

Digital operating models play a crucial role in enabling modern businesses to effectively navigate and thrive in today’s digital age. They provide them with the necessary agility, customer-centricity, operational efficiency, innovation, data-driven decision-making, collaboration, and robust security. By adopting and optimizing digital operating models, organizations can position themselves for success and navigate the complex challenges and opportunities of the digital landscape. 

Pre-digital operating models & post-digital operating models –Both are two distinct eras in how organizations operate and leverage technology. Pre-digital models were characterized most often by less modern, highly manual paper-based processes, siloed structures, physical infrastructure, and limited customer interaction channels. Whereas Post-digital operating models leverage digital technologies to digitize and automate processes, reducing manual effort and increasing efficiency. They emphasize cross-functional collaboration, agility, and decentralized decision-making, allowing teams to respond quickly to market changes and customer demands.  

Post-digital models also enable multi-channel customer engagement, data-driven insights, and targeted marketing. They prioritize innovation and digital transformation as core business strategies, leveraging emerging technologies like AI, ML, DevOps, cloud, and blockchain. Post-digital operating models fundamentally transform how organizations operate, collaborate, and engage with customers, enabling greater agility, efficiency, customer-centricity, and innovation. 

Furthermore, the relationship between pre-digital and post-digital perspectives on the IT operating model is crucial for success in digital transformation. Pre-digital values focus on assets, predictability, stability, and control, governing core functions like ITIL/ITSM, Project Management Office (PMO), and data center. These values are not going away, but enterprises must add new values and functions to generate new profits. 

As per Gartner, over 85% of organizations will be adopting a cloud computing strategy by 2025. It also says that 95% of new digital workloads will take place on cloud platforms, a 30% increase from 2021.  

As per MarketsandMarkets research the global DevOps market size is set to increase throughout the forecast period at a CAGR of 19.7%, from an estimated USD 10.4 billion in 2023 to USD 25.5 billion by 2028. 

Post-digital means profits – As IT has the potential to become a revenue generator. Advancements like the cloud have enabled IT to scale and create new business solutions using technology, making technology no longer the cost of doing business. It is now how businesses generate new business and modern customers expect to do business. 

Post-digital IT operations prioritize adaptability, autonomy, and velocity, forming the digital trinity or trio-DevOps, Agile, and Cloud. These technologies drive the revenue center and prioritize change and adaptability. Despite their apparent opposites, they aim to govern the same areas and solve the same problems. To operationalize a successful IT operating model, organizations must consider both pre- and post-digital values.  

Operating DevOps, Agile, and Cloud (plus security embedded) – is complex due to several reasons. Additionally, vendors may perceive post-digital methods as a threat to their existing revenue streams, leading to misinformation and poor advice. While change resistance is high within IT due to the “us vs. them” mentality, creating a divide between old and new or antiquated/legacy vs. modern (tech-empowered).  

Operationalizing the trio is complex – Further, the addition of DevOps, Cloud, and Agile is a large undertaking. To operationalize all three is a massive, complex undertaking, but the investment is well worth it. Post-digital methods are a response to the changing business landscape and the need for organizations to adapt and innovate quickly. However, IT teams need to address the challenges involved with adoption and operationalizing it within an organization.  

ThoughtFocus powers global businesses to achieve their goals of scalability, cost-effectiveness, ease of use, and active customer engagement, via its expertise in Cloud, DevOps, Containers, CI/CD pipelines, Security engineering, and by leveraging agile methodologies. Our strong DevOps culture, accelerators, low-code/no-code platforms, IPs, and frameworks, plus deep technology, and domain expertise propelled many global ISVs and businesses to make an easy onboarding journey, automate, digitize, and stay ahead in the digital transformation curve.  

For businesses looking to add new IT revenue channels and accelerate their go-to-market goals, ThoughtFocus’ Digital Solutions offers strong assistance and support in making the addition and recognizing the benefits. Write to us at betterfuturefaster@thoughtfocus.com for more information and one of our team experts will get back to you at the earliest.