Intelligent CIO Middle East Issue 32 | Page 85

INTELLIGENT BRANDS // Software for Business Why ‘out of the box’ should be left on the shelf when it comes to digital transformation ///////////////////////////// Glyn Yates, MEA Regional Director at Axios Systems, a leading global enterprise software vendor, explains why bespoke solutions are best for digital transformation as the shift towards prescriptive solutions often creates self-defeating inefficiencies in many enterprise environments. W e know that the role of the CIO is changing (quoting Gartner among many analysts) and there has been a shift from IT-outcomes to business outcomes, from supporting to collaborating and from cost-controlling to revenue-building. This increases the focus on business/digital transformation and optimised operations. Digital transformation and the subsequent service strategy is a double-edged sword, with the benefit gap between excellent and inadequate becoming greater day by day. Those that have the agility to respond quickly to changes in organisational direction or the voice of the people will serve the needs of their society far better than most, whether by generating revenues or delivering service excellence. www.intelligentcio.com This drive towards the need for flexibility and agility has organisations looking at their incumbent software/systems to understand and test if it can provide and support the ever- increasing demands of the business to deliver a greater breadth and depth of services more efficiently, more effectively and with greater satisfaction from service consumers. It has been a frightening assessment, with many customers using legacy systems unable to support flexibility within the complex application estates of their large organisations. This is primarily due to the legacy system architecture/design and the need for extensive consultation and programming to make relatively minor changes. Those that have taken vendor technologies and developed them in-house to cater for bespoke FORTUNATELY, NOT ALL CIOS WANT TO BE MANOEUVRED INTO A POSITION THEY DIDN’T CONSTRUCT. requirements are now finding they not only have lock-in but are also handcuffed, with the only answer being to throw more money and efforts into development work – an ever-perpetuating situation. I know of many companies that take several weeks to be able INTELLIGENTCIO 85