“Digital transformation is destroying my business!” This is what I imagine New York taxi medallion owners saying right now. In just three years, ride sharing services like Uber and Lyft have overturned an entire industry. In 2014, taxi medallions were worth $1 million each; today they are worth half that. According to a recent presentation prepared for Capital One Financial Corp. investors*, more than 80 percent of its $690 million in loans for taxi medallions are at risk of default. Taxi medallion owners are not alone in their fears of the new digital economy.
For every company that takes advantage of the opportunity digital transformation presents, there is likely another company that was disrupted dramatically. So the philosophical question that needs to be asked is this:
Is Digital Transformation a Risk or an Opportunity?
Last month, Dell EMC announced the results of a new study conducted by Enterprise Strategy Group (ESG), which revealed that a majority of senior IT leaders and decision-making managers of large companies surveyed around the world indicate their organizations have yet to fully embrace the aspects of IT Transformation needed to remain competitive. We were amazed to find that only 5% of large companies are prepared to meet the IT requirements of the new digital business
Likewise, our Digital Transformation Index sponsored by Dell Technologies found that almost half the 4,000 respondents had no idea what their industry would look like in three years. Others feared their company would be obsolete in 3-5 years.
How Dell EMC and Our Partner Community Can Help Enable IT Transformation
Together, Dell EMC and our partner community are in a unique position to help established companies and startups develop strategies that will allow them to be successful as their industries undergo rapid change.
We believe IT Transformation is the Rocket Fuel for Digital Transformation and we are doubling down on the future.
We are #1 in Everything All in One Place with the most innovative technology portfolio in the industry, but we aren’t stopping here. We’ve also built an impressive set of storage assessment tools you can use in customer conversations in conjunction with the recently published IT Transformation Maturity Curve Study. Use these tools—along with the IT Transformation Maturity Self-Assessment—to help customers measure where they are in their own IT Transformation journey.
This research provides new data and language to help you drive meaningful conversations and partnerships with your current and soon-to-be customers. When they know how they stack up against their peers, customers are in a better position to build long-term strategies and you are in a better position to help drive this activity.
This study is the foundation of our refreshed Modern Infrastructure story and lends even greater support to the IT transformation message driving our customers to Modernize, Automate and Transform their infrastructure.
As an example of how well this message resonates with customers, just last week I shared the study results in a presentation to a large financial institution.
After reviewing the four stages of IT Maturity, the head of infrastructure graded his company as a stage 1.5 organization, adding “If there is a way to get to stage 4 by skipping stages 2 and 3, I am very interested!” This was liberating!
Now we can partner with them to build a roadmap to becoming a stage 4 organization. The ideas began bouncing around the room on how to get started. This is exactly what we hope for with our message.
Inspire Your Customers on Their IT Transformation Journeys
We have geared up to help you inspire your own customers on their IT transformation journeys:
STEP 1: Become familiar with the ESG study and use it to initiate IT transformation conversations with your customers. Download the full report here and share it. If your customer is not as quick to grade their organization as my financial services infrastructure boss was, have them take this quick, 10 question assessment. If you have an internet connection when you meet with them you can fire it up on your laptop and walk through it together.
STEP 2: Learn the Modern Infrastructure pitch and how to utilize the new assessment and proposal tools. My team of Modern Infrastructure channel specialists is singularly focused on helping you become proficient at having these conversations with your customers. We’re kicking off a #GetModern Factory roadshow right after Dell EMC World—we’ll be visiting more than 40 cities in the US and expanding globally very soon. Alternatively, our innovative #GetModern Live Virtual Workshops will help you get up to speed from the comfort of your office. Contact your Partner Account Manager or MIT Specialist for a #GetModern Factory invitation or details on the Live Virtual Workshops.
STEP 3: Take advantage of all of the product training, hands-on labs, demos, and opportunities to meet with subject matter experts at Dell EMC World. It’s not too late to register and join us (be sure to select “Partner” during the registration process). If you’ve already booked your trip, be sure to reference our Partner Guide to Dell EMC World before you go; we’ve identified the most helpful Modern Infrastructure activities for you.
If you leverage your training and the power of this messaging, you are guaranteed to deliver strong results for your customer, for Dell EMC, and for yourself. Together we will continue to inspire our customers on their IT transformation journeys!
*Source: Bloomberg.com Taxi Medallion Prices Are Plummeting, Endangering Loans January 30, 2017