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DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION
HOW YOU CAN AVOID DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION STAGNATION Morten Illum, EMEA Vice President at Aruba, a HPE company discusses what can companies do to ensure the digital transformation projects do not go into a limbo
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s businesses everywhere struggled to get a true sense of COVID-19 during the first month of lockdown, data analytics company Global Data predicted that “The impact of COVID-19 on the IT services sector will be deep, immediate, and long-lasting.” One month on and thoughts are indeed beginning to turn from the immediate business continuity challenge of keeping companies running remotely, to the far more insidious financial fallout of the pandemic – as the long-term economic impact leaves businesses facing significant cashflow and liquidity challenges. According to IDC, worldwide IT spend-
SMARTSMB / June 2020
ing is now projected to decline by 2.7% in 2020 as a result of the pandemic. Meanwhile a recent CFO survey from Gartner found that 70% of CFOs are making changes to their longterm investment plans.
Digital transformation And yet against this backdrop, the continued digital transformation of businesses will be more vital than ever – not just to help them get through lockdown but also to set themselves up for a successful rebound. In fact, many industry commentators are telling businesses to accelerate their projects if they want to give
themselves a fighting chance. To bring in Gartner again, Sandy Shen, Senior Director Analyst, has said of COVID-19: “Businesses that can shift technology capacity and investments to digital platforms will mitigate the impact of the outbreak and keep their companies running smoothly now, and over the long term.” So whether you’ve gone through the hard work of getting a digital transformation project up and running only to find it put on ice, or find yourself facing an uphill battle to get new projects moving in response to the pandemic, how can you unlock them from limbo?
Flexible financing Even in today’s uncertain business climate, there are options available for companies seeking to continue their tech investments despite a squeeze on funds.
