Change is the Name of the Game: Winning IT Strategies for Success IDG

There’s no doubt the cloud offers a range of benefits if used to its maximum potential. After the first wave of cloud investment, however, the essential considerations have changed. 
In this third and final episode our speakers, Gaurav Sharma, Associate Director – Hybrid Cloud Business, Digital Foundation at HCL Technologies, and Dave Smith, Founder and Principal Analyst at InFlow Analysis, explore why cloud and cloud technologies have proven essential in keeping businesses running. At the same time, however, companies must evolve their cloud strategies.
“Cloud has really moved from being the technology to an enabler of the business itself. We are seeing there is no business strategy without the cloud strategy,” says Gaurav. “We understand that cloud is a journey and not a destination. There are a range of business benefits that come with cloud if it is utilized to its maximum potential.”
But businesses must adjust, he continues. “It’s no more a cost game, but now an innovation game in terms of cloud. How do you link the cloud solutions to the customer experience? How do you standardize while maintaining the agility and strength across platforms?”
Dave and Gaurav continue their conversation by probing such questions as: 

How can organizations differentiate on cloud standardization and investments? 

How has the pandemic accelerated cloud and technology adoption, and how should your cloud strategy evolve? 

How can you differentiate yourself from your competition and stay relevant using a technical advantage? 

How should companies view cloud investments? Is it a business top-down or bottoms-up view?

The migration of contact centers to cloud is a hot topic and well supported by IT decision makers. But are you really thinking about your customers? 
In these changing times the situation your customers face may be just as changeable as your business and IT situation. The question becomes, should you build out a “static architecture” for customer experience (CX), or create something that is dynamic, personalized, and fluid? 
In this episode our speakers, Julian Frank, General Manager and Senior Solutions Architect at HCL Technologies, and Dave Smith, Founder and Principal Analyst at InFlow Analysis, explore why transforming your CX strategy to a fluid architecture is essential and what benefits it brings to your organization – and your customers. 
Julian starts by defining the fluid customer experience. “Omnichannel service, personalized and predictive servicing, and fluid service – bringing all these three together is what I would illustrate as a fluid customer experience.” 
Julian and Dave go onto to examine such topics as: 

How to reimagine the contact center and expand into supporting multiple personas 

The importance of transforming your CX strategy into a fluid architecture

What steps organizations must take as they modernize their contact center

How organizations can start designing for multi-experience

Understanding what role AI plays in the modern contact center

Technology buyers see the potential for a solid digital workplace foundation. Small prototypes and niche use cases have drummed up significant interest in what is possible with digital workspace services. But before buyers can implement new technologies in this space, they must take a step back and ensure their digital foundation is up-to-date and scalable. 
Our speakers, Saurabh Sharma, Director and Head of Digital Workplace Services at HCL Technologies, and Dave Smith, Founder and Principal Analyst at InFlow Analysis, kick off their discussion about the digital workplace with a quick review of the past year.
“This was a watershed year .. no one had anticipated that the world would go remote,” says Saurabh. “All organizations have to rethink their work, the strategy, they have to recalibrate workplace resiliency. But despite what we all witnessed, there are still the positives that I would want to focus on, such as accelerating the pace of workplace transformation.”
Dave and Saurabh continue their conversation by exploring such questions as:

How can organizations move towards building a resilient workplace, while also considering people’s experiences and wellbeing?

What are the keys to forming effective security strategies in light of changing workplace dynamics?

What is the concept of the Fluid Workplace, and why is it important?

Why should enterprises focus experiences for external customers as well as internal employees?

As organizations develop improved digital workplace strategies, how can they measure success?

What are those key measurable components of a digital workplace strategy?

What does the workplace look like going forward from a future of work perspective? Is Hybrid the new normal?