Assent technology framework is a product of years trying to compile our technology and business side. The next step is for the real hand-shake between business and IT. We see that companies that manage to make technology a true part of their strategy are more successful, than those who are still trying to align technology to their business strategy more re-actively.
Those experiences we have put together in a capability framework, where we have selected a number of capabilities that we think are key for an organisation to improve and reach their goals.
In relation to this we have identified three trends to be on top of if you want to improve your capabilities and move towards a more digital agenda!
1. Low code no code
To put it simple we could say that low code no code is about applying automation to software delivery, instead of using manual handwritten code you use pre-built components when constructing your solutions. The low code environment enables developers to build solutions way faster and the graphical nature makes it easier to understand and maintain over time.
For contemporary companies that have started their Low-code journey there are three main reasons to engage with the technology [1]:
1. Increase the responsiveness to the business
Enables a more rapid development where IT and business can work more closely together with instant feedback loops, as the development itself becomes less complex.
2. Accelerate digital transformation
Organisations may be stuck in old systems with hand written code that is very difficult to maintain and even harder to replace making those transformation efforts very hard and troublesome. Low code no code could be a way out of that dilemma, through providing an integration layer to newer systems and solutions.
3. Reduce dependency on hand-to-line technical skills
Many of the legacy systems are written in code languages that are not widely used anymore leading to difficulties in finding people with the right skills to maintain it. And if found they’re probably not for free. So Low code no code could be a way of decoupling from that old custom written code and making the business less dependent on that very special tech-skill.
Organisations are beginning to realise the business value of low code no code, and we can see that Gartner predicts that by 2024, 65% of all development is made through low code no code platforms.
[1] - State of Application development. Outsystems (2020)
2. Security 2.0
Security 2.0 introduces a new perspective on information - the value-driven perspective and why it is important that the entire organisation, both business and IT, understand the importance of information security in the value delivery.
In the last decades, through the digitisation, the the value stream has gone online – in the process of going digital the value has transformed to a digital delivery or digital value whether or not this has been identified by organisations or not. The customers trust that companies will handle essential information about them in a secure manner, hence there is a digital value connected to the delivery.
Security 2.0 is about acknowledging that there is a digital value and sustaining it.
- It is crucial that the entire organisation understands this and how the digital part support the full value offering to their customers. It is also important that the organisation is in control of the digital value, how it is created, sustained and not exposed to risk.
3. The pre-cloud initiative
There are plenty of known pitfalls and lessons learned by organisations who already have embarked on their cloud journey. Why make the same mistakes again? This trend is not so much about why or if you should move to cloud, but rather when you have decided that you want to move the internal pre-cloud initiatives you have to make to avoid pitfalls.
We have identified three important preparatory steps that will improve your cloud readiness:
1. Information security
We have experienced a couple of cases where organisations trust their cloud vendor extremely hard in managing the security of their platform and in the same time minimised their internal security effort. However a move to the cloud does not mean you can let go of your security responsibility, ensure you do not let go of your CISO team capabilities just because you move to cloud. Rather improve them to handle new risks imposed by the cloud!
2. Establish a solid cloud governance capability
We have encountered companies wanting to end their cloud engagements and move back in-house, because they feel that they have lost control over their cloud environment. The cloud can be seen as the purchasing departments' worst nightmare due to the ease of setting up new servers and adding on components. Build a governing capability before you embark on your cloud journey, because it wont take very long before you feel that you have lost control!
3. Do not bet it all on a lift and shift strategy
In many cases there is a temptation to go with a full lift and shift strategy and in some cases a lift and shift of all applications can work. But we also see cases where a lift and shift strategy actually creates more problems.
Making sure you have a good grasp of which applications that are suitable to move to the cloud before moving is very important! We recommend to to employ some kind of software tool to really understand the details of your applications. This in order to lift only what is fit to lift, prepare what is not ready to lift and discard or replace the hopeless applications that you see very little value in moving to the cloud.
Summarising notes
Embracing these trends can be done in isolation or by combining them, but they will inevitability affect each other. For instance, a Low-code initiative will drive a cloud discussion about how the Low-code platform will be hosted, which in turn has an impact on security and how you safeguard the digital value that is being created.
Altogether, the trends could be a way of filling up your whiteboard with ideas on how to take your organisation into a modern, tech enabled and future-proof contender. By leveraging the Assent framework we can complement the ideas with an actionable strategy and thus achieve the handshake between business and IT that modern organisations need to survive.
Want know more about Assent?
