Digital transformation is vital for today’s businesses because it allows them to adapt to new technologies and use them to their advantage so they can create business value. It’s a daunting transition for most organizations, however, since it often entails major changes in business processes, technologies, and manpower. It’s a systemic change that means a rethinking of the way an organization handles its data. No small feat, especially when you consider how today’s businesses are dependent on data and technology to run efficiently. A Couchbase survey shows that 81% of businesses in the US, UK, France, and Germany have had digital transformation projects that suffered major setbacks, significant delays, or complete failure. According to 86% of the respondents, the main factors that contributed to these setbacks included dependence on legacy systems, complexity of implementing new technologies, and a lack of relevant skills and resources. On the other hand, 73% of organizations say they have made significant improvements to the customer experience through digital innovation and 21% say that they have completely revolutionized the customer experience.
Why Use a Digital Integration Hub?
Today’s business landscape requires the rapid development of digital services and applications, and as such, companies should be willing to take risks despite the possibility of failure of digital transformation initiatives. End users have come to expect always-on, always-fast services that deliver high performance at all times. However, conventional architectures and legacy systems often block or slow down digital innovation. One of the main challenges in application integration is accessing data that’s either siloed in legacy databases or spread across systems within the cloud. This is where a digital integration hub comes in. A DIH helps you leverage your operational data for your digital applications across any environment, even if the data is stored in multiple disparate systems. It does this by aggregating multiple backend systems and databases into a low-latency data store that’s shared across all systems. A DIH will accelerate your organization’s digital transformation by doing the following:
Providing a common data access layer
One main draw of a DIH is its ability to aggregate data from both on-premise and cloud-based sources. This allows for real-time processing that provides an improved experience for customer-facing business applications. A DIH eliminates the need for repeated direct API calls by using an in-memory data grid to cache data from multiple data stores.
Enabling hybrid transactional/analytical processing (HTAP)
The DIH architecture allows for the use of hybrid transactional/analytical processing (HTAP), which enables organizations to perform real-time analytics without affecting overall system performance. This is vital in responding in real- time to critical business demands. The use of in-memory computing also allows a DIH system to store relevant data in RAM, which allows for massively parallel processing (MPP).
Leveraging available RAM through in-memory computing
In-memory data grids, the enabling technology of a DIH, combines a server cluster’s available RAM and computing power to eliminate bottlenecks caused by data movement to and from disk and within the network. By allowing frequently accessed data to reside in RAM, data access is quicker and more efficient than using a disk-based storage system.
Looking Into the Digital Future
Digital transformation is more than moving to or integrating modern technologies and platforms. It’s a change that entails adopting a new mindset and is something that will impact the entire organization. This modern mindset, together with modern technology, is integrated into all business operations. As such, the organization as a whole should have a clear understanding of the transformation and the issues involved to ensure a smooth transition. The nature of a digital transformation as a cultural change should be regularly reiterated to promote behaviors that go beyond just learning to use new technologies and adopt a new way of working that responds to the call of the times.
While leadership should be deeply involved in the implementation of digital initiatives at the onset, an effective strategy calls for a more collaborative approach compared to most top-down business projects and processes. It should also be noted that the transition is a learning process for all. Part of the reason many digital transformations fail is because setbacks discourage many from soldiering on. The transition will be challenging, plagued with a variety of issues, and may often seem on the brink of failure; the key is getting at the root of problems and learning about what the business and market demands to guarantee success.
