Transactions in a world that is digitally transforming

“Workforce trends were already underway –
like the adoption of automation and digitization, and remote working –
but the crisis has accelerated the journey for many.”
2020 McKinsey survey

COVID-19 pandemic is leaving behind an unquestionably disruptive landscape. Whether you are monitoring the stock market, looking to travel to your favorite vacation hideaway or simply anxious over the arrival of your new car, it seems as though the world has changed. No matter the transaction we contemplate pursuing there are just so many caveats and exclusions that it seems that in the new normal we are only just taking our first baby steps towards accommodating the world around us.

What we have also witnessed is a sizable expansion of the IT vocabulary. Particularly when it comes to transactions, data and the customer experience. Beginning our journey to the age of insight; looking to better capitalize on the actionable insights being brought to our attention while avoiding drowning in data lakes, data streams and more, including DevOps, DataOps, RevOps and other drivers of business and app development. It’s as though the past two years have led to every imaginable catchphrase gaining some level of attention within the world of IT. However, underpinning it all has been the one phrase we have all acknowledged as perhaps the biggest driver of all and this is digital transformation.

According to analyst and blogger Jo Peterson, VP Cloud & Security Services and for a number of years a member of the HPE Independent Analyst Council, defining digital transformation is easily achieved:

Digital transformation has also been the subject of a number of recent posts to the IR blog. Within these posts there have been references to the many dots that are being connected as IT pursues digital transformation. Meeting changing business and market requirements is being done on the understanding that it will lead to business growth and with growth, it will not happen quite as quickly as it might otherwise without innovation. Any discussion of growth fueled by innovation cannot discount the impact that the clouds are having on IT just as it is hard to escape the sheer velocity of data that is being created within any enterprise.

In his post to the IR blog, 5 priorities for business leaders in a hybrid working world Kevin Ryder, IR Global Chief Marketing and Product Officer, wrote of how:

“Innovation has become a key driver for business recovery, agility, and growth. Its relevance as a growth strategy in today’s business world shouldn’t be underestimated.

“Innovation inevitably goes hand-in-hand with business growth (and) growth is all about reaching scale, and the most important way to achieve it is by focusing on meaningful metrics, and using data and analytics to understand where to invest resources.”

However, at the beginning of his post we read that:

“Businesses globally are reportedly increasing their spending on digital transformation initiatives. In fact, a report by IDC reveals that businesses will spend $2.3 trillion a year on digital transformation within the next four years.”

For the NonStop community this is not something new or surprising as in the hybrid IT world where NonStop systems reside, playing well and cooperating with adjacent systems has been a feature of NonStop systems since their first appearance at a financial institution in 1976. Ever since, NonStop has been at the center of real time processing of transactions and of ensuring the customer experience extends to supporting access 24 x 7.

Uniquely positioned to achieve a more reliable customer experience, it is just as important to remember that transaction growth has been exponential since the beginning of the pandemic and that together with this growth, the need to analyze and execute has likewise become of paramount importance to all financial institutions. It is also important that among the NonStop user community, the need to participate in their enterprises pursuit of digital transformation has influenced many of the recent solution purchasing decisions.

IR’s Ryder isn’t alone in his observations about the importance of digital transformation as in his post to the IR blog, The pandemic effect: How COVID has changed the way we shop Jason Krebs, IR’s Senior Product Manager, brought the topic of digital transformation around to center on financial institutions and the transactions that they process:

“(Sharing) 2022 trends highlight(s) how today’s retail economy is piloted by real time insights and analytics.

“Sustaining and improving a great Customer Experience (CX) depends entirely on analytics and insights.

“Remote working, learning, and shopping have surged thanks to the plethora of ways we can buy goods and services digitally.”

Bringing this all into focus for the NonStop community, Krebs throws a spotlight on how:

“The winners in this new paradigm are those who use the ongoing flow of new technology amidst an era of digital transformation, to build personal customer experiences.

“By gaining unlimited access and insights into customer usage data, and end-to-end transaction performance metrics, businesses can make proactive management decisions, shape the customer experience, and help businesses to achieve a winning edge when it comes to customer satisfaction.”

As for the digital transformation that continues to this day, IR has brought to the market IR Transact , a solution that puts digital transformation center stage even as it helps financial institutions progress to the age of insight. Or, as Krebs concludes in his post:

“IR Transact can help by bringing real-time visibility and access to your entire payments environment, businesses can turn data into intelligence, and keep their payments systems flowing.”

If as yet you have missed reading these recent post to the IR blog, simply follow this link: https://www.ir.com/blog

Should you need to know more about IR and of the digital transformation that is influencing how IR delivers monitoring and analysis solutions that will contribute to your own digital transformation then please don’t hesitate to reach out to your IR sales team.

Kevin Johnson,
VP Sales – Payments Performance Monitoring
www.ir.com