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IT as a service at the core of digital transformation


Johannesburg, 25 Jun 2019

Digital technologies are transforming our personal and business lives. Organisations, both private and public sector, want to improve the experience for their users, and at the same time, streamline operations, increase revenues and manage risks.

“There’s no doubt that IT services are at the heart of digital transformation,” says Faith Ditlhong, Business Development Manager for Pointnext at Axiz, SA’s leading value-added ICT distributor. “Leading-edge consumption models that enable flexibility, combined with an intelligent edge that drives true innovation, will forever alter the customer experience for organisations of all types and sizes.”

She says today, even industries that traditionally had nothing to do with technology, such as travel and transport with Airbnb and Uber, have been enabled through IT and have become the de facto way we consume these services.

“And, just as we as consumers are spoiled for choices when it comes to shopping for services and goods, so are companies, which now have a plethora of ways to source the ICT tools and solutions they need to accomplish their objectives,” she adds.

“The evolution is ongoing. Businesses need consumption models for ICTs that deliver real business outcomes, and are flexible and agile. Over or under provisioning has been a thorn in the side of most companies, as they have no idea if they are fully equipped to handle the flood of data that is drowning businesses today. And being ill-prepared in terms of capacity planning causes delays and downtime. Other companies have all the best hardware and solutions money can buy, but do not use it effectively, wasting resources and money.”

Ditlhong says a solution that helps businesses manage their IT capacity, enabling them to reach their business objectives, increase efficiency and lower costs, is the answer. “This is where HPE Pointnext comes in, bringing services to help organisations accelerate their digital transformations.”

“Pointnext is particularly effective in today’s hybrid environments, as it helps manage capacity with an organisation’s cloud providers, so that they can add what they need in an instant, instead of suffering lengthy delays. Concurrently, all the business’s most sensitive and proprietary data can be kept on-premises, ensuring the business has control of its environment, as well as the benefits of speed and affordability.”

Moreover, she says, adopting public cloud means the organisations don’t need to worry about the infrastructure, but having a solution that enables the infrastructure to take care of itself on-site would be first prize. “Imagine a scenario where your IT systems could warn you of any potential problems before they even happen. This is what Pointnext offers, and it is adding more and more artificial intelligence to data analytics and operational support, to improve this benefit even further, and free up the tech department to focus on more pressing business activities.

“The premise of ‘IT as a service’ is clear. It is about putting the power of choice into your customers’ hands. It’s about letting them pay only for what they use, and delivering what they need far more rapidly. It allows the technical department to function more as a business than a team whose job is keeping the lights on,” she adds.

Ditlhong says moving to this model means adopting an entirely new view on enterprise infrastructure architecture. “Instead of arranging architecture around projects, it must be arranged around the pertinent business services. It is a mind shift change, from once thinking of physical assets, to thinking about your customers’ real business needs.”

According to her, HPE Pointnext is built on three types of services. “Firstly, its advisory and transformation services that design a unique transformation journey for customers, and build a roadmap that is tailored to meet their specific requirements and challenges.”

Next, she says Pointnext offers professional services that offer seamless, timely and professional implementation, along with executions that are in line with budget, and creative configurations for the organisation’s software and hardware. “Lastly, operational services offer new and innovative ways to deliver IT, by managing and optimising on-premises and cloud workloads, as well as resources and capacity.

“At Axiz, we know in order to thrive, businesses across the board need to be prepared for the digital future. HPE Pointnext is the embodiment of a redefined and future-focused business with a fresh and innovative approach to services. Through Pointnext, we can truly make a difference to our clients’ businesses, one which goes far beyond only offering the software-defined infrastructure they all depend on. Pointnext brings them all the infrastructure, tools and solutions they need, but with a partner that joins them on their digital transformation journeys.”

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