Build back better with a digital network fabric

How intelligent network technology helps organizations pivot and adapt through change

The voice of the customer is the most valuable for any organization to hear. Stepping into my new role, I’ve spent the last few months listening carefully to many of our clients in the financial, professional services, technology and communications industries, taking time to understand their businesses, particularly their challenges and opportunities as they continue to navigate the effects of the pandemic.

Over the past month, I’ve heard first-hand how our clients’ needs and wants have dramatically evolved over the last 12 months. There are bold and brave organizations that view the pandemic as an opportunity to accelerate and adapt. According to the NTT 2021 Global Managed Services Report, 87.3% of enterprises have accelerated their digital transformation strategy over the last 12 months.

The accelerated pace of digitization

Everyone, irrespective of age, gender, race or geography, has been forced to live their lives differently. The pandemic has increased the pace of digitization across all industries and we’ve done many things digitally for the first time. We’ve educated our children, met our doctors, banked, shopped and even been guided through haircuts, all online.

The adoption of digital channels has increased across enterprises, too, connecting clients, employees and devices to the power of today’s cloud. We’ve seen the rapid rise of new devices, such as cars, appliances and buildings at the edge of organizations fuelling a more connected world. Looking ahead, further automation and data insights will continue to transform processes and help us navigate the post-pandemic world.

The world is more fluent in connectivity, networking and cloud than ever before

As more ‘things’ become intelligent in our lives (devices, appliances, vehicles, tablets and phones, etc.) and more applications and platforms access services hosted in the cloud (public, private or hybrid), there’s an increasing need for an intelligent and secure network fabric to ensure everything stays connected. All of this ultimately powers the smarter, more digital world we now live in, from smart cities and workplaces to smarter manufacturing and experiences.

Organizations with a digital network can reach new clients without delays, easily pivoting and adapting as needed. These businesses see radical shifts and changes as opportunities to improve the client, employee, partner and stakeholder experience. Business models are redefined and expanded to improve quality and productivity through new technologies and data sources.

We have clients who can reach more customers and drive significantly more impact than pre-pandemic days through new ways of doing traditional things. Working with a biopharmaceutical client, the NTT team implemented a virtual theater experience, rivalling the performance of past physical events. The client didn’t recreate a physical event online but instead looked to create a new media platform, expanding their audience engagement, interaction and reach.

The network is the heart of digital transformation

Connecting employees to workplaces and customers to organizations has never been more important. The network is increasingly becoming the backbone of all digital transformation. Today, organizations monitor thousands of constantly communicating and interacting services, supporting the user experience.

As enterprise technology continues to evolve, more devices are attaching to the network with more requirements and demands at the edge. Executing digital transformation is having visibility to manage and secure complex technology ecosystems across client-facing and internal systems and platforms. Challenges can arise because complex platforms and systems make it more difficult to identify snarls, data blockages, access points and vulnerabilities. Improved processes and models enabled by applications built on network infrastructure form the foundation of any transformation.

Using technology to build back better

We’ve seen how an intelligent and secure network fabric enabled students to continue learning, hospitals to keep running and communities to stay connected during the pandemic. Digital has the potential to make the world a better place. This mindset to embrace innovation can have a transformative impact on the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. Technology can foster inclusion by connecting and communicating, using devices to monitor and gather real-world insights for improved outcomes and to identify better solutions and efficiencies.

We’re proud to be one of 16 Business Avengers, alongside other leading technology companies such as Microsoft, SAP, Google and SFDC, helping raise awareness of the Goals around the world, as well as ensuring that the increased adoption of digital transformation will contribute towards achieving the 2030 targets. We must lay the groundwork to build back better for today and tomorrow.

Reimagining the purpose of business

As a purpose-led business, we look beyond the bottom line to the responsibilities we have to our people, clients and communities. Every interaction with every stakeholder provides us with an opportunity to improve and do better. I believe that we should leave the world in a better place than when we arrived, and technology offers a positive path forward.

Now more than ever, the future is being created together. Organizations must be visionary, with social impact at the heart of everything. We have a remarkable opportunity to reimagine the way forward and lay the foundations for a more sustainable, purpose-driven world.

See how NTT is helping organisations achieve business agility through network modernisation.