A Roadmap for Technology Oems Turning Demand for Services Into a Strategic Opportunity
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WHITE PAPER A Roadmap for Technology OEMs Turning Demand for Services into a Strategic Opportunity Sponsored by SPONSOR PERSPECTIVE The road to business transformation can be a bumpy one, with unexpected detours and volatile conditions that can slow you down. For technology companies, these challenges are exacerbated by their need to aggressively adopt digital transformation (DX) internally while simultaneously adapting their solution portfolio to enable their customers’ DX journeys. The need for speed is becoming more pronounced as time goes on, potholes and roadblocks notwithstanding. Traditional IT is giving way to flexible “as-a-service” solutions at a rapidly accelerating pace. Leading technology research firm IDC predicts that the ability of enterprises to rapidly develop their own digital innovations will become a core Eileen Gibson competitive requirement by 2023, as more than half of the worldwide economy Vice President, Market will be digitally driven.1 Many companies are moving even faster. The CEO of Management and Strategy Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), Antonio Neri, publicly pledged to deliver the Tech Data Global Lifecycle full HPE portfolio as a service by 2022. However, the Technology Services Industry Management Association reports that the transformation period for most tech companies is greater than five years2—and some have only recently started, suggesting that the pace of change is happening faster in the market than it is internally for many technology firms. Navigating the inverse relationships between cost and revenue in the transition from traditional to digital delivery models is difficult at best. It requires stalwart executive commitment, deft management of stakeholder expectations, and substantial finesse in deploying the optimal mix of resources—both capital and human. And all this should come without sacrificing quality and availability of legacy support. Nearly every technology company is using a blend of build, buy, and partner strategies for their unique journey. They are assessing what they are uniquely qualified to do and filling portfolio gaps with acquisitions and alliances. Business processes that don’t advance or accelerate the future state are high on the list for partnering or outsourcing, which enable tech firms to mitigate exit barriers from their legacy business while releasing capital from operations to increment investment and accelerate transformation. Tech Data Global Lifecycle Management has sponsored research with Harvard Business Review Analytic Services to examine how technology vendors are judiciously shedding legacy operations in the context of their need for speed on the road to the as-a-service world and digital transformation. Through interviews with industry experts and customers, this white paper encourages you to consider the accelerated transformation and extensive benefits that come with simplifying your business operations—while also expanding your reach—through purposeful partnerships. Transformation is inevitable, and it’s time to put the pedal to the metal and reach your destination faster. We invite you to read on and think again about your journey and how the right strategic, global partnerships can help get you there. Sources: 1 IDC, “Every Enterprise Is Becoming a Digital Innovation Factory,” January 2020, https://blogs.idc. com/2020/01/17/every-enterprise-is-becoming-a-digital-innovation-factory/. 2 Technology Services Industry Association, Technology & Services World conference 2019, Las Vegas, Nev., October 2019. A Roadmap for Technology OEMs Turning Demand for Services into a Strategic Opportunity It’s no secret that companies across most business HIGHLIGHTS sectors have had to rethink—and in some cases, rip up—their business models in order to battle traditional competitors and digital insurgents. The retail industry Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in the technology sector is redesigning brick-and-mortar operations while are struggling to invest in growing it innovates its online presence. Manufacturers of everything-as-a-service markets while simultaneously supporting industrial equipment are transitioning from just selling their declining hardware and the latest systems to providing preventive maintenance software businesses. services managed by monitors that analyze equipment performance in real time. To succeed, OEMs must focus on three important areas: gaining new In recent years, technology original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) have insights into the services market, added themselves to the list of companies that must successfully navigate addressing financial and workforce challenges associated with dual- dual-mode businesses, and the pressure to succeed is intensifying. mode initiatives, and investigating These OEMs are seeing demand for their traditional products continue to be strategic partnerships for managing outstripped by growth in everything as a service, or XaaS. The “X” may refer products and customers. to computing power, storage capacity, or applications that the technology vendors deliver on demand from remote data centers. By delivering a steady stream of digital innovation, these companies have been instrumental in The lessons technology OEMs helping their customers transform their businesses and stay competitive are learning can provide a model in their respective markets. Now it’s the technology companies that must for other industries struggling redouble their efforts to reinvent their businesses by finding new ways to to balance old and new revenue simultaneously support customer service and service level agreements streams. (SLAs) for traditional and new revenue streams alike. In the process, OEMs must reevaluate all aspects of their operations to find optimizations that can liberate more capital for investments in their XaaS portfolios. White Paper | A Roadmap for Technology OEMs Harvard Business Review Analytic Services 1 experienced growth in service revenues.1 And the Covid-19 pandemic appears to have added fuel to this trend, according to a new TSIA survey. All respondents to a survey conducted in April and May of 2020 say the Covid-19 crisis will accelerate Technology companies face business model transformations so that a greater percentage of revenues will come from XaaS offers. In another recent significant financial challenges as TSIA survey, less than a quarter (23%) of the respondents they launch or expand XaaS business anticipate that forecast bookings for recurring revenue lines while simultaneously trying to from XaaS business models will drop more than 10% due to the impact of Covid-19. This compares with more than sell hardware and software and meet half (56%) of executives who expect transactional revenue associated maintenance and repair from traditional business model bookings to decline by more commitments. than 10%. These numbers indicate that XaaS sales will not only grow faster in good economic times, but also be less vulnerable to large-scale market disruptions. One technology OEM experiencing these trends is Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), an organization with a storied high- But finding extra cash isn’t easy. Technology companies tech past that began with two engineers working in a Palo Alto, face significant financial challenges as they launch or expand Calif., garage—and that helped spur the rise of Silicon Valley. XaaS business lines while simultaneously trying to sell Servers and other hardware still generate significant revenues hardware and software and meet associated maintenance for the company, but now XaaS is becoming the focus of its and repair commitments. That creates a difficult balancing act business model. “Everything as a service is critical to the for OEMs: the vendors must fund declining product business success of our go-to-market strategy,” says Greg Stafford, a lines while at the same time expanding their emerging service vice president at the company. offerings to achieve their profit potential. “[XaaS] gives customers a tremendous opportunity “Companies that launch these dual environments often to embrace digital transformation to differentiate their encounter conflicts that cost them financial performance,” businesses and grow revenues,” Stafford says. “To be says Glen Allmendinger, president of Harbor Research, a innovative at a very high speed, they need the freedom consulting firm for technology businesses. “Many companies to choose a combination of different technologies that fit we work with in this context eventually make more money their needs.” from services than with products, but their leadership had But moving to XaaS is more than just a way to support to understand that initially, at least, there was going to be a customers and give HPE a hedge against slowing revenues negative impact on finances.” in traditional product lines. It may also open new revenue The key is devising a strategy for overcoming these streams by helping customers quickly adopt emerging problems and accessing the resources technology OEMs technology, such as artificial intelligence and the internet need to turn XaaS into a solid and growing revenue stream. of things, to support business transformation strategies. In Technology firms are finding answers by focusing on three a study by the management consulting firm Deloitte, 40% of important areas: developing deeper insights into the services the respondents said their prime objective for adopting XaaS market, identifying the financial and workforce challenges is to gain access to the newest technology, while 37% named