EDITOR’S LETTER

The world is round and the place which may seem like the end may also be the beginning. No, this is not my two cents on spirituality. Rather, I would argue that in the context of digital, customer and stakeholder expectations are the start and end point for digital transformation in enterprises. Enterprises regardless of industry, increasingly recognize that software is indeed your brand, and are investing in offering compelling stakeholder experiences.

The next few editions of Illuminar is going to focus on “The Decade of Change”. We’ll cover the significant change that we’re seeing, resulting from changing customer expectations and leading to change within enterprises to adopt digital to meet these expectations. Each month will focus on one topic of change – this month’s focus being customer expectations.

Thanks to the massive amounts of information available to them, customers are more informed and empowered today than ever before. Being able to keep up with the customer’s changing expectations, requires a fundamental shift in the way enterprises conduct business. Enterprises are still siloed in the way data is used and shared within Organizations. This means decision making is still based on fragmented data points and interpretations. Visibility to information is still siloed. Several enterprises are still working to create an integrated view for the customer. In the end of day, we all recognize that customer experience is not just about perfecting individual touch points, but rather the holistic experience which the customer gets. This starts right from the touchpoint of mediums they search and circle of influence before they choose an enterprise for a solution they need and it continues in their journey of expectations from the Businesses which they have come to trust. Enterprises that have skillfully managed this entire experience are rewarded by their loyalty, positive word of mouth and a trusted reputation. This reputation with customers and prospects is perhaps the biggest business advantage an enterprise can have in this competitive era.

This edition features a cover story on this topic together with a small survey to understand your experience around changing customer behavior in the last five to six years. Your feedback is pivotal as we consolidate a quintessential annual white-paper on the ‘Decade of Change Management’ to be released in 2017.

We’re grateful as ever, for your encouragement and continual feedback. We look forward to closer, meaningful engagements with you this year in the form of your inputs, thoughts, guest articles and interviews. We’d be happy to publish them once they are approved by our editorial team.

We wish you great health and a wonderful financial close to our friends at Indian enterprises.

Best Regards,
Srividya Kannan,
Editor, Illuminar
editorials@avaali.com