CEO Perspective

We're at the dawn of a fundamental shift in the way our clients consume IT services. We see a future where clients will increasingly be looking to more closely match their supply of IT services with demand, and eliminate idle capacity. For Dimension Data, this means being able to deliver IT services to our clients at exactly the right time, in just the right amounts ... thereby enabling them to truly realise the dream of consuming IT 'as-a-service'. If we're able to achieve this we can deliver incredible business value to our clients through reduced costs and greater agility. We'll also build client loyalty and satisfaction.

This is an exciting market shift and Dimension Data is moving boldly to capitalise on the opportunities it's bringing our way. We began our journey several years ago, establishing our Cloud Business Unit and investing aggressively in new cloud capabilities. We're continuing to develop new cloud services and have established a solid track record for assisting clients to make their IT-as-a-service ambitions real - for example, with our 'bank-in-a-box' solution for ING Direct. This simple self-service model enables staff to perform tasks that previously took weeks now in a matter of minutes, which gives the bank a competitive edge in its marketplace.

We're also continuing to evolve and adapt our offerings in line with this new consumption model to ensure we continually improve the client experience. This means developing standard service offerings and highly automated systems and processes. We're also increasingly 'embedding' ourselves within the microtransactions that end users are conducting. We've built into our cloud services the ability to identify if one of our users is struggling with something - and we can support them in real time, with interactive communication through pop-up screens that offer online chat, as well as support via online communities. Old models meant logging a call with a contact centre. Now, users expect to be able to obtain support immediately, through their communication channel of choice. We'll continue to build deeper engagement with end users into our services.

While the move from traditional to new consumption models is an exciting journey, it's not one that will happen overnight. Moving from existing on-premise infrastructures to the cloud is complex. One of Dimension Data's key strengths is our ability to help clients to operate a hybrid environment − managing their legacy environments while making the transition to the cloud. To do this we draw on our traditional system integration heritage, as well as our IT outsourcing and IT-as-a-service capabilities. Through this lifecycle of services we're able to assist our clients at every stage of their journey to the cloud.