They say the only constant is change. Nowhere is this adage more true than in the world of enterprise technology, where a near constant evolution necessitates the need for agile and responsive IT to not only keep pace with competitors, but also meet the growing needs of customers.

With speed being the maxim these days, whether it be for the storage and accessing of data, ramping up digital transformation or indeed embracing a hybrid cloud model, being able to eliminate complexity and unlock value rapidly has become of paramount importance.

Unpacking how it is able to do so for its customers, as well as what it is seeing in the industry is Hitachi Vantara.

The enterprise IT management specialists recently held a roundtable for local industry executives to share insights on how best to leverage data infrastructure to tackle the issues of complexity and business value.

Collaboration determines return

Setting the scene for the discussion was Russell Daly, who is the Vendor Alliance manager for Hitachi Vantara in South Africa and the Rest of Africa with Exclusive Networks.

Here he notes that often the initial engagement between a technology infrastructure provider and potential client often involves a sales person, who at the end of the day wants to sell you something. This gets any kind of relationship off on the incorrect foot, emphasises Daly.

A more holistic approach, in his view, would begin with a consultant being the first point of contact.

“That is where we are failing customers and channel partners,” notes Daly.

“I think that is where we need to change. We need to approach engagement with a more consultative thinking, rather than, ‘here’s a quote’,” he continues.

The statement drew applause from those in attendance at the roundtable, so this is clearly an element that needs addressing and that few technology providers are yet to get right.

This approach can also address many of the issues that arise between provider and client, such as overpromising and failure to account for all instances. Regarding the latter, Daly highlights the fact that customers often never know just how poorly secure their data is until they suffer a costly breach.

Thinking consultative first and quote later, can definitely tackle issues like this.

Adding his perspective was Dennis Naidoo, country manager and sales director at Hitachi Vantara, sharing one of the key lessons he has learned when engaging with customers in search of value.

To that end he notes that while working on case studies to provide an idea of the return on investment, that collaboration is key.

“80 percent of the information we require is going to come from the customer. The challenge we face is that in order to offer customers real value, we need their help,” he emphasises.

He also points out that the exponential growth in data has meant that getting the much needed answers and access to information has become far harder to make happen. The situation he sees now is far different from the one two decades ago when he was an IT professional.

“20 years ago there was not half the amount of data there is today. In fact it was a fraction, as now customers have petabytes of data. That means that one of the key challenges we face is that when we need that information to give customers a real business proposal, it is not always forthcoming,” explains Naidoo.

Time to buy in

This, as the Hitachi Vantara executive highlights, creates a real problem.

There also appears to be a growing disconnect between expectation and reality regarding what the customer requires and what it will take to bring it to fruition.

As an example here, Naidoo says that customers are not fully aware of how much spending is required to deliver the desired compute within a given timeframe. Being able to effectively communicate this with customers, as well as getting them to buy into what is needed, poses the next big problem that needs to be addressed.

Quite simply, having a collaborative mindset when it comes to data infrastructure will go a long way to negotiating some of these long standing hurdles to eliminating complexity and unlocking value.

“Enterprise organisations in South Africa require both a consultancy-type and education-type service. This combination will help us to learn the business, grow on a journey together with the customer and ultimately find the best solution,” he emphasises.

As local enterprises look for what’s next in terms of solving digital challenges, the only way to find solutions is collaborating across the board with a service provider that is geared towards delivering the most benefit.

This is what Hitachi Vantara has been championing for some time now. To find out more about its solutions, as well as the wide breadth of services on offer to unlock value for your business, head here.