It’s hard to believe we’re already talking about the return to school, but it’s set to be a big one. In fact, this year promises to be the biggest in the last five years. The National Retail Federation expects back-to-school spending to reach $37.1B , up from $33.9B last year. Back-to-college spending is also expected to rise, reaching $71B this year. This increase is buoyed by parents and students gearing up for their first in-person classes after a year of virtual learning.

As the world becomes increasingly digital-first, it’s more important than ever for organizations to keep services always-on, innovate quickly, and deliver great customer experiences. Uptime is money, so it’s no surprise that many have made the shift to cloud in recent years in order to make use of its flexibility and scale—while controlling costs. And while 2020 wasn’t easy for any organization, those that are thriving have embraced the digital mindset.

Digital operations maturity is a journey. The first step is to understand where you are, where you want to get to, and what’s keeping you from getting there. Only then can you make strategic decisions and lay out a plan for how to approach any hurdles and land where you want your organization to be. For many organizations, upleveling operational maturity requires investment in driving cultural change with fundamental shifts to operating models.

As technology advances and applications for the Internet of Things (IoT) continue to expand, industrial and manufacturing companies are embedding more digital systems into their operations. From smart factories and intelligent shipping to automation and 3D printing, Industry 5.0 has arrived.

In the era of digital workplaces, AI has emerged as a catalyst in enabling simplified, intelligent, and intuitive ITSM and ITOM environments. From increasing workflow automation, reducing IT staff workload to reducing downtime and outages, AI can help accelerate your service delivery and provide meaningful business insight.

We’re eating at restaurants again. We’re seeing family after too long apart. Some of us may even be returning to the office. But, that doesn’t mean that the pressure is off for digital services, and growing in operational maturity still remains top of mind. While the digital transformations have been taking place for the last two decades, COVID-19 added pressure to speed initiatives.

The global pandemic is estimated to have accelerated digital transformation by at least seven years—and it’s showing no signs of stopping. In fact, companies are investing even more into software-driven experiences. A recent Gartner forecast points to worldwide IT spending increasing 8.4% to $4.1 trillion in 2021, with much of that spend on mission-critical, customer-facing services.

Are we looking at the new normal now? In the last 18 months, organizations all over the world were compelled to undergo a rapid digital transformation and mature their operations to support services that were under unprecedented strain. Digital transformation allows companies to embark on large-scale cloud migrations and adopt modern development methods like DevOps and Agile.