From Software-as-a-Service to Freedom-as-a-Service: the dawn of the third digital transformation wave

The first digital transformation wave?took place between the early 2000s and 2010. It consisted mainly of custom projects developed by system integrators, often with proprietary technologies that produced a significant?system integrator lock-in.

Starting in 2010,?the second digital transformation wave?saw the emergence of development and integration projects based on vendor platforms, notably: IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, SAP, Adobe, and Salesforce.

The system integrator lock-in was mitigated because, unless too deep customizations of the platforms themselves were implemented, the system integrator was fungible and could be replaced at the customer’s discretion, thus ensuring greater freedom to change supplier; however, this introduced a new kind of uncomfortable constraint, namely the?vendor lock-in.

Motivated by the need for platform vendors to increase revenues and sales margins exponentially, the practice of software-as-a-service often degenerated into unbearable costs and is less and less tolerated by customer organizations.

In 2023, we are now at the beginning of?the third digital transformation wave. This wave is characterized by the shift from “I-cook-everything-and-more-or-less-well-as-a-restaurant-pizzeria” approach of vendor platforms, to composable, microservices-based, low-code, cloud-native architectures, making it possible to rapidly develop, integrate and deploy applications with features at a rapid pace never seen before. In a nutshell:?freedom-as-a-service.

This wave is proving itself invaluable for companies that need to respond quickly to changes in their environment, such as a global pandemic or shifts in customer behavior. As these technologies evolve and become more integrated, they will continue revolutionizing how organizations do business.

The increasing number of digital services and tools available today lays the groundwork for this novel approach to digital transformations, focused on helping businesses create better outcomes through automation and AI-enabled human-machine collaboration. An ever-growing ecosystem of connected products, services, and platforms will characterize this third wave. Companies that can leverage this ecosystem to drive business outcomes effectively will be better positioned for success in the digital age.

Fast-paced technological change, driven by the third digital transformation wave, reshapes how we do business. This revolution is no longer limited to software development — it’s a fundamental shift in how organizations think about their technology stacks and use them to transform customer experiences and increase operational efficiencies.

As entrepreneurs and managers, we must embrace this new reality now if we want our companies to remain successful in today’s competitive environment. As the third wave of digital transformation takes shape, organizations?must strive to develop innovative strategies that leverage the latest technologies, such as applied AI and composable architecture trends, to stay ahead of the curve.

This new digital transformation era will continue to evolve and innovate with time, driving unprecedented business results and increasing the asymmetry and polarization between companies that innovate and accelerate and those that fall behind.

As we make progress in time, it will be critical for organizations to stay informed about the latest trends and leverage them effectively to remain competitive. With a well-honed strategy and an eye on technological advances, our customers can take advantage of this third wave of digital transformation for a more prosperous tomorrow, and by helping more customers embrace the possibilities of this new digital world, we at?Neosperience?can help shape together with ambitious clients the future we want to see.

(originally published on Medium - Feb, 22nd 2023)