Why business leaders turn to Teams as a Service to accelerate digital transformation

There is no shortage of articles, whitepapers, and blogs detailing how the ongoing pandemic has accelerated digital transformation (DX) initiatives. Many note that what once should have occurred over a five-year period must now happen in mere weeks. Some have even gone so far as to say it needs to occur overnight. Hyperbole aside, a rapidly shifting business landscape is forcing everyone’s hand to move forward fast. With this in mind, the more pressing question arising from surging customer demand is, how do you get there? And, how do you do it in record time?

For starters, you need a team that’s experienced, prepared, and ready to meet your digital demand head-on. Not only that, but this team must be dedicated to guiding your digital initiatives from start to finish. A difficult feat when you’re pulling internal team members from other projects that also require their attention. Moreover, when business leaders examine their current capabilities against immediate needs, they often find gaps within their current teams. Talent and skills gaps pose a massive constraint to digital maturity because they halt growth. In the best-case scenario, a lack of talent maintains the status quo and in the worst case, it kills innovation. Thankfully, leaders can rise above these challenges by taking steps to upskill their teams while also acting on their digital strategies.

This is where Team as a Service (TaaS) provides numerous benefits over traditional methods such as hiring new full-time employees or dipping into the budget to bring on vendors in several different areas of expertise. As a recent Gartner survey notes, “IT and business leaders report an average of six months to fill new roles externally, and nine months to develop internal candidates. However, it will often take much longer to recruit externally for in-demand jobs. The time that passes while searching for a candidate is also time the enterprise spends without the skill set, compounding the issue and putting the organization further behind.”

Before your business risks falling behind, let’s take a look at how Teams as a Service can propel you into the future by accelerating your digital transformation initiates.

Extending your internal teams with Teams as a Service (TaaS) allows you to reap the benefits of a group of people who share experience and already have good working synergy. This team-based model enables you to utilize many consultants with specific, individualized expertise, without having to begin new projects. Because TaaS is fluid, it allows you to swap members in-and-out based on shifting priorities and expertise. Organizations that leverage the full benefits of Teams as a Service tend to see faster turnaround rates and higher satisfaction levels internally because it eases the burden on employees, who can now maintain their focus on keeping the business running.

One of the best investments an organization can make is in its people. TaaS eases the burden of additional work on your internal teams, and it benefits them in other areas. Working with an external team can actually help upskill your employees and enhance overall performance and engagement. Upskilling your people and helping them evolve in ways that enhance both their professional and personal lives will positively impact your business, including a reduced need to hire externally.

Having an on-demand team that you can turn on and off as needed (TaaS typically operates on a month-to-month or quarterly basis) leaves you with more room for strategy and innovation. Rather than losing steam over the added burden of developing that capacity internally or juggling multiple vendors on many projects, you save exponentially on resources (not to mention, peace of mind). Looking at digital transformation in your organization with a holistic point of view can lead to less redundant projects, more strategic investment, less technical debt, and a more thoughtful, curated customer experience, ultimately resulting in increased loyalty and ROI.

The biggest risk for company leaders in any climate is standing still. Companies that don’t prioritize modernization, optimization, and customer experience will lose in the long run. Hitting the ground running with an experienced team eliminates this problem by giving organizations an edge over the competition.