“We won’t be unprepared again.” How many CIOs and C-suite leaders have made that vow in the past few months? For each, that promise was prompted by a singular event: coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The pandemic compelled organizations to build resiliency, alter work patterns and accelerate digital transformations that had already been in progress. Senior executives faced tremendous pressure to quickly ensure business viability while also addressing security, data privacy and employee engagement. All this was done on a severely compressed timeline by firms throughout the world at the very same time.

To call this unprecedented would be an understatement given what we’ve been through over the last five months and are still working through. Yet, here at IBM, this experience revealed valuable lessons and insights into how businesses can move forward. Recognizing the shift in how business is being done, IBM Services solidified a model that represents this new era of virtual engagement and advancements in services delivery.

What is Dynamic Delivery?

IBM Services Dynamic Delivery is a holistic model of service delivery. It integrates virtualized, agile methods and practices which have been enhanced with AI and automation, with the latest delivery foundation. It also leverages the IBM Garage, both physical and virtual, to help clients co-create, co-execute and co-operate at scale. Together, these components have the potential to accelerate delivery, enhance timeline confidence, improve access to expertise allowing clients to pursue their transformations and anticipate and adapt with speed and resilience as business conditions shift.

At the heart of the model are enhanced, automated processes tailored for contactless delivery. AI and automation are applied to workflows to increase employee efficiency and rapidly scale delivery. And at the same time, teams can use “virtual garages” that apply design thinking, agile principles and DevOps tools and techniques to innovate and create new methods in response to shifting needs. Strong governance across all processes can help mitigate risk and enhance timeline confidence.

But the model goes much beyond the processes alone. It requires leading, engaging and enabling the humans in the network to work wherever they are, with virtual skills development and communities of practice. It means building in the capability to rapidly mobilize expertise via virtual squads who can rapidly innovate or resolve issues. It also includes global talent standards for access to flexible and available expertise and ubiquitous knowledge management.

Finally, the model requires a delivery foundation that starts with a resilient, scalable infrastructure. It comprises a robust network that can support work from home, non-traditional locations or physical co-location at sites based on changing business conditions. It includes virtualized, pervasive and AI-enabled platforms and common tools for employee collaboration and innovation. It also embeds security and privacy practices and policies to help protect proprietary data and reduce risk exposure.

Is Dynamic Delivery a long-term solution?

Let’s return to that business need: “We won’t be unprepared again.” Every business must wrestle with the lasting implications of the new business environment. Is it reasonable to believe that the changes wrought by this pandemic are permanent? Are future and equally disruptive events likely?

Despite the consequences stemming from this global pandemic, many companies have the potential to emerge stronger. With this new robust Dynamic Delivery model, IBM Services can help businesses navigate the road ahead with greater confidence and speed than before.

Learn more about IBM Services Dynamic Delivery