The COVID-19 pandemic is continuing to create new challenges for technologists. Businesses are under phenomenal pressure to keep applications and digital services up and running, while at the same time being asked to deliver the best experience possible for their consumers.

In normal circumstances, consumers have very high expectations for the businesses and services they interact with. This demand for flawless digital experiences has meant that organisations need to deliver high-performance and scalable services at all times to protect their reputation and stay ahead of the competition.

During the current pandemic, consumers’ demands are intensified, as they rely even more on digital services to access information, services and products. In a digital-first world, brands need to ensure their digital performance is, and continues to be, a top priority. For IT teams, end-to-end visibility into both web and mobile applications is vital for gaining the insight they need to understand the consumers’ habits, as well as the broader business.

Increasing complexity across the technology stack, however, has meant that delivering exceptional digital experiences as standard might prove challenging for organisations. So, how can businesses successfully deliver an outstanding customer experience in the current climate?

Consumer demands impact IT

In recent years, application environments have exploded in complexity. This has made it more difficult for IT teams to react quickly to application issues and resolve them ahead of time. Today, digital experiences are how consumers engage with the world and, in many cases, how customers engage with brands. As outstanding digital experiences become the norm and appetite for services is soaring, brands need to ensure they deliver personalised, intuitive customer experiences.

According to the App Attention Index, half of all consumers would pay more for products and services that deliver a better digital experience. To remain ahead of the competition, businesses need to differentiate themselves through the applications and experiences they provide.

Building a better digital experience

A visual map makes it easy to see where any issues are and flag problems such as a marked drop-off in users because of delays or lags. Through this mapping, IT teams can gain a unique advantage in delivering an exceptional customer experience, while prioritising resources.

This performance-lens view allows IT decision makers to see the bigger picture, understand how customers interact with the applications, how performance impacts these interactions, as well as resolve the right issues at the right time.

To deliver world-class digital experience, IT teams need a holistic overview of their applications. Demand from consumers has meant that IT teams need to manage application complexity whilst also navigating operational silos that make collaboration, data exchange and problem resolution challenging.

To overcome these challenges, they need a comprehensive view on how customers are interacting with the application in real-time. Visualising the customer journey gives teams the opportunity to identify paths to optimisation and deliver the high-quality experience that consumers demand. Tools like Experience Journey Map provide a visual map of the UX across the entire web or mobile application. Through journey visualisation, teams can proactively manage the digital journey and uncover any hidden bottlenecks.

Re-thinking digital transformation

Today’s business climate brings new pressures and increasing customer demands every day, Organisations must adapt quickly and ensure they have a robust business transformation strategy in place.

To achieve success and deliver outstanding digital services through these uncertain times, businesses need to have full-stack visibility across their IT infrastructure. This will enable ITOps teams to consistently and quickly improve the digital experiences for the end customer. IT has become a strategic driver of business outcomes and a proactive approach to performance monitoring has never been more important.

In the end, the businesses that are able to transform, innovate and delight their users through their digital services, will be the ones who gain advantage ahead of the competition and earn the loyalty of their customers.