Application Delivery Must Enter The Age Of The Customer

Customers have more power today than ever before. They have tremendous influence and reach through social media, more options and choices for whom to buy from, and high expectations about how they want to be served. Enterprises are enthusiastically embracing this new reality and entering into the "age of the customer," driving a dramatic increase in their focus on the customer experience. Application development and delivery (AD&D) professionals delivering software that serves customers or affects the customer value chain are caught up in this trend as they strive to meet ambitious new requirements to delight customers. To thrive in this new era, app delivery pros must: 1) put customers and their needs and wants at the center of their approach; 2) develop stronger design capabilities and practices to deliver great customer experiences; 3) empower their business colleagues to further improve the customer experience; and 4) build alliances with customer-focused change agents across the firm to break out of their silo and organize to better serve customers.