What is an IT Service?
In a digital-first future, defining what isn't an IT service is more straightforward because everything has an information technology component these days. For example, we were about to use driving a truck as an example of a non-IT service, but thanks to self-driving trucks and industrial robots, driving a truck has an IT component.
Every organization is now defined by the digital services it delivers. From engaging customers with new experiences to building new revenue opportunities and driving digital-first touchpoints that protect and enable customers and communities, these services have never been more essential.
- VMware Driving Digital Business whitepaper
WTE's IT services are interconnected. Let's examine something that used to be a bland commodity IT service – hosting websites. Hosting websites was a simple task, but hosting websites, in a rapid development cloud era brings novel security, resource utilization, and technical challenges.
The current cloud-enabled IT environment changes every WTE IT service from simple to complex where once easily purchased and understood commodities such as web hosting become convoluted, expensive value-added services where saving dollars may cost millions.
Changing how we think is the best solution; that's why we think of WTE IT services in the context of networks and platforms.
Networks & Platforms
We don’t think of database engineering in gigabytes anymore, nor do we think about “websites” much these days. Thanks to ubiquitous Application Program Interfaces (APIs), microservices, Lego-like code and increased social media influenced customer expectations for how they want to interact with brands most website we develop are platforms and communities.
The fundamental difference between a website and a digital platform lies in how you approach user engagement. Websites provide one-way engagement, with users ingesting the website’s content. Platforms create a reciprocal arrangement, with interactions between a platform and its users generating a personalized experience.
Websites rely on implied audience data capture, with users grouped into broad buckets. For example, if many people click on a particular article, the site will assume that most visitors are interested in that topic. This way, websites always work with and for the majority, not the individual.
By contrast, platforms use expressed data capture, where users provide identity information by registering and logging in. Once someone logs in, it is possible to learn about them from multiple touchpoints such as filling out forms, adding comments, participation in discussions and bookmarking content. By supplying a platform with real data, users get experiences tailored for them.
- OOMPHInc.com (emphasis ours)
Passive consumption is over thanks to social media’s pervasive influence where anything and everything becomes a sharable experience. New businesses such as Tough Mudders where contestants squeeze under barbed wire and run through mud and established brands such as Red Bull, Nike, and Starbucks use platforms and shared experiences to convert visitors into loyal customers and contributors.
Platforms are more likely than websites to turn users into loyal customers and brand ambassadors. To get someone to be an advocate for your company, they need to get something in return. Websites are convenient but impersonal. Platforms, by contrast, provide a personal connection between a business and its audience.
- OOMPHInc.com
When everything is an app and those apps power mission-critical platforms and networks, our days of easy-to-understand and buy IT, services are probably over too. Therefore, it is better to ask the right questions about the IT services you need, such as:
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Is the IT service secure?
Online security in a cloud era with an increased digital crime is where we suggest spending dollars to protect millions.
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Does the IT service integrate?
Platforms and networks come with different integration requirements, and troubleshooting integration issues, something we spend a lot of time doing, can be a bear.
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Will the IT service scale?
Online, everything gets bigger or shrinks, so knowing how an IT service will scale is crucial.
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What's the IT service experience? - Everything wins or loses customers' hearts and minds; there is no neutral so ask if your IT services are helping or hurting your cause.
How WTE Does IT Services
WTE is a group of United States based programmers and marketers who love puzzles, challenges, and helping our customers win their customers hearts and minds. Yes, we offer some traditional IT services such as hosting websites, but we don’t use “traditional” approaches.
Every service we offer uses our three-legged approach: Lego-Like Code – we code in blocks with hooks to facilitate connection to other blocks or Applications Program Interfaces (APIs). Extreme Programming (XP) - we use Kent Beck’s pragmatic programming approach outlined in his book Extreme Programming Explained: Embrace Change.
XP emphasizes business results and a get-something-started NOW while committing to continual testing and revisions to speed the development of new products, applications, and solutions. Agile Software Development – develop new products in partnership with customers and end-users using self-organizing cross-functional teams. Our approach changes and influences every IT service offered. Our customers benefit because our IT services are secure, easy to integrate, and focused on winning your customers’ hearts and minds.