It’s hard to believe we’re already talking about the return to school, but it’s set to be a big one. In fact, this year promises to be the biggest in the last five years. The National Retail Federation expects back-to-school spending to reach $37.1B , up from $33.9B last year. Back-to-college spending is also expected to rise, reaching $71B this year. This increase is buoyed by parents and students gearing up for their first in-person classes after a year of virtual learning.

Citizens utilize mobile and consumer-facing applications in everyday life, so it’s no surprise that they demand seamless access and high availability of government services online. Whether it’s making payments or applying for benefits, citizens and constituents alike expect these services to be available around the clock.

As the world becomes increasingly digital-first, it’s more important than ever for organizations to keep services always-on, innovate quickly, and deliver great customer experiences. Uptime is money, so it’s no surprise that many have made the shift to cloud in recent years in order to make use of its flexibility and scale—while controlling costs. And while 2020 wasn’t easy for any organization, those that are thriving have embraced the digital mindset.

Digital operations maturity is a journey. The first step is to understand where you are, where you want to get to, and what’s keeping you from getting there. Only then can you make strategic decisions and lay out a plan for how to approach any hurdles and land where you want your organization to be. For many organizations, upleveling operational maturity requires investment in driving cultural change with fundamental shifts to operating models.

As technology advances and applications for the Internet of Things (IoT) continue to expand, industrial and manufacturing companies are embedding more digital systems into their operations. From smart factories and intelligent shipping to automation and 3D printing, Industry 5.0 has arrived.

We’re eating at restaurants again. We’re seeing family after too long apart. Some of us may even be returning to the office. But, that doesn’t mean that the pressure is off for digital services, and growing in operational maturity still remains top of mind. While the digital transformations have been taking place for the last two decades, COVID-19 added pressure to speed initiatives.

The global pandemic is estimated to have accelerated digital transformation by at least seven years—and it’s showing no signs of stopping. In fact, companies are investing even more into software-driven experiences. A recent Gartner forecast points to worldwide IT spending increasing 8.4% to $4.1 trillion in 2021, with much of that spend on mission-critical, customer-facing services.

Are we looking at the new normal now? In the last 18 months, organizations all over the world were compelled to undergo a rapid digital transformation and mature their operations to support services that were under unprecedented strain. Digital transformation allows companies to embark on large-scale cloud migrations and adopt modern development methods like DevOps and Agile.

If there’s one thing we learned from the 80+ sessions from Summit 2021, it’s that across the industries, companies are continuing to accelerate innovation in a bid to meet growing customer expectations of always-on services across all channels. In financial services, disrupting traditional banking or rethinking access to advisory services comes with operational and regulatory challenges.

2020 heralded a year of increased complexity and customer demands, which isn’t going away. In this new normal, organizations will still be tasked with keeping up this break-neck pace. So, what did digital operations look like in 2020 compared to 2019?