UBDS Digital taking lifecycle transformation approach

Customers are looking for digital transformation specialists that can provide more than just a one-and-done approach and are prepared to guide them through a process that can take years to evolve and implement.

The phrase “digital lifecycle specialist” is one that Diptesh Patel, CEO at UBDS Digital, argues is the right approach to take to provide customers with a consultative partnership.

The firm has a range of customers from central government to financial services players, and recently bulked out The UBDS Group’s security credentials with the recent acquisition of 3B Data Security.

Patel said the business, which started life in 2019, was now 175 staff strong and – although it did not share results publicly – would generate around £21m in net revenue in the last fiscal year.

“We’re very focused on supporting clients on their outcomes, rather than being a resource augmentation type of organisation. So, looking at a focus on infrastructure, project and programme management of client side delivery, and also around some of the technical capabilities around Microsoft and infrastructure, more so networks,” he said.

“Everyone talks about digital transformation [and positioning themselves] as a digital transformation partner. We talk about digital lifecycle partnership. Transformation, especially during Covid, was very much a one-off. We’ve got to transform and move to a new solution. As things become more certain, more of a lifecycle approach is more relevant.”

That involves coming to a customer with ideas and innovations that are expected to evolve as the demands change: “We have this continuous improvement manager, and it goes around like an infinity loop.”

The demand for a lifecycle approach was coming from customers that wanted to make sure transformation meant more than just replacing legacy technologies.

Patel said that UBDS Digital had taken an alternative approach and benefitted from establishing a longer-term relationship with customers. “We’re talking to financial services organisations still on mainframe. And what we’re trying to do is say, ‘Hold on, the rate of innovation means that you’re constantly in a lifecycle. You’re constantly looking at, how do you modernise?’”

As a result of that, it was possible to start to factor in conversations about the potential role of AI, and the company was entering into conversations with users about the role quantum computing could play in their businesses.

“It’s that constant innovation and evolution, rather than that one-off transformation, looking at our lifecycle, when you go around that loop of continuous improvement and start to look at what you do, so organisations don’t end up in five years time saying, ‘Oh no, the things we built five years ago when we did our transformation exercise need to now be modernised again’,” said Patel. “It’s having that constant lifecycle product management and innovation and evolution.”

Patel said that the business worked closely with vendors, as well as other partners, to make sure it was able to look at product lifecycles and ensure it could deliver the best solution to the customer.

“The culture that we’re building is one of lifecycle, which is all about how we can avoid organisations having the pressure, and society even, having the pressure ... to constantly launch a whole project and a team, and go through the stresses and the hassle of doing it,” he said.