Research: Six trends in the digital transformation landscape
International software provider Cyara and Sapio Research have canvassed the views of 1,000 business and IT business decision makers in Australia and beyond to identify some of the latest trends in the digital transformation landscape – a roundup of the study’s six main findings.
Digital transformation is considered important
Nearly all companies recognize the importance of digital transformation for competitive advantage (98%) and for enhancing the customer experience (94%). In addition, the vast majority of businesses (91%) believe digital transformation will have a positive impact on revenue.
Among the top three initiatives: 65% of respondents said they are pursuing digital transformation initiatives in automation technology, followed by 61% in cloud, and 60% in big data and real-time analytics.
IT teams are believed to be under-resourced
More resources and budgets are needed to be successful. Only 7% of both business and IT respondents think IT teams have the resources needed to keep up with the digital transformation initiatives and meet implementation deadlines. It is clear that IT teams are not perceived to be set up for success.
Digital transformation initiatives have no obvious owners
When asked who is driving digital transformation initiatives, 37% of respondents identified the CTO/CIO; 28% pointed to an IT leader; 23% said the CEO; and 10% specified other C-suite leadership members as the drivers. Similarly, a lack of clear ownership leaves a concerning gap for customers – and the business.
Transformation success is defined differently according to seniority
The more senior, the more positive the respondents were around digital transformation success. Estimates on the success of implementations drop off precipitously as seniority decreases.
Of the 98% of respondents who said that their digital transformation initiatives were at least somewhat successful, 90% of business owners and 75% of managing directors versus 38% of department heads and 35% at the manager level describing their digital transformation initiatives as “very successful.”
Digital transformation initiatives are behind schedule
On average, IT decision makers believe they are 4.71 months behind where they should be on digital transformation implementation, whereas business decision makers put their estimate at an average of 5.34 months.
IT teams are not always involved in the decision-making process
When asked if business leaders consulted their IT teams on the decision-making process, only 43% said “yes, every time” meaning that more than half of IT teams are left in the dark on at least some critical decisions. This suggests IT must be given a more prominent seat at the table to effectively advise business leaders.
Commenting on the report’s findings, Alok Kulkarni, CEO and Co-Founder of Cyara said, “As we embark on a post-Covid-19 era, implementing digital transformation strategies will continue to grow in significance among organisations to ensure better efficiencies, enhance customer experience, increase revenue, and create competitive advantage.”
“It’s important that organisations involve their technology teams early in this process to ensure that business and IT goals are aligned to ensure the success of the digital transformation program.”
What is digital transformation?
Digital transformation refers to the adoption of digital technology with the goal of transforming delivery of services or business processes, by replacing non-digital or manual processes with automated processes or replacing older digital technology with newer digital capabilities. According to a recent estimate by analyst firm Markets & Markets, the global digital transformation market is now worth over US$500 billion.
Much of the spend however gets lost, with a study from consulting firm Boston Consulting Group finding that only one in three Australian companies actually fully benefiting from their digital transformation investments.
