Despite the relentless
pace of disruption, the latest Dell Technologies Digital Transformation (DT)
Index shows many businesses' digital transformation programs are still in their
infancy. This is evidenced by the 78% of business leaders who admit digital
transformation should be more widespread throughout their organization (US: 82%).
More than half of businesses (51%) believe they'll struggle to meet changing
customer demands within five years (US: 33%), and almost one in three (30%) still
worry their organization will be left behind (US: 26%).
Dell
Technologies, in collaboration with Intel and Vanson Bourne, surveyed 4,600
business leaders (director to C-suite) from mid- to large-sized companies
across the globe to score their organizations' transformation efforts.
The study revealed
that emerging markets are the most digitally mature, with India, Brazil and
Thailand topping the global ranking. In contrast, developed markets are
slipping behind: Japan, Denmark and France received the lowest digital maturity
scores. The US came 15 places in front of Canada and 2 places behind Mexico in
digital maturity scores. What's more,
emerging markets are more confident in their ability to "disrupt rather than be
disrupted" (53%), compared to just 40% in developed nations.
Behind the curve
The DT Index II builds
on the first ever DT Index launched in 2016. The two-year comparison highlights
that progress has been slow, with organizations struggling to keep up with the
blistering pace of change. While the percentage of Digital Adopters has
increased, there's been no progress at the top. Almost four in 10 (39%)
businesses are still spread across the two least digitally mature groups on the
benchmark (Digital Laggards and Digital Followers).
"In the near future, every organization will
need to be a digital organization, but our research indicates that the majority
still have a long way to go," says Michael Dell, chairman and CEO of Dell
Technologies. "Organizations need to modernize their technology to participate
in the unprecedented opportunity of digital transformation. The time to act is
now."
Barriers to transformation and confidence
The findings also
suggest business leaders are on the verge of a confidence crisis, with 91% held
back by persistent barriers.
The top five barriers
to digital transformation success:
- Data privacy and security
concerns (from 5th place in 2016) (2nd place in US)
- Lack of budget and resources
- Lack of the right in-house
skill sets and expertise
- Regulation and legislative
changes (from 9th place in 2016)
- Immature digital culture
Almost half (49%)
believe their organization will struggle to prove it's trustworthy within the
next five years (US: 31%). Nearly a third (32%) don't trust their own
organization to comply with regulations (such as the EU General Data Protection
Regulation) (US: 25%). One in three don't trust their own organization to protect
employee or customer data (US: 32%).
Plans to realize their digital
future
Leaders
have reported common priorities and investments to aid future transformation,
including an increased focus on workforce, security and IT. Forty-six percent are
developing in-house digital skills and talent, by teaching all employees how to
code for instance, up from 27% in 2016 (US: 38%, from 31% in 2016).
Top
technology investments for the next one to three years:
- Cybersecurity
- Internet of Things technology
- Multi-cloud environment
- Artificial intelligence
- Compute centric approach
How
organizations fare in the future will depend on the steps they take today. For
instance, Draper, a Dell
Technologies customer, was traditionally focused on department of defense
research but it's starting to move into more commercial areas such as biomedical
science.
"Technology enables us to keep solving the world's toughest problems;
from the infrastructure and services that underpin our innovation, to the
experimental technologies that we wield to prevent disease for instance," says
Mike Crones, CIO, Draper. "We couldn't push boundaries, and call ourselves an
engineering and research firm, without being a fully transformed and modern
company from the inside out."