New Dell Technologies Research: Business Leaders Reveal Major Lag in Transformation Globally

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 organisation (Ireland: 78%). More than half of businesses (51%) believe they’ll struggle to meet changing customer demands within five years (Ireland: 25%), and almost one in three (30%) still worry their organisation will be left behind (Ireland: 22%).

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 organisations’ 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. Ireland came in 26th place in front of Switzerland, but behind Germany and the UK. 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 organisations 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 organisation will need to be a digital organisation, but our research indicates that the majority still have a long way to go,” says Aisling Keegan, Vice President and General Manager, Dell EMC Ireland and Northern Ireland. “Organisations need to modernise 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)

– 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 organisation will struggle to prove it’s trustworthy within the next five years (Ireland: 17%). Nearly a third (32%) don’t trust their own organisation to comply with regulations (such as the EU General Data Protection Regulation) (Ireland: 33%). One in three doesn’t trust their own organisation to protect employee or customer data (Ireland: 28% don’t trust the protection of employee data, 33% customer data).

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 per cent are developing in-house digital skills and talent, by teaching all employees how to code for instance, up from 27% in 2016 (Ireland 2019: 43%, UK 2019: 48%).

Top technology investments for the next one to three years:

– Cybersecurity

– Internet of Things technology

– Multi-cloud environment

– Artificial intelligence

– Compute centric approach

How organisations 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.”