ActionPoint’s H2 2021 Digital Transformation Index Report reveals 90% of Irish businesses are behind on their digital transformation journey

ActionPoint, Ireland’s leading digital transformation services firm and a member of the Viatel Group, has revealed data from the second half of last year to highlight where Irish businesses currently are with implementing their digital strategy.

In February 2022, the Irish Government launched Harnessing Digital, The Digital Ireland Framework. In their report, ambitious targets were set out for the digitalisation of Irish businesses including the goal to have 90% of SMEs at basic digital intensity by 2030 and 75% enterprise take-up in cloud, AI and Big Data.

ActionPoint’s H2 2021 Digital Transformation Index Report which surveyed 248 respondents across a mix of small, mid-size and large Irish companies across 18 industries including Financial Services, Technology and Manufacturing and Construction found that only 10% of Irish businesses are currently digitally ‘strategic’ or ‘optimised’ when it comes to digital maturity meaning that they have a digital led business strategy and are at the peak of their digital transformation journey. Of the remaining 90% of companies surveyed by ActionPoint, over half would be considered “digitally purposeful” i.e. they have well-documented IT plans, understand and utilise data and are in a strong position post-covid to strengthen their digital strategy.

However, the report found that there still remains a high level of Irish businesses far from this point of digital maturity, with 37% of Irish businesses defined as digitally ‘reactive’, identified as having somewhat clear IT priorities and being reactive to their IT needs rather than taking a proactive approach, which is needed in a fast changing environment. There are fears that such companies can be left behind compared to competitors who are proactively looking at ways to strengthen their digital presence and ensure both customers and employees have a meaningful experience.

Digital transformation & employee experience

Employee Experience (EX) covers a broad field that is influenced by culture, physical workspace and of course, technology. Technology is now the epicentre of the majority of businesses and EX technological solutions such as software, learning tools and user experience and design elements impact how employees view you and your workplace. More and more, this experience is having an influence on whether employees choose to stay with your company long-term or not.

Considering the current recruitment market, it may come as a surprise that only 15% of organisations are investing in EX technology solutions. It’s crucial that businesses ask themselves why EX is not a bigger motivator for technology investment as it is fast becoming a key metric to a company being considered an attractive, progressive place to work.

Despite the Covid-19 pandemic resulting in a shift to a remote or hybrid model of work, only 51% of respondents are effectively using ‘Collaboration & Communication Platforms’ in their business which empower employees to communicate seamlessly while working together on projects online.

There is also some concern around the number of businesses not implementing a digital skills plan to upskill and train employees in new and emerging technologies. 63% of respondents to ActionPoint’s survey indicated that they do not have a digital skills plan.

Digital transformation & security

77% of organisations say that productivity and efficiency are the reasons behind adopting new technologies while 23% consider sustainability. Companies did demonstrate the importance of data and information security as ‘risk and compliance’ was the highest self-assessment score delivered by the survey. Additionally, 80% of respondents believed they were in compliance with GDPR.

On the topic of data and analytics, there were mixed results when it came to organisations using analytics to understand customers with 41% of respondents noting that they “had used analytics to better understand the customer” with a third of respondents saying they were unsure if it assisted them. However, by utilising technology 51% of respondents believed it improved customer loyalty.

Speaking on the survey results David Jeffreys, CEO and Co-Founder of ActionPoint said, “The Covid-19 pandemic forced Irish businesses to digitalise and re-evaluate their IT needs from an internal as well as customer-facing perspective.

“Around a quarter of respondents are using advanced analytics which is encouraging as companies look to harness customer data to adapt and improve products and services. For the rest, there are some quick-wins in the area of Data Intelligence using tools like PowerBI.”

“A real positive from these results is that Irish companies are aware of the critical nature of data and information security. This is obviously something that has been a prominent topic for a number of years and of course, will continue as we do more of our business virtually. The fact that a high percentage of Irish businesses also believe they are GDPR compliant is also to be welcomed and goes to show that Irish businesses are taking the right steps as they progress on their digital transformation journey.

“However, with the Government’s national digital strategy, ‘Harnessing Digital – The Digital Ireland Framework’ it has set the bar very high and our report demonstrates that there is still a lot of work to be done to close the gaps within the market. This includes businesses designing and implementing digital skills plans for their current and future employees and an overall more proactive approach to IT needs including more sophisticated CX tools, a digitally empowered Employee Experience and working towards a data-led business model,”  concluded Jeffreys.

Respondents to ActionPoint’s survey included C-Level Executives, Board Members, Company Directors and Business Owners from right across the country.

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