By Microsoft

23 Nov 2016

Microsoft shares key findings from one of the largest studies of business and IT leaders around digital transformation


The pervasive access to new digital services is changing every aspect of business—shaping growth, disrupting industry landscapes, and providing the catalyst for new business models, products, services, and experiences. It is enabling businesses to reimagine their structures and become digital businesses. 

So to understand what impact this era of digital transformation is having at a time of great uncertainty in the British economy, Microsoft has conducted the largest study of business and IT leaders to date around this subject.

The subsequent report examines how UK organisations perceive digital transformation: the drivers for pursuing such strategies, the benefits they believe it can deliver to their organisations, and the barriers they are facing on their digital transformation journeys. We heard from more than 1,000 business and IT leaders from large UK organisations across a variety of sectors. This was complemented by a series of in-depth interviews with digital transformation leaders and influencers, allowing for deeper insight.

Digital transformation can mean many things to many people. Seeing it as simply a faster and more efficient extension of the industrial era is to miss what is actually happening. In increasingly uncertain times it can be all too easy to not take time to reflect on the seismic implications this change might have on any organisation. This report, Digital Transformation: The Age of Innocence, Inertia or Innovation?, is a time-effective and valuable means to get you and your business prepared. 

Key findings include:

•    The digital transformation era is a massive opportunity for British businesses but many are still living in an age of innocence when they need to be innovating 
•    Nearly half (44%) of all business leaders think their existing business models will cease to exist within the next five years
•    Business models are breaking but many British business leaders are unwilling to fix them 
•    46% of business decision makers think their senior leadership are unwilling to disrupt their existing businesses to grow and compete more in the future
•    Digital transformation is not just an IT issue it’s a fundamental reshaping of an organisation’s entire business strategy 
•    Many businesses still see digital transformation purely as a customer experience or operations exercise

This last point is the driving factor behind the report. In an age where uncertainty has replaced business as usual and competitive advantage is fleeting, a fundamentally new approach is required. Digital transformation is not simply an IT department initiative or reinventing services for a mobile world. If done right, it permeates the very fabric of an organisation. Everybody is in the digital transformation team and the quality of the leadership is paramount.

So please download the report today and use it as a benchmark on which to measure the progress your organisation is making, identify some of the obstacles ahead and provide you with recommendations for ensuring digital transformation success.

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