Member Article

The digital transformation paradox

A lack of digital transformation (DX) strategies is causing operational inefficiencies, business silos and poor customer experiences, a report by leading agile software development specialists, Black Pepper Software, warns.

Original research in the ‘Digital Transformation: Are you ahead of or behind the curve?’ report, which polled 127 UK IT Directors, CIOs and CTOs, revealed that while over a third (37%) of IT directors say agility is a ‘must have’ for their business in 2017, 62% still use in-flexible ‘off the shelf’ software, limiting their ability to meet the demands of connected omnichannel consumers.

Nearly half (44%) said they are hindered by legacy systems that are no longer fit for purpose and have yet to be replaced, causing operational inefficiencies, business silos and poor customer experiences.

Lack of integration across departments was the top issue for their business caused by their current IT systems for 61% of IT directors, closely followed by increased costs (52%) and lack of productivity (42%). Over a third suggested their current IT systems were negatively impacting customer encounters, such as causing complaints (36%) or a lack of consumer engagement (35%).

While cost and time were the top barriers IT directors faced in implementing DX strategies (59% and 40%, respectively), a third of IT directors (33%) felt there was a lack of understanding at board level of the benefits of digital transformation. This seeming lack of c-suite ‘buy-in’ may explain why 38% of those polled didn’t expect to reap the rewards of a DX strategy until 2020 and 6% said they doubted a digital transformation strategy would ever get implemented in their organisation.

Rowan Welch, Account Director at Black Pepper Software, commented: “Our recent research showed improving the customer experience, simplifying internal processes and supporting the company’s growth targets were the top three aims that IT directors sought to achieve by implementing digital transformation projects – all of which are key issues that directly impact the bottom-line.”

“We’re often asked what the key is to the successful implementation of a DX strategy. In our experience any good DX strategy should be joined up with marketing, digital and, most importantly, the board and must be understood and supported by the wider business in order to deliver return on investment,” she concluded.

To find out more how DX will shape IT strategies in 2017, download the full report: https://www.blackpepper.co.uk/research/digital-transformation-for-it-directors

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Gareth Poppleton .