The process is well underway in 2017, so it’s time to examine the keys to success, obstacles encountered, and to look to the future with companies having an average of five projects on the go for the next three years.
In 2015, 68% of respondents considered that integrating digital technologies was essential for the future of their activity. In 2016, the professionals we surveyed shared a vision of the expected benefits, with 25% of them having already implemented projects.
We now look at the key figures of the 2017 Observatory
So, where are these technologies today?
The study shows that in the past two years, 88% of respondents believe they have made progress, and 30% a great deal of progress, in digitalising their companies.
70% of respondents have seen expected progress, although 25% have had setbacks. 5% are right on track.
It’s interesting to note that 91% have encountered significant obstacles. Here are the Top Four: project complexity, a lack of in-house skills, a lack of methodology and an underestimated budget.
And what are the benefits?
The digital transformation helps 69% of those surveyed be more innovative. However, this change is also creating other major benefits like employee equipment for 57% of those surveyed, company image for 53% of them and productivity for 48%. Still, we note that 21% of them don’t see a link between sales and the digital transformation.
Key points for success
For the professionals we surveyed, getting IT and BUs to work together, mobilising the entire company and listening to customers are essential for a successful digital transformation. We also observed a genuine realisation of the most underestimated points such as changing management modes for 31% of respondents and cooperation between IT and the BUs for 28% of them.
The importance of collaboration between IT and the BUs
A digital transformation project has to take a number of factors into consideration, and the collaborative aspect between divisions must be one of them. For 90% of those surveyed, collaboration between IT and the BUs helps to improve company responsiveness, 83% of them see it speeding up project completion, and 82% see solutions being adopted more quickly within their company.
What’s more, 63% of those surveyed see this collaboration leading to better suited projects and helping to optimise budgets.
And in the future? Looking to 2020
As 2020 approaches, the professionals surveyed plan to deploy an average of five projects in the next three years. The most commonly mentioned topics are:
- The user experience (79%)
- Creation of a digital workspace (79%)
- Data (70%)
- IoT (63%)
Despite their “trendy” aspect, virtual reality, chatbots and artificial intelligence are low on the list, representing 33%, 29% and 27%.
*The survey was conducted on line between 20 December 2016 and 10 January 2017 by GoudLink MRCC with decision makers involved in implementing corporate digital mobility.
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