Published on the 02/05/2016 | Written by Donovan Jackson

Gartner research confirms digital transformation is happening…

Think digital disruption is just something that happens to other industries? Think again. The transformation of paper-based or manual processes to digital ones, and the progressive march of improved information sharing which tends to follow, is changing businesses of all kinds. That’s confirmed by recent international research out of market watcher Gartner, which shows half of CEOs expect their industries to be ‘substantially or unrecognisably’ transformed.

And it’s not just the big international companies which are doing it, either. A recent whitepaper from local IT solution provider Intergen shows that local companies like JUCY rentals, Ryman Healthcare and others, are taking the bull by the horns and proactively embracing digital transformation.

That’s noted by Lee Stevens, enterprise solutions specialist at Intergen. “A lot of organisations are doing good things,” he said. Interestingly, however, he noted that many of them don’t necessarily think of that as ‘digital transformation’. “It’s only when you bring up examples of digital transformation that they say, ‘yes, we’re busy with that already’. “Many of these companies take a broader look, too – they look to innovate in their industry, rather than just in their business,” Stevens added.

Back to Gartner. In a statement, it said CEOs have underlined that growth (cited by 54 percent of respondents) will be their top business priority for 2016 despite indications that the global economy is struggling; at iStart, we’re of the opinion that this isn’t too much of a surprise (who doesn’t like growth?). The second and third business priorities are customers (31 percent) and workforce (27 percent).

The Gartner ‘CEO and senior business executive survey’, the market watcher said, gathered input from some 400 respondents working in organisations generally with annual revenue of $1 billion or more. It said that while the survey results show business conditions are challenging, CEOs remain confident enough to sanction strategic investments, particularly when it comes to digital business transformation.

“The big rise of explicit mentions of the word ‘customer’ was very noticeable in the results of this year’s survey,” said Mark Raskino, VP and Gartner Fellow. “CEOs seem to be concerned about improving customer service, relationship and satisfaction levels.”

In a bid to stick to their digital business transformation plans, said Gartner, ‘more and more CEOs are choosing to head up digital change in the business. The survey found that CEOs now understand that digital business is substantial enough to warrant them leading it personally. If they delegate primary responsibility, then the next most likely leader is the CIO.’

It said the rise in the number of CEOs heading up digital change is unsurprising, ‘given that half of the CEOs surveyed expect to see substantial digital transformation in their industries, or for their industries to be almost unrecognisable within five years’.

Stevens agreed with this assessment, noting that in the local businesses where Intergen is supporting digital transformation initiatives, company top brass tends to be involved.

However, despite bright spots, he doesn’t think enough local businesses are giving digital transformation the sort of attention it deserves. Even those companies which have set up digital teams could be missing the point, because, explains Stevens, a good part of digital transformation isn’t about implementing technology, but changing the way things are done. “Those that treat it as a technology rollout with a new label, but go about it using the same old practices as they always have, could find themselves missing the boat,” he concluded.