The world changed quickly for many businesses in 2020. It felt like a decade of organizational change happened in just a few months. Those titanic shifts were heaviest in one particular area: digital transformation (DX).
What seemed like a luxury before — the idea that every aspect of a business’ processes and operations could be built for a digital ecosystem — now stands as an absolute necessity. For some businesses like restaurants or banks, where digital customer experiences previously happened in fits and starts, this type of interaction is now the norm.
Few business leaders deny how urgent this transformation is to their business. Yet, when we asked them how it is going, a clear divide emerged between what they know is necessary and what is really happening in their organizations. Cyara polled 1,000 business and IT decision-makers within companies from the UK, Australia, and the US with revenue of at least US$3m and an overall workforce of at least 1,000. We noticed a few key points that shed light on this DX divide.
Leaders know they must go digital
Our survey confirmed one thing emphatically: Almost no one is questioning whether digital transformation should be a priority. In fact, most key decision-makers think it is necessary for survival. 98 percent of respondents saw it as a key means to maintain a competitive advantage.
The pandemic did not create this need, but it put the pedal to the floor and gave it a new sense of urgency. The pace of change has been breathtaking. Consider another survey, this one by consulting firm McKinsey and Company, that showed companies across the globe accelerating the digitization of their offerings by seven years — just from December 2019 to July 2020. The share of products and services that were digital jumped from 35 percent to 55 percent in that short time. Customer interactions went from 36 percent digital to 58 percent digital.
These trends only look like they will continue. Forrester, a major research firm, forecasted that 50 percent of organizations would prioritize shifting to the cloud in 2021. With half or more businesses emphasizing digital in so many areas, it is clear what organizations have to do to stay competitive.
Digitally transformed companies have the CX edge
These rapid changes are also quickly reshaping customer expectations. What may have been a bonus before is now critical. Companies must meet their audience and customer base where they are — the digital realm.
Here again, our survey confirmed that companies know this. 94 percent of our respondents noted that digital transformation can enhance the customer experience. They know that a truly digitized organization has access to vast amounts of customer data and the tools to put it to use. This data allows for far more tailored customer experiences. It is no wonder there is such universal agreement about the importance of digital transformation.
The divide runs deep
Despite these hearty acknowledgments of the need for a digital way forward, there is a clear divide between aspirations and reality. Although many organizations have initiatives in place, there is mixed sentiment about the success of those endeavors.
The divide, it appears, is not just between where companies want to be and where they are. It runs deeper than that — between upper management and those at lower levels and across organizational departments.
For instance, estimates on the success of DX implementations drop off sharply as seniority decreases. While 90 percent of business owners and 75 percent of managing directors think DX initiatives are going well, only 38 percent of department heads and 35 percent of managers describe their DX initiatives as 'very successful'.
When asked who was responsible for these initiatives, responses were mixed, pointing to CTOs, CIOs, IT leaders, CEOs or other C-suite executives. The same trend emerged regarding customer experience: Half of the respondents felt their customer service team was responsible for customer loyalty, while 48 percent identified C-suite leadership and 41 percent said it lies with marketing and sales.
It is no surprise then, that organizational decision-makers feel their organizations are about five months behind schedule in digital transformation. Also, as we saw in 2020, a lot can happen in five months.
Take off the rose-colored glasses
As there are such disparate internal views about the digital state of organizations, the need for alignment has never been greater. Companies that want to keep pace with these changes must clearly understand where their organization lags in digital transformation so they can get everyone on the same page.
To learn more about the state of DX sentiment in today’s organizations, dive deeper into the results of our survey, Are executives wearing rose-colored glasses around digital transformation?