IDC: Digitally enabled companies get ahead

 

Mass digitalization is no longer the way of the future – it is prevalent now. As enterprises compete over more informed consumers, implementing technology within mission critical business practices can offer vast competitive advantages.

The International Data Corporation (IDC) has found that business leaders who fully understand the impact of digital on their organizations will likely see positive results.

Too many businesses are ‘digital opportunists’

However, the vast majority are still considered to be digital opportunists by IDC in that they have not fully implemented a system in which digitization can easily take place.

A little more than 14 per cent of the surveyed business leaders described their digital strategic planning as at the ‘ad hoc’ stage. While this is of course the minority, it goes to show that there is still a huge amount of untapped potential within many enterprises, as they aren’t actively upping their efforts to implement innovative systems.

Digitization across the next five years

“We believe that [digital transformation and] integration across the dimensions including leadership, work sourcing, omni-experience, operating models, and information will become the core challenge for business leaders in the next five years,” explained Meredith Whalen, IDC’s Senior Vice President of IT Executive, Industry and Financial Research.

Enterprise level IT solutions are ever-evolving, and companies that don’t act as soon as possible will likely be left behind their peers. Digitization cannot be tackled overnight due to the fact that any system that is put into place will be have to be organic in nature.

Scalability and innovation are key, and while there’s no one-size-fits-all solution by business scale or industry focus, those that effectively digitize will hold a competitive advantage over their rivals, opening up new avenues for success long into the future.