EDITOR’S QUESTION
WHAT ARE THE CURRENT
BARRIERS TO DIGITAL
TRANSFORMATION IN
AFRICA? AND HOW CAN
CIOS OVERCOME THESE?
B
T recently announced the findings
of new global research based
on a survey conducted by the
Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) with
400 CEOs in 13 countries, including
South Africa, across five continents,
which reveals the critical importance of
digital transformation in multinational
organisations. The research shows that
nearly 40% of CEOs currently have
digital transformation at the very top of
their boardroom agenda, with almost a
quarter of them personally leading their
company’s transformation programmes.
There is a high level of confidence –
amongst three quarters of CEOs surveyed
– that their specific programmes will help
them achieve their strategic objectives,
which include making operational
efficiencies, improving customer service
and innovating for the future, with
security as a key differentiator.
Despite this, 86% of CEOs encounter
challenges in delivering the ideal
infrastructure on which their digital
programmes rely. They identify
inflexible technology (43%), lack
of technology skills (40%) and
security concerns (39%) as the main
obstacles in building better digital
infrastructure. CEOs highlight better
integration, reliability, security and
cost-effectiveness as being the most
critical factors needed to deliver the
infrastructure which will build the
digital business of the future. When
it comes to achieving their digital
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ambitions, more than a quarter of CEOs
regard security as a key differentiator.
This view is especially prevalent in
consumer-facing sectors, rising to
almost 50% for CEOs who operate in
the financial services industry. Despite
this, 22% of CEOs view cybersecurity
measures as a ‘necessary evil’. The
findings suggest that, while CEOs feel
perceived security risks should not
hold back their digital transformation
progress, they nevertheless continue
to view security as one of the chief
barriers and concerns when considering
a digital strategy. In summary, the research shows that
there is sustained focus on digital
transformation at the very top of global
organisations. While confidence is
high, the research also reveals areas
that CEOs and CIOs need to work on
together, primarily around security,
infrastructure, technology skills and
customer insight.
Customer service – and specifically
the digital customer experience – is
seen by the survey respondents as
highly important, with 79% of CEOs
saying they already offer a ‘good’ or
‘excellent’ digital customer experience
today. However, barriers remain in the
form of insight into what customers
actually want and the technology skills
required to deliver this. CEOs display a
similar level of confidence in the digital
experience of their employees, where
their focus is on retaining talented
employees, increasing innovation and
reducing costs. Bas Burger, CEO, Global Services,
BT, said: “Our most recent research
confirms that digital transformation
has become a prevalent topic on the
boardroom agenda. It also shows that
CEOs all around the world identify the
skills shortages, lack of insight into
what customers and employees really
want or need, and security as the main
obstacles to delivering an optimal
digital experience.
The research also revealed that CEOs
regard the Internet of Things (IoT),
cloud computing, mobile computing
and social media as the technology
trends which are likely to have the most
significant impact on their organisations
over the next two to three years.
The opportunity to evolve businesses
through digital technology continues
to grow and many organisations are
actively looking at the methods by which
they can gain competitive advantage.
“It’s interesting that these are primarily
human factors and it illustrates that
digital transformation strategies should
always be built around people. We see
this as a great encouragement for BT
to accelerate its own digitalisation, and
are taking on board this new insight to
make sure that our global portfolio is
more firmly positioned than ever around
the strategic objectives highlighted by
our customers.” n
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