Insight-commissioned survey reveals progress & roadblocks to IT modernization
The majority of enterprises are actively pursuing digital transformation to gain a competitive edge in today’s increasingly digital business environment, and even the 41% in the early stages of the effort are seeing a measurable return on investment, according to a new IDG Research Services survey commissioned by Insight Enterprises (NASDAQ:NSIT).
The largest improvements cited by respondents include quality of service (44%) and user experience/satisfaction (40%), followed by business continuity (35%), cost efficiency/savings (34%), resource optimization (33%), increased agility (32%) and increased innovation/creation of new revenue-generating products (32%).
The survey, “The Path to Digital Transformation: Where IT Leaders Stand in 2022,” examined how IT priorities and budgets are shifting to enable business innovation and growth in the face of sea changes triggered by technology advances as well as the ripple effects of the pandemic. Respondents included 400 senior IT decision makers employed at companies with 1,500 or more employees across a wide range of industries.
Nine out of 10 survey respondents reported that digital transformation has accelerated over the last 18 months, with dramatic changes in priorities led by new workplace and business realities. The responses also revealed that:
- 87% of respondents are pursuing digital transformation in either some or all areas of the business, with 41% implementing business unit or departmental initiatives and 46% undertaking enterprisewide efforts. Only 13% have taken no action.
- 90% expect IT modernization to have either a transformative or significant impact on their organization’s long-term growth, including 29% of those that have not yet begun the process. Those with enterprisewide initiatives are significantly more likely to expect a transformative impact (54%) than those with only business unit initiatives (30%).
- IT infrastructure optimization is expected to have the biggest impact on enabling innovation and revenue creation, followed by increasing use of As a Service delivery models providing consumption-based pricing for on-premises delivery. These predictions recognize the critical need for an infrastructure that supports digital dexterity, including rapid application development, as well as strict cost controls.
- The top three enterprise IT goals in 2022 are optimizing data and analytics capabilities such as AI, machine learning, and IoT (48%); increasing cloud adoption via multicloud or hybrid models (47%); and modernizing legacy applications, infrastructure and networking technologies (37%), reflecting prioritization of projects that can help drive innovation and agility.
The survey also revealed the stumbling blocks that enterprises face in advancing digital transformation projects. For example:
- 89% of respondents report that existing infrastructure, operations and culture are constraining innovation and strategic business growth, with 49% indicating these factors are limiting their ability to drive the business forward “to a great extent” and 40% “to some extent.”
- 44% cite skills/knowledge gaps as the #1 constraint inhibiting innovation, followed by the lack of infrastructure optimization to support digital dexterity and inadequate data analysis capabilities for decision-making (each cited by 39%).
- 87% indicate that the working relationship between developers and traditional IT is hindering their ability to take full advantage of digital transformation. Just 20% are in progress with implementing platform teams that collaborate with DevSecOps/Agile team.
“Digital transformation has become a priority for nearly every organization, and this survey shows that the effort yields improvements on every factor measured. Quality of service, user experience and business continuity lead the list, with 35-44% citing these benefits. But even increases in time to value and total addressable market were reported by one-third of respondents,” said Stan Lequin, senior vice president and general manager, Solutions, at Insight. “As a solutions integrator with proven skills across the spectrum of IT-related needs, our team of 8,000+ sales and service delivery professionals and 5,000 engineers, architects and consultants helps clients lay the groundwork for achieving these results every day.”
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