Dell Technologies has released results from a global study that shows organisations are shifting their digital transformation programmes into high gear and are on the path to accomplish in a few months what would normally have taken them years.
The findings, updated biennially in the Dell Technologies Digital Transformation Index (DT Index), indicate organisations are accelerating transformational technology programmes during the global Covid-19 pandemic.
In one of the first global studies to measure business behaviour as a result of the pandemic, the 2020 DT Index found that eight in 10 organisations (APJ: 84 percent) have fast-tracked some digital transformation programmes this year and 79 percent (APJ: 86 percent)are re-inventing their business model.
The DT Index is a global benchmark indicating organisations’ status of digital transformation and their performance across the globe. The survey included 4,300 business leaders (C-suite to Director) from mid-size to enterprise companies across 18 countries. In APJ, 1,700 business leaders from Australia, India, Japan, mainland China, New Zealand and Singapore were surveyed.
Since the first DT Index in 2016 and the next in 2018, this year’s results track the first rise in the number of Digital Leaders (the most digitally mature organisations) globally to six percent, while APJ remained the same from 2018 at six percent. Digital Adopters (the second most digitally mature group) grew from 23 percent in 2018 to 39 percent in 2020 both globally and in APJ – registering a 16-percentage point increase.
The DT Index also records a modest drop since 2018 in the number of Digital Laggards (the least digitally mature group) by six-percentage points both globally and in APJ, and a steep fall in the second to last group, Digital Followers, by 17-percentage points globally (APJ: 13-percentage points). These organisations are moving up, into the Digital Adopter and Digital Evaluator groups, which have expanded in tandem.
“We’ve been given a glimpse of the future, and the organisations that are accelerating their digital transformation now will be poised for success in the Data Era that is unfolding before our eyes,” said Michael Dell, chairman and CEO, Dell Technologies.
“The results of DT Index 2020 provide clear evidence of the digital priorities that are propelling organisations – both globally and in the Asia-Pacific region – forward in the data era, despite the challenging climate brought on by the pandemic,” said KT Ong, country manager, Malaysia, Dell Technologies. “Organisations in Malaysia must take heed and accelerate their own digital transformation programmes or risk being outpaced by the rest. By recognising transformation barriers and investing in the right opportunities, organisations can act immediately to drive new ideas, concepts and solutions that they need to either maintain or accelerate growth.”
Prior to the pandemic, business investments were strongly focused on foundational technologies, rather than emerging technologies. The vast majority, 89 percent (APJ: 92 percent)recognisethat as a result of disruption this year, they need a more agile/ scalable IT infrastructure to allow for contingencies. The DT Index shows the top technology investments for the next one to three years:
Global top technology investments:
- Cybersecurity (43 percent)
- Data management tools (39 percent)
- 5G infrastructure (37 percent)
- Privacy software (35 percent)
- Multi-cloud environment (35 percent)
