Digitally mature companies see greater business success

They are more competitive in their industries, their employees are more productive, and they see overall better performance than companies with lower levels of digital investment.

These differences are apparent when comparing companies that invest more or less than 45% of their revenue in technology—and the results create a compelling case that effective digital transformation investments are now essential to business success.

At organizations with higher levels of investment in technology, for instance, 50% of respondents rate their organization’s performance as “exceptional,” compared to 32% at companies that invest less. And at companies with higher levels of investment, 34% feel their organizations are keeping up with changes in their industry “very well,” compared to 25% at companies that invest less. The productivity gains tied to digital transformation are nothing short of eye-popping. Those who cite productivity as the top benefit of digital transformation say, on average, that digital investments have improved productivity by 62%.

“Our leadership has made digital transformation a top priority,” says Jinchun Hu, general manager of the JAC Italy Design Center S.R.L., an automotive and commercial vehicle manufacturer. “Sometimes it is difficult for teams to make decisions simply because they do not all have the same information. If you can use digital tools to address that, your company will be faster and make better decisions.”

The benefits of digital transformation are significant, but a number of barriers prevent companies from investing at the levels they would like. Cost is the top barrier, followed by the time needed to invest in new tools and ways of working. A lack of knowledge or technical skills is also holding businesses back.

Leaders and experts note that implementing new tools is not enough to drive effective digital transformation. Rather, these solutions must be accompanied by process improvements and a shift in mindset, both from employees and leadership. “There is still resistance to digital transformation from people who have been working for a long time,” says Eiichiro Okano of Obayashi Corporation, a construction and general contracting firm. “However, I feel that resistance has been softened rapidly over the past year or two due to the demands from clients and design firms.”

Robert da Silva Bressan, engineer of cultural and transformational change management at oil and gas company Petrobras, notes that data management is another significant hurdle: “Data is a challenge to digital transformation—there is a lot of it, and it has to all be organized and classified.”