EDITOR’S QUESTION
WHAT ARE THE
CURRENT BARRIERS
TO DIGITAL
TRANSFORMATION
IN THE MIDDLE EAST
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
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.
80
INTELLIGENTCIO
When it comes to achieving their digital
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.
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.
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.
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. 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.
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. 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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