While many organizations are focused on IT cost reduction, productivity
gain and process improvement, the latest global research from Accenture
(NYSE:ACN) reveals that companies that invest in digital technologies
and improving customer experiences are able to identify new growth
opportunities and enhance performance.
The research report, High
Performers in IT: Defined by Digital, features insights from
senior IT executives in more than 200 global companies across a range of
industries. The report shows that high performers devote 55 percent of
their information technology (IT) budgets to delivering strategic
capabilities that support growth and business performance. Their
counterparts, however, invest only 37 percent. Moreover, five times more
businesses (50 percent) that excel in their use of IT, look beyond a
narrow IT lens to consider broader business implications - social,
economic and geopolitical factors - as part of their strategy and
planning.
Accenture’s research found that the adoption rate of key technologies,
including cloud computing, analytics, social, mobility and security, was
greater across-the-board for companies that excel in their use of IT
than their counterparts. According to the research, these companies have
recognized and embraced the transformational impact of digital IT to
create new products and services that supports growth.
For example, the high performers are leading the way in “mobilizing”
their businesses. According to the research, 69 percent of them are
committed to mobile transactions compared to 42 percent of other
organizations, which allows their customers to reorder their favorite
pair of shoes, book travel, pay for their coffee and even transfer cash
between bank accounts on the go. And approximately twice as many IT
leaders than non-leaders are achieving or exceeding expected business
value from their investments in predictive and descriptive analytics.
“High performers are building a strong foundation for their digital
business by harnessing technology advances across all parts of their
operations to help improve customer experiences and make a more
significant contribution to the company’s business performance,” said
Paul Daugherty, chief technology officer, Accenture. “Companies that
lead in the use IT understand how new digital capabilities can be
applied and set their sights beyond operational effectiveness and IT
productivity, and invest more in technologies to drive future growth.”
Mastering a Hybrid IT Environment
According to the findings, the leaders in IT are also moving to the
cloud faster and reaping more benefits sooner than other organizations.
One-third (33 percent) of the executives representing those companies
responded that they are effectively replacing legacy components with
private and public cloud alternatives while almost one in six (15
percent) already centrally manage a fully virtualized, dynamically
provisioned hybrid infrastructure.
The survey also found that companies expect to operate in a hybrid IT
environment for the foreseeable future. The top performers predict that
a substantial part of their IT footprint – whether infrastructure,
middleware or applications – will remain “traditional,” both hosted and
on-premise. In fact, these leaders believe that they will still maintain
nearly six in 10 of their applications (59 percent) in a traditional
license model by 2020.
It’s clear that high performers are more effective in taking advantage
of cloud technology considering that:
-
40 percent see measurable improvements in IT agility, with only 9
percent of other organizations claiming the same.
-
43 percent declared strong results in aligning between project
portfolios and IT business goals, a 23 percent advantage over other
organizations.
-
33 percent see direct cost reductions as a result of their cloud
investments while only 14 percent of other organizations see similar
results.
Having the Right Data Creates Competitive Advantage
Leaders in the use of IT have been investing in master data management
and data quality assurance for years, and as a result, they hold a
significant advantage in the race to getting the right data.
Their investments are now paying off. According to the research, twice
as many high performers as other organizations are achieving or
exceeding the business value they expected in key areas such as data
management (77 percent vs. 30 percent), content management (77 percent
vs. 23 percent) and predictive analytics (54 percent vs. 21 percent).
By successfully navigating the dynamics between information and business
processes and systems, those performing at the very top are much better
equipped to build strategic analytic capabilities than their
counterparts. Almost half (46 percent) say they already have developed
and capitalized on new insights on changing customer behavior, compared
to just three percent of other organizations.
It Really is All About the Customer
Leaders in IT consistently chose customer-focused business objectives
among the top three priorities that guide their IT investment
strategies. This includes providing the right information to the right
person at the right time, finding better ways to interact with customers
and delivering new services and products to customers. They also rated
front-office applications among their best-performing in terms of
technical and business adequacy, which was significantly higher for
their companies than for other organizations.
Managing IT Security and Business Risk
Organizations are increasingly focused on ensuring the security of their
growing digital business but many struggle to keep pace with new
security technologies. Although most survey respondents believe they
currently have the right level of investment in compliance and overall
security, 44 percent concede that they have been underinvesting in
cyber-security. There is a general acknowledgement that endpoint
security is not sufficient. But the shift to active defense strategies –
staying one step ahead of the attackers – has not yet taken hold. Still,
75 percent of high- performing organizations have made it a priority to
further lower their risk profile and more rapidly upgrade their IT
security practices within the next year.
Download the Accenture High Performance IT report at www.accenture.com/highperformanceit
and contribute to the discussion on Twitter at #DigitalIT.
About the Research Report
Accenture has been producing the High Performance IT research report
since 2005. The 2013
High Performance IT research report is based on detailed assessments
conducted by the most senior IT executives in 202 of the world’s largest
private and public sector organizations in North America (19 percent),
Latin America (15 percent), Europe (45 percent), and Asia Pacific (20
percent). These companies have combined annual revenues of $2.4
trillion, represent a wide range of industries and include both
Accenture clients and non-clients.
About Accenture
Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and
outsourcing company, with approximately 275,000 people serving clients
in more than 120 countries. Combining unparalleled experience,
comprehensive capabilities across all industries and business functions,
and extensive research on the world's most successful companies,
Accenture collaborates with clients to help them become high-performance
businesses and governments. The company generated net revenues of
US$28.6 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2013. Its home page
is www.accenture.com.
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