The Infosys Digital Radar 2020 assessed over 1000 executives around the world on a Digital Maturity Index, and ranked them within three tiers: Watchers at the bottom, Explorers in the middle, and Visionaries at the top.
The study saw an 18% increase from last year in companies advancing from Watchers to Explorers. However, no surveyed executives managed to reach the top tier, with the amount of Visionaries staying the same as last year.
This finding comes despite respondents reporting fewer barriers to digital transformation compared to last year.
A high proportion of digital transformation pitfalls experienced proved to be human-related as opposed to technological, with the two most frequently cited hurdles being a risk-averse corporate culture (35%) and a lack of talent or skills (34%).
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However, inability to experiment quickly, the issue of insufficient budget and cybersecurity challenges decreased from last year by 49%, 40% and 40% respectively.
“We’ve seen enterprises successfully employ emerging technologies to optimise productivity and efficiency, but struggle at the next stage of digital maturity,” said Salil Parekh, CEO and MD at Infosys. “Faster, better, and cheaper technology alone will not provide the improvements enterprises need.
“Our research has shown that companies which can keep pace with digital transformation are those that design digital initiatives to improve customer experiences and empower their employees, differentiating themselves and propelling their business to the most advanced levels of progress.”
VP and global head at Infosys Knowledge Institute, Jeff Kavanaugh, added: “The most successful businesses in our survey have an employee focus and a circular transformation mindset, which enable top performers to kick off a virtuous cycle in the company.
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“The result is a ‘living enterprise’ that is constantly sensing, improving, and attuned to its customers and employees.
“This living enterprise is suited to serving a larger circle of stakeholders – employees, customers, suppliers, local communities, and larger society – not just shareholders.”
Success by industry
In regards to digital transformation processes within industries, the technology and telecoms industries proved to be the most successful, as they were in last year’s iteration.
The most improved industries, meanwhile, were found to be consumer packaged goods, logistics and healthcare, with the leveraging of the Internet of Things, telematics and smart medical devices being cited as factors in improvements.
Found to be lagging behind, on the other hand, was the insurance sector, with 17% of insurance executives being watchers according to the Digital Maturity Index.
