More than half of business leaders (52%) have said that due to digital disruption, their organisations will not exist in current form by 2021.
That is one of the key findings of a global survey of C-suite executives from Fujitsu. The survey was carried out in September of this year among almost 1,200 top level decision makers, across Europe, the US and Australia.
“Digital transformation is not about a single technology, but a collection of technologies and services that need to be connected,” Ducan Tait, Fujitsu
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The survey found that the vast majority (98%) of respondents confirmed their organisation has already been impacted, and will continue to be impacted, by digital disruption. Almost the same proportion (92%) recognised that their business needs to evolve to thrive in a digital world, and three quarters believe their sector will fundamentally change in the same time frame.
Disruption transforms
“Digital disruption transforms business models and revenue streams, operations and processes, customer relationships and service and more,” said Duncan Tait, SEVP and head, EMEIA and Americas, Fujitsu. “It is exactly this potential that is causing concern. The fact that despite the potential benefits, a third (33%) of executives wish they weren’t experiencing digital disruption is stark reading. Compared to two years ago, and indeed just last year when we analysed IT decision makers’ approach to and opinions of digital transformation, business leaders are now more confident and know they need to not only keep up but strive to better their competitors and digitalise faster, with confidence, strategy and ultimately, great success. The pressure to flourish in the face of digitalisation is clear in this study’s findings.”
Facing the challenge of digital disruption, almost half (45%) said the response must be driven by the C-suite or leadership team. Showing the pressure that business leaders feel to meet the demand for digital transformation, the same measure said that it was customers, more than competitors (31%) who were the most influential group.
When asked who is leading digital disruption in their sectors, only 12% of execs pointed to themselves, compared to almost half (45%) who pointed to start-ups and organisations outside their sector.
Potential opportunity
Despite this pressure and potential for disruption, the respondents were aware of potential opportunities too, as nearly three quarters (72%) believe digitalisation presents exciting opportunities for them, while even more (80%) state it is a positive force. This perception of opportunity is driving a desire to capitalise quickly, with 71% of executives stating that organisations need to innovate faster in order to stay relevant.
It was in this context that the 2016 Fujitsu Forum opened in Munich, with a theme of Human Centric Innovation — driving digital transformation.
Tait in his keynote, outlined four strategic areas of focus for Fujitsu: the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), cloud and security.
“Digital transformation is not about a single technology,” said Tait, “but a collection of technologies and services that need to be connected.”
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