The global survey engaged almost 300 senior business leaders from large enterprises – 97% with revenue above $1 billion and 44% above $10 billion – spanning 11 industries across North America, Europe and Asia. Six digital capabilities were identified as critical factors in companies withstanding the pandemic:
End-to-end digital customer experience (CX)
AI-based analytics to continually improve the CX
Core enterprise systems in the cloud
Highly automated core business processes
Digital sensors tracking products
Key partnerships in digital ecosystems
The analysis compared organizations that had more advanced digital capabilities in place prior to COVID, referred to as “leaders,” with those that had fewer, if any, in place, known as “followers.” The study showed that fewer leaders (64%) have seen their revenue decline, compared to followers (73%). Moreover, leaders had better business visibility and a more confident outlook, with 74% of them expecting revenues to bounce back within two years, compared to 54% of followers.
“Before the pandemic, companies’ digital capabilities were rapidly becoming central to their success and business transformation initiatives. However, our study revealed how several enterprises were not as far along in developing a digital backbone as they hoped,” said Rajashree R, Chief Marketing Officer, TCS. “Companies that had embraced digital transformation more whole-heartedly performed better during the pandemic and expect a faster rebound, whereas others are now focused on making necessary investments and racing to catch up.”
Digital Readiness and COVID-19: Assessing the Impact – Key Findings
While 68% of companies have seen revenue declines amid COVID-19, 90% of organizations have either maintained or increased their digital transformation budget.
Among shifts in technology spends due to the pandemic, companies reported maximum increases on: collaborative technologies (65%), cybersecurity (56%), cloud-native technologies (51%) and advanced analytics (39%).
Prior to the pandemic, the average organization surveyed had only 9% of its workforce working mostly from home. That percentage has increased seven-fold and is expected to remain elevated through 2025, when the average company projects 40% of its employees will work largely from home.
Business initiatives around an end-to-end CX have seen most traction, already deployed at 25% of companies and under development at 44%. Similarly, the use of analytics and AI to improve CX is deployed at 24% and under development at 39% of companies.
Higher levels of automation in core business processes is another priority area, already deployed at 23% of companies and under development at 44% of companies.
