Software AG has unveiled its Digital Assessment Tool that lets users easily and quickly assess their organisation’s readiness for digital transformation.
Findings will compare companies’ digital progress to other organizations throughout industries. After users take the assessment, access will be given to an October 2016 Forrester Consulting Thought Leadership Paper commissioned by Software AG, “Energize Your Digital Transformation: Seven Disciplines To Support Successful Digital Strategy”.
The Forrester Consulting study specifically focuses on how IT teams prioritize and optimise seven specific disciplines to enable their strategies. In conducting in-depth surveys with 223 IT professionals, Forrester found that these seven disciplines positively correlate with many elements of success–from digital readiness and vision, to high revenue growth.
Some key findings from this study include:
* 75% of manufacturers say a digital customer experience is a high or critical priority, but only 25% are optimised to respond in real-time to risks and opportunities associated with digital customer experiences;
* 67% of retailers say business operations’ efficiency is a high or critical priority, and yet only 27% are optimised;
* 64% of banks say optimising their branch network comms is a high or critical priority, but only 19% are optimising the coordinated control, automation, and orchestration of the multiple processes branch networks require.
Organisations are embracing transformation in an effort to evolve into digital businesses. However, poor integration of technology, people and processes are hindering digital transformation efforts.
The Forrester Consulting study found that IT organisations are finding it difficult to juggle their transformation priorities. In fact, nearly one third of respondents cite that balancing competing priorities is a challenge they must overcome with their digital strategies.
Forrester Consulting also uncovered a disconnect between businesses understanding what it takes to transform versus actual transformation readiness.
Furthermore, 52% of companies with a digital strategy grew revenues more than five percent year-on-year.
Based on its own extensive research and experience with customers, Software AG believes that successful pioneers of digital transformation are guided by seven critical disciplines:
* Transformation – streamlined processes orchestrated across multiple systems;
* Integration – consistent connectivity across all IT operations;
* Data – accounting for expanding data models across myriad systems;
* Visibility – a realtime understanding of the entire business that enables quick response to challenges and opportunities;
* Applications – controlling and automating processes that span multiple applications and systems;
* Scalability – leveraging big data for business benefits with processes that are driven by sophisticated analytics; and
* Connectivity – easily sharing data both internally and externally in order to improve overall efficiency.
Using Software AG’s Digital Assessment Tool, organisations can identify which of the seven disciplines they must focus on to achieve their digital transformation goals. The tool makes it simple to streamline competing priorities and provides a clear roadmap to follow and recommended solutions for IT to use on their digital transformation journey.
Wolfram Jost, chief technology officer of Software AG, says: “In order to undertake a successful digital transformation, organizations must focus on seven key disciplines: planning, integration, viability, applications, scalability, connectivity and consistency. Using aids like our Digital Assessment Tool can help organizations along their journey by providing customised recommendations and a clear vision for the future.”
