By BMI-TechKnowledge
Digital innovation is impacting businesses in all industries and in numerous functional areas, in some instances transforming the very nature of business itself. The rate of change in this area is so rapid that many organisations are battling to keep up with technological developments that are leading us into what has been referred to as the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
This highly relevant topic is the subject of Citrix’s Digital transformation survey conducted by BMI-TechKnowledge in September 2016, consisting of 329 interviews in 254 companies. The aim was to contrast business and ICT technical perspectives per company, with an eventual 40/60 split between business and ICT technical respondents.
The 2016 Citrix Digital transformation survey suggests a sense of complacency among the South African business community regarding investment in progressive technologies. 53% of all respondents are opting to invest in technologies simply for the benefit of ‘keeping the lights on’ rather than for competitive-edge innovation.
According to the Citrix Digital Transformation Survey, only around 5% of respondents feared that digital evolution posed a risk of some sort to their position in the company, although many noted that they felt human input will always be required, especially when it comes to managing the technology. However, they perceived the pressure of staying up to date and flexible inline with rapid technological developments.
Local businesses are under great pressure, both from an economic and competitive point of view, making it easy to understand the focus on reducing costs and improving efficiencies to ensure the lights stay on, but the need to look at innovation in all areas of business is now greater than ever.
