Survey: 44% of Organizations Have Tangible Transformation Strategy

Organizations have been on a steady march towards the Cloud for some time now, with a recent Cloud Industry Forum survey showing nearly 90% of organizations having adopted multiple Cloud based services.  Interestingly, 72% of organizations have sought to move to Cloud in search of cost savings and 36% are using the approach to replace legacy systems.  Only 29% cite enabling innovation and 27% business agility as their primary objective in making the change.

Thus it would seem that we are applying some very traditional IT values to the business case for becoming more Cloud centric.  The same survey shows only 44% have a tangible digital transformation strategy.  Whilst a further 32% believe their organizations recognize the need for digital transformation, it is clear that over half of those surveyed are not yet in transformation mode.  With the current pace of change and the constant entry into multiple markets of disruptor organizations, what must organizations do to avoid becoming irrelevant in their markets?

The enduring problem with IT in many organizations is one ofculture rather than an explicit issue with technology.  IT has evolved as a highly risk-averse function and one that, despite the endless calls to the contrary, is still often regarded as a cost center.  This would explain the high percentage of organizations seeking cost savings from the Cloud and the disappointingly low percentage of those seeking innovation and business agility.  Sadly, many of those with cost savings as their primary objective will often fail to attain their goal as Cloud services, when measured with all the associated financial elements, are rarely significantly cheaper than more traditional systems over time.

The cultural issue shows again when examining the responses with 47% of the respondents citing legacy applications as a barrier to digital transformation.  This is suggestive that legacy is not being embraced as part of the transformation journey but is rather a separate element that must somehow be overcome before the journey can begin. However, this is taking a very narrow view of digital transformation.