Digital Business Incompetence' Will Cause 1/4 Of Companies To Lose Competitive Ranking

Digital business incompetence' will cause 1/4 of companies to lose competitive ranking

A quarter of businesses will lose competitive ranking over the next few years because of “digital business incompetence,” according to research firm Gartner.

 

Based on a survey of 151 participants involved in digital business strategy, 90% said they thought competition for talent will make or break digital business success, Gartner says.

“The next decade will move beyond the notion of using technology to automate businesses and toward positioning technology as revenue builder, market maker and customer finder,” Diane Morello, managing vice president at Gartner noted in a statement.

“When companies have those targets in mind, digital business becomes real. The impact of digital business will be undeniable: It will introduce new business models, cause industries to be 'digitally remastered' and change the way that businesses put great minds to work.

Gartner points to its recent “Talent on the Digital Frontier” survey, in which roughly one in two participants said that their digital business strategy either is their business strategy or is at least an integrated part of that business strategy.

The firm recommends “identifying key strategy players and possessors of technology and business expertise both inside and outside the enterprise and engaging them to launch a digital business community of practice to enrich cross-business understanding.”

“Demand is growing for insight into digital business, particularly among CEOs and CIOs who fear that their companies may be falling behind new business models and competitive opportunities,” Morello said.

“Their concern is justified. Digital business will concentrate almost exclusively on new sources of revenue derived from new products, services, channels and information for new customers and constituencies.

On top of the expectation that digital business expertise will spread around businesses within two or three years, other indicators suggest that digital business represents not an extension of the past, but rather, a different trajectory. Revenue ambitions will go unmet if CIOs and senior executives ignore the cultural and organizational challenges that accompany digital business.”