Boomi, a Dell Technologies business, announced a new global survey, commissioned with Vanson Bourne that reveals although organizations are reaping the rewards of IT modernization, digital transformation and innovation, there’s still more work to do.

Now more than ever, technology supports and drives every business, from banks to retailers, whether customer-facing or internally focused. Companies that find ways to maximize their budget when investing in digital strategies and technologies have the opportunity to improve their ROI by more than 1,000%.

The report, “The State of Modernization, Transformation, and Innovation in the Digital Age,” outlines that 59% of survey respondents said effectively using technology has been the key to transformational success. However, 1 in 2 decision-makers admits their company isn’t innovating at a competitive rate. Organizations still face multiple challenges to roll out their modernization, innovation, and transformation programs more quickly and efficiently.

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The survey of more than 1,200 IT and business decision-makers around the world, including Asia Pacific (APAC), shows the top barriers for digital transformation and innovation efforts include insufficient in-house skills (41%) followed by a restrictive budget (33%).

Technical knowledge

APAC respondents find that technical knowledge (56%) is one of their organization’s biggest challenges, more so than their counterparts in North America and Europe (46% and 43%, respectively). The data suggests that although APAC organizations might have intentions to modernize, they are currently more likely to struggle to find the right expertise required to do so successfully.

“Businesses in APAC have realized the importance of converging and simplifying automation technologies to fully realize positive business outcomes. Many organizations are faced with multiple, poorly integrated IT environments, tight budgets, and limited in-house skills,” said Ajit Melarkode, Vice President Asia Pacific and Japan (APJ) at Boomi. “While businesses often find themselves ‘out changed’ by competitors and peers, the research also shows positive signs, with organizations exploring new technologies and processes in anticipation of drastic advancements in the next decade.”

Artificial intelligence

From the report, artificial intelligence (46%) is the standout technology for organizations in the next five years, followed by security innovation (35%) and big data analytics (35%). According to respondents, big data analytics is receiving the biggest investment as part of their innovation initiatives.

“The next decade will undergo an even more rapid pace of change than the 2000s and 2010s,” said Chris Port, Chief Operating Officer for Boomi. “Though modernization, transformation, and innovation have paid dividends in recent years, organizations can’t afford to rest on their laurels. Especially now. Not when business priorities, drivers of change, and technology needs are rapidly converging, as reflected in this survey.”

Low-code

Businesses are turning to “low-code” to drive transformation initiatives. Companies are trying to do more with employees who have less technical expertise. That’s why investing in low code platforms is a big focus for more than half of enterprises that don’t have one already. Almost 50% anticipate they will introduce a low-code development platform before the end of 2020.

Companies are honing in on customer experience and employee productivity: Today’s transformation efforts are focused primarily on customer experience (54%) and employee productivity (50%). Both of these areas are crucial for supporting more modern, agile customers and workforces. Business and IT decision-makers agree the biggest benefit they have seen from modernization is improved customer experience (49%).

The CEO currently drives innovation among C-suite, but within three years innovation will be companywide responsibility: Organizations still need to modernize, transform and innovate, and it will take a companywide shift to make that happen, with everyone participating. Currently, innovation is led from top-down by the CEO (65%), CIO (58%), and department heads (54%), while only 12% said the workforce as a whole is leading it. However, 56% of respondents anticipate that innovation will be everyone’s responsibility in three years — and not just that of the leadership. APAC respondents are more likely to rank the CEO as their organization’s leader of innovation, rather than the CIO or CTO.