Digital Transformation Leapfrogs to Top of
Enterprise Agenda As Pandemic Makes Tech a Lifeline for Workers and
New Offerings
2021 will be a year of experimentation and adaptation for CIOs
and their technology organizations, driven by the ongoing needs of
the pandemic and a dramatic increase in enterprise focus on digital
transformation, according to 2021 IT Key Issues Research from The
Hackett Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: HCKT).
The full research, “2021 CIO Agenda: 10 Key Issues IT Needs to
Act on Now,” is available on a complimentary basis, with
registration, at this link:
https://www.thehackettgroup.com/2021-it-key-issues-2012/. Key
findings from the research include:
A Year of Experimentation and Adaptation,
Guided by IT as a Strategic Partner – As a result of the
pandemic, IT had to shift overnight from its historical role of
being an administrator, gatekeeper and developer of technology. IT
became the lifeline that kept workers productive and helped
operations implement or expand digital service and product
delivery. For 2021, technology organizations must improve their
ability to act as a strategic partner to the business as they guide
companies through a year of experimentation and adaptation, while
they help the business prepare for post-pandemic environment. The
focus will be on improving resiliency and enhancing stability while
accelerating technology-enabled innovation. Some common IT focal
points are: process automation to eliminate manual dependencies and
bottlenecks; risk reduction through use of third-party ecosystem
and backup sourcing; touchless customer contact points for ordering
and delivery; and remote worker collaboration and creative tools
(Page 5). All of these capabilities, implemented during a crisis,
will be industrialized and made permanent in 2021 and beyond.
Digital Transformation a Key Enterprise
Priority and an IT Challenge – Digital transformation
leapfrogged to the top of the enterprise priority ranking in 2021.
After going through an accelerated digital learning curve during
the crisis, companies plan to capitalize on the lessons learned and
will rely on technology organizations to guide them. The biggest
ramp-up in 2021 will be an accelerated migration to cloud-based
applications to increase resiliency and better enable remote work,
with 25% growth expected. But because IT has long neglected
digitization of its own processes, it is at risk of failing as a
transformational partner. Eighty percent of technology
organizations have invested less than two years in their function’s
transformation, and 35% have less than a year of effort under their
belts. IT must address its own digital modernization if it is to be
successful in achieving enterprise objectives (Pages 8, 10, 11,
13).
Shift Towards Virtual Work –
Pre-crisis, only 4% of G&A staff worked from home. Post-crisis,
25% are expected to, with another 33% working a hybrid schedule
between home and office. Remote work is a game-changer for both
technology organizations and the enterprise, enabling companies to
hire talent virtually anywhere. But it brings with it issues
relating to management, leadership, and how to best drive
innovation (Page 3). 2021 will begin the optimization and
refinement of the remote / hybrid work model across many
organizations.
Aligning Skills and Talent with Changing
Business Needs is Critical – The pandemic has dramatically
changed the workforce model for technology organizations, with 59%
of IT employees expected to work from home or in a hybrid
home/office rotation once the crisis ends, an increase of nearly 4x
compared to pre-pandemic. The study identified critical skills gaps
in areas that include change leadership, strategic thinking and
analysis, and customer-centric design which must be overcome, as
they are fundamental enablers of IT’s ability to act as a strategic
partner (Page 6, 7).
Bridging the IT Productivity and
Efficiency Gap will be Challenging – The demands on technology
organizations are expected to continue to rise, with workload
increasing by 6.8% in 2021 as IT leaders anticipate negligible
increases in operating budgets and staffing. This may hamper IT’s
practical ability to deliver (Page 7).
Securing Data and Systems Remains the Top
Priority – The vastly expanded remote workforce as a result of
the pandemic has made security, always important, more critical
than ever, and security remains the top IT priority for 2021.
Technology organizations must bullet-harden the work-from-home
environment and help educate workers to avoid risky behaviors (Page
4).
Continued Instability Expected – All
this must happen in the context of continued business instability.
A total of 41% of survey respondents expect business conditions
will stabilize by Q2 2021, but 36% believe it will take longer.
(Page 3).
The Hackett Group’s 2021 Key Issues research is based on results
gathered from nearly 300 executives in finance, HR, IT,
procurement, supply chain, and global business services at a global
set of midsized and large enterprises.
About The Hackett Group
The Hackett Group (NASDAQ: HCKT) is an intellectual
property-based strategic consultancy and leading enterprise
benchmarking firm to global companies, offering digital
transformation including implementation of leading enterprise cloud
applications, workflow automation and analytics that enable digital
world class performance.
Drawing from our unparalleled IP from nearly 20,000 benchmark
studies with the world’s leading businesses – including 93% of the
Dow Jones Industrials, 91% of the Fortune 100, 80% of the DAX 30
and 55% of the FTSE 100 – captured through our leading benchmarking
platform, Quantum Leap®, and our Digital Transformation Platform
(DTP), we accelerate best practices implementations.
More information on The Hackett Group is available at:
www.thehackettgroup.com, info@thehackettgroup.com, or by calling
(770) 225-3600.
Cautionary Statement Regarding “Forward Looking”
Statements
This release contains “forward looking” statements within the
meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 as amended and
Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.
Statements including without limitation, words such as “expects”,
“anticipates”, “intends”, “plans”, “believes”, seeks”, “estimates”
or other similar phrases or variations of such words or similar
expressions indicating, present or future anticipated or expected
occurrences or outcomes are intended to identify such forward
looking statements. Forward looking statements are not statements
of historical fact and involve known and unknown risks,
uncertainties and other factors that may cause the Company’s actual
results, performance or achievements to be materially different
from the results, performance or achievements expressed or implied
by the forward looking statements. Factors that may impact such
forward looking statements include without limitation, the ability
of Hackett to effectively market its digital transformation and
other consulting services, competition from other consulting and
technology companies who may have or develop in the future, similar
offerings, the commercial viability of Hackett and its services as
well as other risk detailed in Hackett’s reports filed with the
United States Securities and Exchange Commission. Hackett does not
undertake any duty to update this release or any forward looking
statements contained herein.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210506005079/en/
Gary Baker, Global Communications Director - (917) 796-2391 or
gbaker@thehackettgroup.com
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