REDMOND, Wash., Dec. 18, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Microsoft
Corp. on Wednesday announced the results of the State of Tech
Intensity 2019 Study, revealing what business and technology
decision-makers see as critical to their future growth and
success.
The past decade has been a period of unusually rapid change and
disruption as organizations worldwide have implemented a breadth of
technology solutions to transform how they understand their
customers, empower employees and optimize operations. The study
makes clear that as the 2010s give way to the 2020s, organizations
are moving beyond adopting the latest applications and are
developing their own proprietary digital capabilities to help
propel success and gain a competitive advantage.
"Up until now, organizations have looked to technology companies
like Microsoft to provide digital tools for improving efficiency,
increasing productivity and driving innovation," said Deb Cupp, corporate vice president, Worldwide
Enterprise and Commercial Industries, Microsoft. "Now, the
organizations achieving the greatest success are applying these
tools and technologies to invent their own digital solutions to
solve complex business and societal issues. In the process, they're
essentially becoming technology companies themselves as they drive
progress and innovation in their industries. We refer to this
approach as 'tech intensity,' and we strongly believe it is what
will determine an organization's future success."
According to the study, the vast majority of business and
technology leaders surveyed believe that tech intensity is a key
competitive driver, and there's widespread agreement that tech
intensity — or the applied use of a creative, entrepreneurial
mindset to invent new digital capabilities using advanced
technologies such as AI and IoT — will have a significant impact on
global communities and organizational culture.
Every company is becoming a technology company
One of the key findings of the study was the extent to which
companies have already embraced tech intensity. According to the
study, tech intensity is already pervasive, with 73% of companies
reporting they are currently creating their own first-party
intellectual property using next-generation technologies such as
machine learning (39%), IoT (37%), AI (32%), blockchain (29%) and
mixed reality (21%).
The study also revealed broad agreement across industries that
tech intensity is critical for current and future success. For
example, 75% of respondents believe that harnessing tech intensity
is the most effective way to build competitive advantage today, and
75% also believe it will be crucial to building competitive
advantage in the future.
In addition to creating competitive advantage now and into the
future, responses also revealed a strong belief that tech intensity
will be a catalyst for ongoing disruption. Nearly half of those
surveyed predict that existing companies will be forced to compete
with new entrants in their industry that are building their own
digital capabilities and intellectual property. Among the
industries where that expectation is the highest are media and
communications, financial services, retail, and automotive.
Global impact of tech intensity
Although much of the focus of tech intensity is on creating
competitive business advantage, there was a strong consensus that
tech intensity will have a positive impact on global communities.
When asked about specific areas where tech intensity will serve as
a driving force for societal improvement, 43% selected better
public services at lower costs, 40% chose improved connectivity in
rural areas, and 40% chose reduced corporate waste. Other key areas
where respondents expect to see improvements include health care
(36%), consumer safety (36%), worker safety (33%) and access to
financial services (33%). Only 8% said they don't expect tech
intensity to deliver any positive benefits for global
communities.
In addition, while 47% of those surveyed said they believe
richer, more connected and more digitally sophisticated countries
will see GDP grow at a faster rate, 36% expressed confidence that
tech intensity will actually make the global economic playing field
more level. At the same time, only 19% of respondents said they
expect that tech intensity will have a negative impact on economic
growth in less wealthy, less connected and less digitally
sophisticated countries.
Tech intensity and corporate culture
Another key finding of the study was the effect of tech
intensity on organizational culture. For example, there is a nearly
unanimous belief that staying on the cutting edge of technologic
progress is essential to retaining talent, with 92% of those
surveyed agreeing it is important or very important to work for an
organization that keeps up with software and application trends.
That belief is particularly strong among millennials, only 2% of
whom think that staying current with technology isn't important. In
contrast, 9% of Gen Xers and 10% of baby boomers don't think that
keeping up with technology is important.
About the study
To understand how widespread tech intensity is today, we
surveyed 700 business and technology decision-makers in
the United States from companies
spanning 20 different industries. Research was conducted between
May and June 2019 by research firm
YouGov. Both quantitative and qualitative responses contributed to
the findings of the study.
Learn more about how companies are taking advantage of tech
intensity to drive innovation and create competitive advantage
here.
Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT" @microsoft) enables
digital transformation for the era of an intelligent cloud and
an intelligent edge. Its mission is to empower every person and
every organization on the planet to achieve more.
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SOURCE Microsoft Corp.