Companies will spend $6 trln on digital transformation before 2021, said Head of Riverbed Technology office in Russia and CIS Alexander Stulov at the presentation of a joint survey by Riverbed Technology software developer and the Economist magazine, devoted to the digital economy of the future.
According to Alexander Stulov, four technologies such as artificial intelligence, mobile and cloud technology, plus the internet of things operating on the Edge wireless mobile phone technology will become the drivers of the digital development. Those companies that fall behind on digital development will suffer great financial losses.
“A one-second delay in online page load time can cause a 7% reduction in the number of clients. 88% of online shoppers will not return to a store’s website after there was an error on the page,” the expert said.
According to Stulov, various companies lose a total of $700 bln annually due to IT system downtime simply because their employees are unable to work.
Another big problem is the complexity of objective evaluation of the IT infrastructure. Users not always give feedback, they prefer to change the website. At the same time, it is difficult for the developers to realize quickly how the system looks for the user and whether new services are convenient and user-friendly.
Alexander Stulov said that most companies cannot change anything: only 5% of companies prioritize the development in this area. To evaluate the convenience of servers for users marketing indices can be used, Stulov said. For instance, the client outflow index helps understand how many clients will purchase the product next year and how comfortable the IT infrastructure is for them.
During a poll conducted by Riverbed Technology and Economist, 97% of respondents said that in order to adopt a digital-first strategy, company employees must have one of the five following skills: they should be able to use data analytics, to change their workspace, to introduce innovations on servers and to have experience of digital management or IT transformation.
In addition, 89% of respondents said that employees must also have digital competences if they want their clients to be happy. 84% said that digital competences will allow companies for increasing their profits.
Meanwhile, many companies lack digital competences. According to the poll, 57% of employees complain about the lack of skills. 66% of employees claim that the lack of digital competences makes clients dissatisfied.
Unfortunately, according to the survey, most IT departments failed to develop digital skills (according to 68% of respondents). Therefore, most employees of IT departments need to undergo relevant training.
Alexander Stulov said in conclusion that in order to reach digital transformation, companies should train their personnel, introduce a new position – executive director for digitalization – and also employ various agile methods.
By Alexander Stolyarov