In conjunction with DXC Technology, Telsyte’s latest research has revealed Australian businesses’ IT expenditure is set to soar an average of 5.4% this year – notably higher than inflation, wages and GDP growth.
Telsyte claims the rise stems from an increased focus on digital transformation.
Despite this, the majority of Australian IT leaders remain complacent – only 52% of local IT and business leaders believe their products will be impacted by digital transformation.
As such, acceptance of digital disruption remains low.
In a study of over 400 leading Australian companies, Telsyte has discovered organisations which adopt enterprise-wide digital strategies are also more competitive in the current landscape.
With many local companies on route to digital maturity, a plethora of different approaches exist.
DXC Technology Managing Director ANZ, Seelan Nayagam, states the research reflects the need for Australian organisations to abandon outdated IT strategies:
“This new research underscores the importance for Australian businesses to adopt an enterprise-wide digital strategy in order to thrive in an era of rapidly increasing change and disruption”
“Leaving strategic technology decisions to disparate business units is simply not sustainable”
“Abandoning disparate programs in favour of holistic digital strategies driven by corporate leaders, including the CEO and the board, ensures that all business units and everyone they serve can benefit from digital transformation”.
At current, 43% of of organisations have pilot programs for large scale IT transformation.
The vast majority admit to a reactive approach. Approximately 60% of local businesses are “keeping an eye” on IT disruption, and will react “if and when it begins to impact”.
“There is a level of complacency among Australian businesses that enough is being done to handle the impending disruption to their markets and go-to-market strategies,” asserts Foad Fadaghi, Telsyte MD.
“The challenge is that when you dig a little deeper, many organisations are simply equating digital with building more mobile apps”.
DXC’s Nayagam warns Australian businesses to remain focused on technology-driven disruption, affirming the pace of change is occurring faster than in previous generations:
“Technology-driven disruption today is increasingly global and much faster moving than in previous generations”
“Therefore, digital transformation needs to be considered enterprise-wide from the outset”
“As companies gain experience with emerging technologies that underpin any digital strategy such as data analytics, artificial intelligence, cloud infrastructure, automation and cybersecurity, it becomes clear that the true power of innovation comes from applying a digital strategy across the organisation”.
View Telsyte’s “Beyond Disruption: How Australian Organisations Can Transform and Thrive in the Digital Age” report here.