60% of companies have the resources needed to advance digital transformation

rave two-thirds of the companies surveyed revealed they have the necessary technology (60%) and leadership (62%) resources to be successful in implementing their digital transformation programmes. These figures reflect a 36% growth in both areas in just two years, reveals the new Digital Mastery 2020 study How organizations have progressed in their digital transformations over the past two years, by Capgemini Research Institute.

To assess how far digital skills/resources have evolved over the past two years, Capgemini analysed the average of respondents' assessments in four categories: talent and organisation, operations, business model innovation and customer experience (CX). Comparing the results of the study conducted by Capgemini in 2020 and in 2018, on the digital skills/resources of companies to successfully carry out digital transformation, it is concluded that, although all companies have evolved in their digital transformation journeys in 2020, the gap between digital masters (companies with a high level of digital skills and leadership) and the rest of the companies has worsened.

The COVID-19 pandemic has proven to be a major accelerator of digitisation by putting increased pressure on businesses regarding the need for change. Companies' levels of enthusiasm and optimism about the maturity of their skills and resources have also increased. Nevertheless, since 2018 it can be seen that companies have been slow to understand what challenges they need to overcome in order to successfully achieve digital transformation. Consequently, investments in digital transformation and a renewed focus on talent and culture have also been slow to increase.

Large companies, with revenues of $20 billion or more, have shown a clear advantage in the evolution of their digital and leadership capabilities. Some 68% of these companies that were surveyed by the Capgemini study said they had the necessary digital skills and capabilities, compared to 55% of companies with revenues of less than $10 billion. The same is true when it comes to leadership: only 57% of smaller companies said they had the leadership skills needed to deliver digital transformation projects, marginally below the overall average of 62%, but further away from the 70% revealed by large companies.

The study also finds that all industries have seen a positive evolution in their digital and leadership skills over the past two years. The retail sector clearly stands out from the rest, with 73% of companies saying they have the digital resources needed to make the transformation - a figure that is in clear contrast to the 37% recorded in 2018. The telecoms sector also stands out in 2020, with 71% of businesses saying they have the resources needed for digital transformation and with operators reshaping consumer value propositions by creating and delivering complete digital experiences. Skills growth is led by the automotive sector, which has risen from 32% in 2018, to 69% in 2020.

The study highlights that while organisations should pay attention to factors such as customer experience, operations and business technology, they should also place emphasis on sustainability and its wider purpose. This aspect has become very important for both customers and employees. Consumers are increasingly concerned about their environmental footprint and the impact of climate change and want to make a difference with their actions. However, the consultancy's study concludes that only 45% of companies are accelerating sustainability-related investments, projects and commitments.

The study recommends that companies reinvent the employee experience by making teams work more fluidly and ensuring that contracts and social arrangements with their workers align with the digital age, so they can move further into digital transformation.

In addition, companies must develop robust data platforms, scale new business and relationship models, and embed sustainability and its objectives at the core of their business, making it part of the organisational culture. They also need to look at technology from a dual perspective: digital transformation and sustainability.

"In just two years there has been an exponential increase in the digital and leadership skills needed to achieve success in digital transformation projects. That's why we conducted this study. The continuous fast pace of technological innovation and the disruption of business models in the last two years - with COVID-19 forcing many companies to reinvent themselves, were possibly responsible for this advance," says Claudia Crummenerl, Managing Director, People and Organization at Capgemini Invent.

"While companies have come a long way in adopting and developing a wide variety of measures in areas such as customer experience, operations, business models and technology, many still need to include sustainability and its objectives in their transformation strategies. By reinventing employee experiences and ways of working by embedding sustainability and its objectives into operating models, transforming themselves into truly information/data-driven businesses, and scaling the new business models beyond their pilot phases, companies can achieve digital maturity and thus gain the level of resilience needed to adapt to future uncertainties.”

The study is available for further analysis, or consultation, here.

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