I went to Microsoft’s annual UK Conference Future Decoded with the expectation that I’d be hearing a lot about the potential and functionality of Microsoft Dynamics 365, the latest cloud-based amalgamation of Microsoft’s CRM, ERP, Flow and Adobe Marketing solutions.
There were several intensive breakout sessions specifically on this topic, but the real focus of the day for the speakers was ‘digital transformation’.
Cindy Rose, UK CEO of Microsoft, used her speech to announce the launch of the company’s “most extensive study into Digital Transformation in the UK” named: Digital Transformation: The Age of Innocence, Inertia or Innovation?
This report is based on the findings of a survey of more than a 1000 UK business and IT leaders, who were asked for their perceptions of digital transformation in their industry.
These findings suggest that the financial sector is leading the way when it comes digital strategy, technology, and skilled staff.
There were high levels of expectation among finance leaders, with 65% anticipating their sector would be “significantly disrupted” within the next two years. Only 54% of their retail counterparts expected a disruption, and 31% of manufacturers were anticipating large scale digital changes.
Most participants from the financial sector felt that they had strong digital leaders, 66% claiming that their organisations had “clear or formal” digital transformation strategies in place. Confidence in digital strategies was significantly lower within other sectors, with only 48% of retailers saying they had a strategy in place, followed by 41% of manufacturers and 36% of public sector organisations.
The confidence felt by participants from the financial sector could be attributed to their belief that their leaders would be willing to disrupt their organisations if necessary. 57% said their bosses would be willing to disrupt their existing business, which was echoed by retail at 55% and manufacturing at 54%.
But what is driving the finance sector’s belief in digital? According to Microsoft’s report, it is all about improving customer services. 68% of financial organisations cited customer experience as their ‘top driver’ for digital transformation. Results were similar from the retail participants at 67%, but only 43% of manufactures saw it as a priority and it wasn’t a top driver for the public sector organisations.
It seems that Microsoft has recognised that the consumer is king in the digital age. To remain competitive, organisations must embrace digital technology and be willing to transform archaic products and services to elevate levels accessibility, convenience, and ease-of-purchase for customers. It seems that the financial sector has been the biggest adopter of this concept and Crimson believe that large scale digital disruptions will continue to happen across the sectors for a long time into the future.
Crimson is an IT consultancy, an IT solutions provider, an IT recruitment agency, and a Microsoft Gold Partner with offices in Birmingham and the City of London.
