If you think any downturn in the economy over the next year will translate into a lower tech workload, think again.
In a new survey from Accenture, 73% of executives said that in the event of a recession, their company would accelerate its “total business reinvention” strategies.
As one might guess, any “total business reinvention” requires technology. This means that managers and technology professionals will have a lot of work to do, and business leaders will rely on them even more to achieve the transformation they so badly need. It’s about cloudifying, automating and injecting intelligence into business processes.
Three technical layers
What does “total enterprise reinvention” mean in business parlance? “Centered on a strong digital core, it helps drive growth and optimize operations,” explain the report’s authors, led by Julie Sweet, president and CEO of Accenture.
This means reinventing and bringing together three levels of technical initiatives:
- The infrastructure and security layer: “A modern, cloud-based IT foundation that is automated, agile, and secure by design. »
- Data and AI layer: “AI-driven applications and platforms generating insights for decision-making. »
- Application and platform layer: “Where new experiences and ways of working come to life, through modernized and new and personalized applications and platforms. »
Accenture has found that “interoperability” between all of these layers is a strong selling point. “Companies with high interoperability grew revenue 6 times faster than their counterparts with low interoperability and unlocked an additional five percentage points of annual revenue growth. »
Key technologies
Most companies are not there yet. Only 8% of them could be considered “reinvented” according to these principles, indicates the survey of 1,516 companies. The others are at different stages in their efforts to reinvent themselves through technology, but almost all recognize that they need to catch up. “Technology was once a disruptor,” the report’s authors point out. “Now she is the enabler, a certainty in turbulent times.”
With this in mind, the majority of companies intend to invest in or are very committed to a range of advanced technologies, including the following:
- Next Generation Computing (65%)
- Next-gen intelligence (64%)
- Cloud services (61%)
- AI and automation (59%)
- Metaverse and Web 3.0 (48%)
- Network/Connectivity (42%)
Engagement in key areas of the business is accelerating. A large share of technology investment is devoted to innovation, with research and development recording the largest increase in technology investment. Human resources should also benefit more from technology-driven reinvention initiatives. IT itself will focus more on computerization, automation and adding intelligence to operations:
- Research and development (+36% increase in spending over the next two years)
- Human resources (+35%)
- Main operations (+33%)
- Information Technology (+32%)
- Marketing (+31%)
- Finance (+30%)
- Output (+30%)
- Strategy and Mergers/Acquisitions (+30%)
- Sales (+28%)
- Customer service (+27%)
- Supply chain (+29%)
The digital core has become “a primary source of competitive advantage”, observe the authors. “To thrive in this world, businesses need a strong digital core that will serve as the foundation for reinvention. The integrated operating model and new ways of working are underpinned by an enterprise-wide integrated technology and data platform that democratizes data across the enterprise. The data stream provides connections between teams in the networked organization, enabling the sharing of ideas and knowledge. »
Source: ZDNet.com
