While the digital transformation efforts of larger enterprises are well documented, less is known about how midsized businesses are approaching their digital transformation activities and plans. To understand more, a survey of 250 midsized business IT professionals was conducted by Spiceworks and sponsored by†CenturyLink, Inc.†(NYSE:†CTL). The survey revealed that 53 percent of IT decision makers at businesses ranging in size from 11-500 employees are engaged in or planning their digital transformations.
“Midsized businesses are increasingly adopting a digital business model, but still face challenges,” said†Vernon Irvin, president, government, education, medium and small business, CenturyLink. “With limited resources and budgets, midsized businesses are looking for networking solutions providers to deliver a reliable infrastructure capable of supporting the evolving technology landscape, as well as solutions that can help save time and money.”
Top drivers for digital transformation include improving efficiency and productivity at 60 percent, reducing costs and modernizing systems at 39 percent, increasing accuracy and reducing human errors at 37 percent, and increasing revenues and enhancing the customer experience at 30 percent. Respondents were also positive about their digital transformation efforts, with more than 75 percent noting they were “enthusiastic” and “excited.”
Key Findings
- For midsized businesses engaged in transformation efforts, top projects include:
- Backup and disaster recovery, 55 percent
- Retiring and upgrading legacy systems, 50 percent
- Workflow automation, 50 percent
- Current constraints to digital transformation include:
- Budget, 58 percent
- Limited time and staff, 57 percent
- Competing IT priorities, 35 percent
- Resistance from end-users and internal business decision makers, 34 percent
- Limited skill and expertise, 31 percent
- 60 percent of IT professionals said they worked with departments like marketing, sales, and finance in their digital transformation initiatives to ensure that as new technologies are deployed, those groups have a say in how business process changes are designed and implemented.
