CIOs in Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) are making progress towards digital business transformation, but the progress is slow, as per Gartner’s 2019 CIO Agenda Survey.
The survey found that only 30% of enterprises in ANZ have started to scale and gain value from their investments in digital transformation. Whereas, the remaining 70% are still in the evolution phase. They are lagging in rethinking their business models, uplifting consumer experiences and moving from project to product centricity.
Gartner surveyed 3,102 CIOs across 89 countries, including respondents from Australia and New Zealand. 25% of the CIOs in ANZ considers digital initiatives the highest priority in 2019. Business and revenue growth are on the second rank (16%), followed by customer experience and cost optimization.
“CIOs must step up to lead their enterprises through a year of predicted tightening economic conditions, competition from digital giants and political volatility. It’s more important than ever to maintain momentum during times of uncertainty, not only for digital business transformation, but also for long-term business viability,” said Brian Ferreira, vice president Executive Programs at Gartner.
One of the main reasons behind CIOs in ANZ lagging digital transformation is the flat IT growth of 1.5% in 2019, which is less than the estimated 1.9% inflation rate. On the other hand, the CIOs around the world are expecting 2.9% growth this year.
In 2019, the CIOs in ANZ will focus their investment in these five areas—
- Business Intelligence and data analytics (54%)
- Cybersecurity and information security (40%)
- Core system improvements and transformation (34%);
- Cloud services or solutions (32%)
- Customer/user experience (31%)
“The risk during these uncertain times with limited budgets is to make short-term investment decisions, which can slow or even reverse digital business transformation progress,” Mr. Ferreira said. “For those who stick to their plans and focus on the long-term vision, the returns will be there.”
Also read: 10 technologies that CXOs should incorporate in their roadmaps and strategies in 2019
Only 33% CIOs in Australia and New Zealand report to their CEOs, in comparison with 43% of CIOs in average-performing organizations around the world. Whereas, 56% of CIOs in high-performing organizations report to their CEOs.
