• by Chuck Martin , Staff Writer, June 7, 2017

Among other things, the Internet of Things can aid the digital transformation of a business.

While almost all companies say they are aligned on what digital transformation is, only a small number get what they expect from an investment standpoint, according to a new study.

While most (91%) executives are aligned on what digital transformation means, only 4% realize half of their digital investment in under a year, with the majority saying it’s taken their company two to three years to get at least half of their investment return.

The study comprised an online survey of 400 senior-level U.S. executives in companies with more than 100 employees conducted by Wakefield Research Field Services for Wipro Digital.

Even though companies agree on digital transformation, they have many different names for it.

It’s referred to as digital strategy, digitization, business transformation, digital disruption and enterprise transformation. Only 6% of companies still use the term ‘digital transformation.’

As might be expected, the Internet of Things and artificial intelligence are on the list of activities, no matter how companies refer to digital transformation. Here’s what companies have leveraged in order to digitize successfully over the past 12 months:

• 74% -- Big data and analytics
• 66% -- Internet of Things
• 65% -- Cloud
• 51% -- Social media
• 51% -- Mobile
• 43% -- Team realignment
• 31% -- Artificial intelligence
• 24% -- Robotics

Moving a company forward isn’t always a matter of simply implementing the latest innovative technology. For example, the leading obstacles for achieving full digital potential are resistance to new ways of working (39%), being overwhelmed by the complexity of digital (39%) and deficiency of digital talent (37%).

Not all people are on board. It turns out that 19% of executives say they secretly think that most digital transformation projects in their company are a waste of time.