• by Ray Schultz , Columnist, December 14, 2022

Email teams work year in and year out, regardless of technology. But they are at the mercy of larger decisions within their companies. 

For instance, global enterprises will spend $4.4 trillion on technology acquisition this year, more than a quarter of it on digital transformation.

Yet it is not clear that they know what they are doing, judging by Digital Enterprise Execution: Ailing or Excellent, a study by the CMO Council and the Business Performance Innovation Network (BPI). 

Companies worldwide hope that these investments will deliver significant business value, performance, and competitive advantage. But less than 12% of senior management is viewed by their staffs as highly strategic and adept at evaluating new technology. And 44% is seen as only moderately strategic. 

The main obstacles to digital transformation start at the top. According to the study, they are: 

1. Cultural resistance to change and application uptake in the organization
2. Lack of digital enterprise transformation strategy and roadmap
3. Insufficient skills, capabilities, and digital leadership resources internally

These are the top five operational areas that most benefit enterprises in their digital transformation:

1. Digital commerce and multichannel engagement 
2. Data asset management, analytics, and insights 
3. Marketing automation and campaign execution
4. Revenue optimization and customer value creation
5. Business continuity availability, and agility

How do firms determine whether they are successfully utilizing digital change agents? The top three factors are:

1. Evidence where and how digital solutions will deliver improved revenue and margin
2. Showing how digital transformation creates competitive advantage and shareholder value
3. Achieving buy-in and support from the CEO and the C-suite influencers 

What kind of software do they need? The most vital applications are those that drive:

1. Digital transformation 
2. Data analytics
3. AI and intelligent automation 
4. Security 
5. Focused industry solutions
   

The CMO Council surveyed 240 executive business decision makers in Q3.

Of these, nearly 30% were from firms with annual revenue topping $1 billion. And just under 10% were from companies with between $100 million and $1 billion.

The study covered North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Africa, Middle East and Latin America.