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:
- Cultural resistance to
change and application uptake in the organization
- Lack of digital enterprise transformation strategy and roadmap
- Insufficient skills, capabilities, and
digital leadership resources internally
These are the top five operational areas that most benefit enterprises in their digital transformation:
- Digital
commerce and multichannel engagement
- Data asset management, analytics, and insights
- Marketing automation and
campaign execution
- Revenue optimization and customer value creation
- Business continuity availability, and agility
How do firms
determine whether they are successfully utilizing digital change agents? The top three factors are:
- Evidence where and how digital solutions will deliver improved revenue and
margin
- Showing how digital transformation creates competitive advantage and shareholder value
- 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:
- Digital
transformation
- Data analytics
- AI and intelligent automation
- Security
- Focused industry solutions
Let’s hope that the CMO has a seat at the
decision-making table, even if the email manager doesn’t. 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.