Why IT Remains Unprepared for Digital Transformation, Big Data

While a majority of IT executives and tech professionals report that their organization have launched a digital transformation project, few describe their technology stack as “sophisticated,” according to a survey from Commvault. The resulting report, titled “Measuring IT’s Readiness for Digital Business,” reveals that only a minority of companies have completely integrated their technology stack. Analytics represents another stumbling point, as employees have access to a limited amount of data when they must make key decisions. A total of 450 IT executives and 750 technology professionals took part in the study. This slide show presents selected findings from the survey. (Art used for this slideshow feature was provided courtesy of Commvault.)

Commvault reports that 59 percent of survey respondents said their company has launched a “digital transformation” initiative. But just 35 percent describe their technology stack as “sophisticated.”

Survey respondents in the U.S. said that, when they have to make key decisions, their employees have access to only 46 percent of their organization’s data. No other nation represented in the survey reported that their employees had access to more than just over one-half of their company’s data. Survey respondents from Germany reported the highest level of data access at 51 percent.

Only 47 percent of survey respondents in the U.S. said their organization has completely integrated its technology stack. But that percentage is still the highest among all countries represented in the survey, including Canada at 35 percent and the U.K./Ireland at 29 percent.

Commvault says that 51 percent of survey respondents feel that “better data collection and management” have emerged as essential to success and 49 percent said the same about tools that can analyze increasingly complex data. Both responses surpassed those which cited the need for a strong corporate reputation (36 percent) and high quarterly earnings (33 percent).

Only 36 percent of survey respondents believe that their company is well-prepared to migrate all of its data to the cloud. Just 34 percent said their organization is well-prepared to undertake a project that would bring together all of its data.

Three of five of IT executives predict that their role will change “radically” due to new technologies, and that they’ll need to acquire new skills to stay relevant in their field. Commvault says that 54 percent of tech professionals agree with both of these statements.

Commvault reports that 49 percent of IT executives consider maintaining their company network operations to be a top priority. The preparation for a cyber-attack or data breach also stands out as a top priority, as cited by 47 percent of IT executives.

Tech professionals estimate that they spend 14 percent of their time running the company network and 13 percent of their time solving employees’ problems and supporting their needs. In contrast, they said they only spend 6 percent of their time on innovation.

Only 41 percent of IT executives feel confident in their department’s ability to understand and prepare for industry innovation. Just 29 percent of tech professionals feel the same way.

Just 39 percent if IT executives feel confident that their department can take advantage of data science for big data analytics. Only 29 percent of tech professionals feel the same way.