SAN MATEO, CA–(Marketwired – Jul 21, 2014) – Altimeter Group, today announced its latest research, The 2014 State of Digital Transformation, by Brian Solis, with Jaimy Szymanski and Rebecca Lieb. The new report is a follow-up to Altimeter’s pioneering research, Digital Transformation: Why and How Companies Are Investing in New Business Models to Lead Digital Customer Experiences, which illustrated that digital customers differ in behavior from traditional customers, and showed how leading-edge organizations are orienting around the digital customer experience (DCX).
“We surveyed digital strategists from top global companies and brands, and uncovered a surprisingly human story: digital transformation is a significant movement where daring business leaders venture into tomorrow’s markets today,” said Solis, principal analyst at Altimeter Group. “It isn’t an initiative owned by a particular role or department in the organization; instead, it is a cross-enterprise realignment of resources to unify and enhance the digital customer experience at every touch point in order to be competitive in today’s era of connected markets.”
Respondents cited several potential benefits from digital transformation initiatives, including a lift in customer engagement (75%), improved customer satisfaction (63%), greater digital traffic (53%) and increased lead generation and sales (49%). However, numerous challenges to digital transformation were also captured, including company culture (63%), the need to think beyond a campaign mentality (59%), the need to ensure cross-functional collaboration (56%), a lack of resources (56%), a lack of understanding of digital customer behavior (53%) and the need to secure executive support for digital transformation (42%).
Altimeter’s research reveals that digital transformation is still widely misunderstood, but that corporations and brands are taking it seriously:
- 88% of companies say they are undergoing digital transformation, yet only 25% have mapped out the digital customer journey
- 17% of digital leaders are now in the process of studying the digital customer journey
- 42% of strategists report that while they have not yet researched the customer journey, they are investing in new digital channels
- The mandate to lead digital transformation is often driven by the CMO, CEO, and CIO (54%, 42%, and 29% respectively)
Digital transformation doesn’t mean digital investment alone, it means thinking “digital first.”
Many are already thinking digital first and are in the process of upgrading systems and processes to meet digital transformation challenges head on. Altimeter’s study uncovered the most important digital transformation initiatives inside companies today:
- Improving processes that expedite changes to digital properties, such as website updates, new mobile or social platforms, etc. (80%)
- Updating website and ecommerce programs for a mobile world (71%)
- Integrating social, mobile, web, ecommerce, service efforts and investments to deliver an integrated and frictionless customer experience (70%)
- Updating customer-facing technology systems (66%)
- Further research into customer digital touch points (63%)
- Overhauling customer service to meet the expectations of digital customers (46%)
More About Altimeter’s New Report and Related Webinar
Available now for download, this report is available for free under Altimeter Group’s open research model. Chief executives, digital strategists and marketing, sales and customer experience leaders, will want to attend the related webinar being held on Wednesday, September 17, 2014 to review key research findings and ask questions of Brian Solis. For more information about Altimeter Group’s related services, visit http://www.altimetergroup.com/digitaltransformation.
About Altimeter Group
Founded in 2008 by Charlene Li, Altimeter Group helps companies understand and act on digital transformation. The company provides independent research and strategy consulting services to help business leaders thrive in the face of change. Clients include 9 of the Dow Jones 30 and 16 of the Fortune 100. Altimeter Group was named by Fast Company as one of the “Five Most Creative Small Businesses.” The firm is headquartered at in San Mateo, Calif., with offices on the East Coast. For more information, visit http://www.altimetergroup.com.
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