2020 Enterprise Leadership Survey: Foreword

This year’s survey shows that while the leaders of today’s enterprises believe in the power of information technology to transform their organizations, many still face challenges with having the technology and culture in place for real change over the long term. There is a gap between the digital dream and the digital reality: 

• 79% say they’re leveraging technology to become market leaders; however, a fairly large percentage — 66% — say their mission-critical systems are so complex they are wary of changing them. Further, 62% responded they lack a common set of tools and platforms across the organization. This creates “digital islands”: units working with the right technologies but independently of each other.

• 77% say the collection and use of data is now built into the way they innovate and compete, while 48% say their employees are becoming more analytical and making decisions based on data insights.

• 65% report that employee reluctance to change work habits is a barrier to technology-enabled organizational change, but only 14% rank improving employee engagement and empowerment as their No. 1 internal priority.

• 70% say more effective leadership is needed across the organization. This is a strong reminder that getting the right combination of people, culture and technology is essential for making effective, long-term change.

To close the gap, companies have to complete a lot of overdue homework — work that should have happened some time ago. This ranges from building effective leadership and internetworked teams, to modernizing IT and moving up the stack for data-driven insights, to establishing an ecosystem of partners and suppliers and instilling a culture of collaboration, learning and agility. 

The survey report has six sections:

• The digital dividend looks at the strategic imperative for transformation and progress being made.

• The digital deficit lays bare the barriers — cultural, technological and market-oriented — that can derail transformation strategies and put organizations at risk.

• The digital future examines the emerging technologies, skills and culture needed to bridge the gap between the digital dream and the digital reality.

• The conclusion offers five priorities that organizations can begin acting on today.

• An appendix of charts contains the survey results.

• In executive insights our customers give firsthand accounts of their transformation progress — what’s working and how they are prioritizing.

Business transformation will gain momentum and become more successful as organizations create the internal conditions for change. The 2020s could be the decade in which the cultural, technological and market-oriented barriers finally come down. Let’s get going.

Dan Hushon
Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, DXC Technology

Richard Davies
Managing Director, Leading Edge Forum, and Vice President, DXC Technology