In The PwCs 5th Annual Digital IQ Survey - The India story throws light on how business leaders are facing radical changes in economic and market structures. The authors of the report Tapobrata Das Roy Ritesh Pal, technology Consultants, PWC elaborate on how businesses are leveraging technology and weaving it into the fabric of their organization.
While they were adapting to the constant volatility in global economies, the domestic growth settled into the lowest rate of the decade this year. On the other hand, the number of disruptions, both natural and manmade, has increased in the last four decades around the globe.
Notwithstanding the unprecedented changes, the need to navigate through pitfalls and disruptions, businesses are striving to achieve the core objectives of fostering growth, meeting disparate consumer needs, reaching out to markets, compete and succeed. In such times, speeding up the adoption of key technologies like social networks, mobile computing, analytics, cloud computing (SMAC) and other emerging technologies will transform businesses and accelerate wealth creation, especially in the emerging markets economies For instance, leading firms have started using digital ecosystems to take advantage of disruptions and information to create significant economic and competitive value.
The India cut of the PwCs Annual Digital IQ survey is a reflection of this trend. It evaluates how enterprises are riding the digital wave to engage more effectively with their crucial stakeholders, fine-tune their operational effectiveness and strengthen risk management strategies.
How strong is the digital IQ of Indian organisations?
PWC presented respondents with different scenarios to gauge if theyve realised the importance of these technologies and aligned them closely to their overall organisational growth objectives. This is because companies can gain only through a systematic engagement with these technologies. We found that business leaders are actively involved in spearheading initiatives in technology, have a strong C-suite collaboration and consider themselves digitally astute.
Digitally astute
When asked about the level of their digital involvement, 85 per cent of the Indian firms described their organization as digitally astute. This is more than their US and UK counterparts at 54 and 69 per cent respectively. Perhaps more interesting is the fact that all Indian firms with strong C-suite collaboration described their organisation as digitally astute. This indicates that C-suite alignment is an important characteristic for any company striving for a high digital IQ.
IT and business as complementary factors
An effective technology strategy cannot be created in a vacuum. It is vital for the CIO to collaborate with the C-suite while chalking out a roadmap. The starting point of such an activity is planning and Indian companies are increasingly working on these lines by having a multi-year roadmap for business strategies along with a plan to link IT to overall business practices.
Among the survey participants, 71per cent said they have a single, multi-year roadmap as compared to 61 per cent across the rest of the world. Additionally, IT leaders of 80 per cent of the companies share the same detailed understanding of the corporate strategy as their business leaders. The survey also found that in one out of every three Indian enterprises, the CIO has a strong relationship with other members across the C-suite: CEO, CFO, CMO, CRO, CSO, CISO, and business unit leaders. These C-suite relationships are an indication of the shift in perception of Indian companies with respect to IT; from support and cost centre to a business catalyst.
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