In the organizations of 43% of surveyed representatives of Polish companies, the maximum return on investment in technology was not achieved, according to a survey by Strategy&, part of PwC. More than 50% of the surveyed companies that did not achieve maximum returns on their technology investments admitted that communication in their projects left out key stakeholders. 56% of respondents from these companies estimated that there was a lack of shared vision among leaders, leading to communication chaos and hindering the achievement of set goals.
“Companies plan to spend about $4,500 billion on technology investments in 2023 alone. The use of tools related to artificial intelligence (AI), metaverse, cloud, automation and robotics is accelerating. Investment in cyber security is also growing. All of this requires business to be constantly evolving technologically and to undergo virtually continuous transformation, which requires simultaneous process and organizational changes. The way in which technological and organizational transformation projects are carried out builds market advantage for companies, provides opportunities for more efficient implementation of strategy and improvement of financial performance, and can also facilitate management of the company’s environmental impact,” said Strategy& Poland managing partner Krzysztof Badowski.
Survey respondents were fairly consistent in pointing out the main challenges in their technology transformation projects. More than half of all respondents believe that lack of human resources is the biggest problem for technology transformations. However, despite the problems associated with the lack of human resources, some organizations report that they are achieving the maximum return on their technology investments. Practice and the survey results indicate that structured change management minimizes inefficiencies in technology transformation projects and consequently allows maximizing the return on investment in technology, they stressed.
33% of representatives of companies that did not achieve maximum return believe that insufficient support from leaders was the main problem of technology transformation, while in the other group insufficient support from leaders as a challenge was indicated the least often (8%). Such a result indicates that adequate engagement of leaders is very important for achieving the stated goals of technology transformation and maximizing returns on technology investments.
“The implementation of technology in organizations should be guided by one goal – to obtain increased business value as a result of such projects. The real success of implementing cloud solutions or other IT activities in companies is characterized by measurable business impact – this is the conclusion of our long-standing practice and strategic approach to digital transformation. The challenge is communication – only communication, if well conducted, is able to ensure the effectiveness of technology implementation, but also to ‘defuse’ the natural tensions that arise during the implementation stage of digital transformation, which, with such a rapidly changing business environment, is simply necessary,” PwC Poland partner, CEE Cloud & Digital Leader Mariusz Chudy added.
The survey, conducted by Strategy& Poland in February and March 2023 in Poland, took the form of an online survey, which representatives of the retail and consumer goods sector and companies working with them were invited to complete. Ninety respondents took part in filling out the survey, including both representatives of the technological areas and the business sphere.
Source: Strategy&, PWC and ISBnews
