Posted by Bangalore: Riverbed, today announced the results of the Riverbed Digital Performance Global Survey 2018, which found that nearly all (99%) of business decision makers agree that optimizing digital performance is essential to business performance, and 98% agree (55% strongly agree) that digital, including the delivery of digital services and applications, is critical to the future of their business. However, 97% of these same business decision makers say that major barriers – including budget contraints, legacy networks and lack of visibility – are holding them back from advancing digital strategies and delivering the performance and customer experience required in today’s digital world.
The global survey includes responses from 1,000 business decision makers, including India, at companies with $500 million or more in revenue across nine countries. It found that while digital services and applications are critical to future business success, nearly two thirds (66%) of respondents reported that critical digital services and applications are failing at least a few times a month.
“This survey underscores the tremendous opportunity that maximizing digital performance can have on the user experience and bottom line, while simultaneously highlighting the real challenges companies face today,” said Bjorn Engelhardt, SVP – Asia Pacific & Japan, Riverbed Technology. “The findings reinforce that forward-thinking companies in India are well-positioned to lead their industries in the race towards digital transformation by prioritizing investments in modernizing their networks and tools to measure and manage the digital experience for their customers and employees. Those who hesitate to embrace digital strategies and processes will quickly fall by the wayside, and those who drive digital performance will see significant business outcomes.”
Awareness is High, Need is Immediate
The need for companies to provide a successful digital experience for customers, partners and employees is well recognized, and it continues to grow in importance. Some 91% of Indian business decision makers agree that providing a successful digital experience is even more critical to the company’s bottom line than it was just three years ago.
Likewise, all Indian BDMs surveyed agreed that their companies would benefit from improving performance of digital services and applications, primarily by way of:
· Increased revenue/sales and profitability (48%)
· Stronger brand (46%)
· Improved customer experience and satisfaction (44%)
Hurdles to Implementing a Digital Strategy are Real
However, it is widely recognized that inadequately performing systems today are a key limitation to a successful digital strategy. In fact, of the 97% of Indian business decision makers who said they face challenges when it comes to achieving a more successful digital strategy, most cited multiple challenges including:
· Budget Constraints (51%)
· Lack of full visibility across the digital or end-user experience (41%)
· Lack of available or appropritely skilled personnel (37%)
And of the 66% reporting that critical digital services and applications are failing several times a month, impeding deadlines, diminishing productivity and impacting end user experience, nearly one in five experience failures at least several times a week.
When critical digital services fail, every minute matters, and Indian business leaders are well aware of the impact these failures can and are having on their businesses. The consequences expressed include:
· Delayed product launches (40%)
· Loss of sales and revenue (39%)
· Loss of employee productivity (39%)
Investing to Maximize Digital Performance
Smart business leaders are looking to put greater emphasis on the management tools and infrastructure underlying digital services. In fact, 99% say that visibility across the digital experience is critical to measure and manage it successfully; and 92% of Indian business decision makers believe that a modern IT architecture that delivers greater agility is important to improving digital performance.
Businesses also say the time to act is now. Nearly two thirds (58%) of Indian business decision makers say it is critical that their company invests in improving the digital experience for users or customers in the next 12 months. The key areas business decision makers see themselves making investments in the next 12 months include:
· Accelerating development of applications (53%)
· Modernizing networks and infrastructure to drive greater agility (52%)
· Better understanding and monitoring the end user’s experience (48%)
A significant number of business decision makers also identified cloud solutions and emerging technologies as key drivers of the digital experience moving forward. Nearly all (95%) of India’s business decision makers believe the use of cloud technologies is important to their companies ongoing digital strategy, and business leaders would like their companies to invest in emerging technologies such as:
· Machine Learning (41%)
· Internet of Things (41%)
· Data Analytics (40%)