ANZ enterprises shift to digital-first strategy

The overwhelming majority (87%) of enterprises in Australia and New Zealand are shifting towards a digital-first strategy motivated by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to IDC.

During a survey conducted by the research firm, 87% of organisations in the two markets said the pandemic was the catalyst for shifting to a digital-first strategy.

IDC New Zealand country manager Louise Francis added that organisations are also facing pressure to respond to crosswinds of changing societal norms, sustainability imperatives, systemic industry change and competition from new digital-first players.

“Organisations that can harness the turbulence, will gain the advantage. They will leap ahead of the competition to capture those rare opportunities associated with systemic industry change,” she said.

“Digital first is an aspiration and a representation of the culture of the organisation.  It is not about technology or business models deployed. It is an approach to apply to every business activity or investment decision to meet the head- and crosswinds in 2022 and beyond.”

These and other trends have factored into IDC’s recently released top 10 predictions for the ANZ ICT industry for 2022 and beyond.

The first such prediction is that by 2024, digital-first enterprises in ANZ will have shifted 75% of all technology and services spending to as-a-service and outcomes-centric models.

But the rapid adoption of as-a-service models is also expected to introduce portfolio inflation dangers. By the end of 2022, IDC expects that 45% of large ANZ enterprises’ IT budgets will be redistributed.

Meanwhile IDC also expects that by the end of this year, 40% of publicly listed ANZ organisations will have reset their cloud selection processes to focus on business outcomes rather than IT requirements. By next year, 75% of ANZ enterprises are also expected to have adopted AI-assisted governance services as governance readiness becomes a critical capability.

The return to the office following the pandemic restrictions is meanwhile expected to redefine customer and employee experience, IDC said, with an expected 40% of publicly listed ANZ businesses to shift half of their technology spending towards modernise and reconceptualise in-person experiences for customers and employees by 2023.

Another prediction involves an expected shift in spending from automation technology towards technology investments that augment employee or customer activities.

In the longer term, IDC predicts that industry leaders will face pressure to implement systemic or mandated industry changes. By 2026, these trends will triple IT spending for new environments, but these investments will struggle to achieve the needed six times gains in IT operational efficiency, IDC said.

In a pair of predictions, IDC also expects that by 2025, 65% of public ANZ organisations will have assembled digital sustainability teams, and that public enterprises will be facing pressure to test and substantiate their data controls and to increase spending on data-centric solutions.

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/Sashkin