COVID-19 speeds up digital transformation by six years

COVID-19 has sped up digital transformation for Australian business by an average of six years, according to new research by Twilio.

As a result of the pandemic, companies now see digital communications as a greater, more urgent priority — and are willing to spend considerably more on this front — the report highlights.

Of 2500 enterprise decision-makers surveyed, 97% claim COVID-19 accelerated their digital transformation, 92% say digital communication is “extremely” or “very” critical to address their current business challenges, and 79% had increased their budget for doing so.

Glenn Weinstein, Chief Customer Officer at Twilio, said the results are far-reaching and potentially long-lasting.

“Over the last few months, we’ve seen years-long digital transformation roadmaps compressed into days and weeks in order to adapt to the new normal as a result of COVID-19,” he said.

“Our customers in nearly every industry have had to identify new ways to communicate with their customers and stakeholders — from patients, to students, to shoppers and even employees — essentially overnight.

“Cloud scale, speed and agility are enabling organisations to innovate faster than ever. We believe the solutions being built today will be the standard for digital engagement in the future.”

The report also found that previous inhibitors to innovation have been broken down since the onset of the pandemic. Barriers such as lack of clear strategy, executive approval and reluctance to replace legacy software are now less of an issue for more than one-third of respondents.

Additionally, omnichannel communication has increased in importance, with more than half of respondents upping their focus on their omnichannel presence and 53% adding new channels during the pandemic. One in three respondents also began using live chat and IVR for the first time as a result of COVID-19.

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