How to Become a Best-in-Class Digital Company
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How to Become a Best-in-Class Digital Company
Best-in-class digital companies are seeing impressive revenue gains compared to lagging ones. Find out which IT practices and investments distinguish the two. -
Revenue Boost
64% of the surveyed executives at best-in-class companies said their organization has increased earnings by more than 10% over the last three years. Just 19% of those at lagging ones said the same. -
Community-Minded
92% of those at best-in-class organizations said they consider open-source platforms or frameworks extremely important for innovation, while only 21% of those at lagging firms do. -
Weather Report
68% of those at best-in-class businesses said they think cloud-based services are extremely important for innovation, but only 29% of those at lagging companies agree. -
Well-Tooled
66% of executives at best-in-class organizations said application programming interfaces (APIs) are extremely important for innovation, while just 26% of those at lagging firms made this claim. -
Quick Turnaround
66% of those at best-in-class organizations said their systems and processes enable them to launch new products and/or services in a timely manner without using substantial IT resources, but only 10% of those at lagging companies agree. -
On the Go
61% of executives at best-in-class companies said their systems and processes allow information access from anywhere on any device, compared to just 6% of those at lagging firms who said their systems and processes enable such access. -
Superior Service
84% of those at best-in-class businesses said they will increase investment in user and customer experience improvements by at least 10% over the next three years. Only 33% of execs at lagging companies said they will do this. -
Open System
71% of those at best-in-class firms said their customers have easy access to the internal systems and information they need, but just 6% of those at lagging ones said this is the case at their company. -
Open Dialogue
61% of those at best-in-class businesses said there are few boundaries between their company and their customers in order to encourage collaboration, while only 9% of those at lagging ones make this claim. -
Knowledge Pool
74% of those at best-in-class organizations said they expect their company to benefit from a flow of ideas and concepts from outside parties over the next three years, compared to just 12% of those at lagging firms who anticipate this.
A commitment to emerging technology, when combined with a dedication to better user and customer experiences, is translating into significant revenue gains for companies, according to a recent survey from Alfresco. The resulting report, "The Great Rethink: How Digital Leaders Are Building Tomorrow's Organizations," distinguishes best-in-class digital organizations from "lagging" ones, with best-in-class companies defined as those that excel at "design thinking" by focusing on user and customer experience needs to guide all business technology decisions. They also are committed to "open thinking": Innovation inside and outside the organization drives new initiatives. Lastly, they practice "platform thinking," by building an ecosystem of partners and customers to exchange technology capabilities and data. "In today's digital economy, some organizations succeed by adapting to disruptive threats, moving quickly into new markets, attracting the best talent and maintaining highly regarded brands," according to the report. "Others struggle. They see market share drain away to upstarts; they respond too slowly to market shifts; and suffer employee attrition. They get bogged down in outdated processes and systems. … Digital success is consistently powered by the efficient movement of information and content through business processes—connecting customers, employees and suppliers across departmental and operational boundaries quickly, securely and intelligently." More than 325 global IT executives took part in the research, which was conducted by Forbes Insights.