UST, a leading digital transformation solutions company, announced the findings from a global survey evaluating the state of digital transformation maturity. The survey findings from over 400 global enterprise decision-makers revealed that many enterprises are still in their initial stages of their digital transformation journey. The survey is a commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of UST.

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Among the key survey findings:

• 50% of respondents have a customer value creation and business agility strategy.
• 42% of responding organizations are identified as beginners in the digital transformation maturity, while only 20% are advanced.
• Digitally advanced firms experienced larger volumes of customer account growth, with an average rate of 11%.
• More than 80% of digitally advanced firms use cloud services for customer and employee-facing digital experiences.
• Over 75% of digitally advanced organizations are training for AI/ML and implementing AI solutions.
• 87% of advanced firms responded offering new and improved products and services that leverage data and analytics.
• 70% of digital leaders are also industry leaders in terms of revenue growth.

Survey respondents offered a global perspective, with 35 percent from Europe, 33 percent from North America, and 32 percent from Asia. Responses also reflect the differences in opinion depending on company size, with 71 percent of participants coming from companies with revenues greater than $1 billion.

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“We believe the findings from this Forrester commissioned study reveals that organizations who advanced their digital initiatives excelled in generating customer value during the most difficult of times, demonstrating resilience in their ability to perform and transform,” said Trent Mayberry, Chief Digital Officer, UST. “This study gives us a glimpse at how organizations are accelerating their digital transformation and provides recommendations for organizations that are on their path to digital maturity. UST is proud to partner with some of the world’s leading brands on their digital and transformational journey in becoming resilient enterprises.”

The power of digital transformation is not lost on advanced firms as they accelerate the adoption of modern technologies like cloud, automation, analytics, and AI/ML. However, no firm finds itself without any issues to tackle. The study found that each level of digital transformation maturity has its own specific set of challenges.  For beginners, a conservative and unimaginative culture leads to an over-reliance on legacy tools, impeding progress and innovation. Advanced firms must invest in security, compliance, and ecosystem management.

Digitally advanced firms use technology to create customer value in the following:

• Use cloud to support business agility and operational effectiveness.
• Automate technology infrastructure and operations.
• Create new products and services with the help of advanced data analytics.
• Apply AI and machine learning (ML) across the business.