Many company leaders in the healthcare sector feel prepared for the upheaval that emerging technologies represent, yet few are truly ready for the various shifts that are already taking place, according to a new study from consultancy West Monroe Partners.
The study, “Technology is Transforming Everything: Businesses Struggle To Change With It,” included 300 high-level executives from the healthcare, utility and financial services sectors (100 high-level healthcare executives), pinpoints not only how ready companies are for this historic upheaval, but also how ready they think they are. It identifies and measures the gaps in knowledge, activity, and structure that businesses must close to survive and thrive in the evolving technology landscape.
More specifically, the research revealed a clear division between organizations that extract value from data and those that only collect it. Some key findings included:
- 68 percent of business and technology leaders do not believe competitors are successfully leveraging their data
- 42 percent did not classify disruptive technologies as threats
- 96 percent of business and technology leaders are concerned about cybersecurity, but 25 percent still report having reactive cybersecurity strategies
- Only one-third of respondents reported having customer-experience-focused technology initiatives in flight
The report concluded that leaders surveyed in the energy and utilities, healthcare, and financial services industries tend to overestimate their security and purchase data tools without making corresponding investments in readying their culture for sweeping change.
The operational and competitive landscape of these industries strongly influenced where each sector lagged and led, researchers said. Healthcare is ascendant in use of the cloud, as they seek efficiencies amid rising cost pressure; financial services view data the most strategically but also face challenges of expensive legacy platforms; and energy and utility companies have already embraced networked devices and now confront mobilizing the accompanying windfall of data.
“The impact of technology will only continue to accelerate. The winners and losers are more clearly defined in this digital age, so businesses cannot afford to be complacent,” said Greg Layok, managing director and leader of the technology practice at West Monroe who authored the study. “To capitalize on opportunity, now is the time for action."
