Companies are aligned on their digital vision, but lack means for execution, West Monroe research finds

Survey of 700 C-suite execs and 5,000 consumers reveals gaps in achieving digital transformation goals

CHICAGO, September 27, 2023 – West Monroe, a leading digital services firm, today released its latest signature research, "The Digital Disconnect: Linking Vision to Real-World Execution." This second-annual survey dives into the challenges and opportunities organizations and business leaders face in navigating digital transformation. 

In an era where generative AI is driving unprecedented urgency for data and digital transformation, West Monroe's survey reveals that companies are actively embracing digital strategies throughout their businesses, yet a noticeable gap persists between their visionary aspirations and practical execution.

A majority (61%) of C-suite executives acknowledge that digital transformation ranks as a top priority in their organizations, yet hurdles such as competing priorities, available skillsets, and data quality issues hinder the translation of this vision into reality. This underscores the need for businesses to align their strategies with customer demands, reinforce data and analytics infrastructures, and invest substantially in internal upskilling.

"Digital transformation is no longer a nice to have, it's a necessity. But our research shows that while there's a strong alignment on the digital vision, the execution is falling short," said Pablo Alejo, Managing Director, Product Experience and Engineering Lab at West Monroe.

Other key findings from the report include:

• Responsibility is increasingly ambiguous. Only 21% of organizations indicate that their entire C-Suite is responsible for digital transformation, a decline from last year. And 47% of executives believe less than half of their employees have embraced digital transformation.
• Integrating digital throughout the organization is still a struggle. About one-third (30%) of execs noted mindset gaps among their workforce and culture as a significant mistake on their digital transformation journey, and only 18% believe their organization is very resilient to setbacks and capable of iterative improvement.
• Untapped value in product development. Only 39% of organizations believe they gather sufficient data to understand behaviors, and only 30% are iterating products based on insights.

For the full findings, view the report here.

Be Digital Signature Research
The Digital Disconnect: Linking Vision to Real-World Execution, West Monroe’s signature research initiative, polled 700 C-Suite executives across seven industries (financial services, healthcare providers, healthcare insurers, manufacturing, retail, technology and utilities) and more than 5,000 of their representative consumers. The survey was conducted by Rabin Research Company, an independent marketing research firm, using Op4G’s panel of executives.

About West Monroe
West Monroe is a digital services firm that was born in technology but built for business—partnering with companies in transformative industries to deliver quantifiable financial value. We believe that digital is a mindset—not a project, a team, or a destination—and it’s something companies become, not something they do. That’s why we work in diverse, multidisciplinary teams that blend management consulting, digital design, and product engineering to move companies from traditional ways of working to digital operating models—and create experiences that transcend the digital and physical worlds. Connected by the 13 founding values that drive our culture, our 2,000 employees work collaboratively across the firm with the belief that our clients’ success is our success. Visit westmonroe.com to learn more.

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