NTT DATA Services announced the results of a new study – “Could Have. Would Have. Should Have.” – that found 48% of organizations report declining revenue and profitability since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings show 69% of leaders across financial services and insurance, manufacturing, healthcare and the public sector indicated they would be more resilient if they had invested more in digital technologies prior to the crisis. As a result, the crisis accelerated digital transformation plans for 79% of respondents.
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“While nobody was prepared for COVID-19, these findings underscore the importance of companies investing in digital technologies to foster the resilience and agility to respond to unexpected market forces”
The study examines how technology established business Leaders and Laggards during the crisis, revealing early technology adoption created a considerable advantage. In fact, the Leaders, which made up 10% of the survey sample, were significantly more likely to report an increase in revenue (63% vs. 18%), as well as improved customer (61% vs. 21%) and employee satisfaction (59% vs. 14%), since the start of the crisis. As a result, Leaders are also more than twice as likely as Laggards, which include 49% of respondents, to be returning to business as usual as much as possible in the new economic environment.
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“While nobody was prepared for COVID-19, these findings underscore the importance of companies investing in digital technologies to foster the resilience and agility to respond to unexpected market forces,” said Jeff Bergeron, SVP, Consulting, NTT DATA Services. “Organizations that leveraged technology to gain a competitive advantage during the crisis are now better positioned to seek new opportunities for growth as the vaccine rolls out and can be ready to pivot to tomorrow rather than focusing on the past.”
With a much wider technology portfolio, 60% of Leaders indicate they are able to adapt products and services to customers’ rapidly changing needs, compared to just 29% of Laggards. In addition, Leaders are more likely to have achieved cost savings during the pandemic and are now allocating those savings to core (52% vs. 23%) and new (44% vs. 19%) products or services.