A global Avanade study, involving Australian executives, business unit leaders, and IT decision-makers, reveals that a majority of business leaders are already investing in and seeing positive results from incorporating smart technologies in their workplaces. A key motivator is the potential for increased revenue, with business and IT leaders projecting up to a 33% revenue boost from these technologies within the next five years. Furthermore, companies anticipate retraining existing employees, generating new roles, and restructuring their organizations as they predict the repurposing of up to 20% of current roles.
Avanade defines smart technologies as those that enable products like connected devices, wearables, and intelligent automation, allowing computers or machines to perform tasks or make decisions traditionally handled by humans.
Key findings from the research include:
Almost two-thirds (63%) of companies are already reaping significant benefits from their smart technology investments, including revenue growth, enhanced customer experience, and increased employee satisfaction.
Nearly all respondents (92%) believe that as organizations increase their reliance on smart technologies, attracting and retaining top talent will become easier.
Close to three-quarters (73%) indicated that they will need more skills in areas like problem-solving (61%), data collection and analysis (59%), critical thinking (51%), and collaboration (51%) as they integrate smart technologies with human workforces.
Six out of 10 respondents believe smart technologies will be crucial in supporting customer experience; identifying sales leads (60%) and at-risk customers (49%).
However, nearly eight out of 10 (78%) believe that their organization has not adequately addressed the workplace ethical considerations arising from the increased use of smart technologies.
Not quite ready: Focus on digital ethics to emerge
While the advantages of adopting smart technology are evident and appealing, C-level executives, in particular, are grappling with ethical concerns associated with their use. Seventy-eight percent of business and IT leaders feel their organizations haven’t given enough thought to the ethical challenges posed by increased smart technology implementation. However, intentions are clear, with the majority aiming to dedicate up to 10% of their IT budgets to this area within the next five years.
“While some may find the adoption of smart technologies daunting, successful organizations are already reaping tangible benefits and strategizing their next investments in this field,” said Ashish Kumar, Avanade’s Chief Growth Officer and Digital Lead. “We firmly believe that smart technologies can enhance the human element within a digital workplace and assist organizations in attracting and keeping the essential talent they need for the future.”
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*Avanade’s survey was conducted from December 2015 to January 2016 by Wakefield Research, an independent research firm. It surveyed 500 C-level executives, business unit leaders and IT decision-makers in the following countries: Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, the UK and the US.