More executives reorienting entire business strategy around digital

Summary

Three key findings in a recent McKinsey survey of nearly 900 executives help define the nature of the digital acceleration in the corporate world since COVID‑19.

1. Share of digital or digitally enabled products in company portfolios has accelerated by seven years
2. The biggest shifts—including enhanced migration to the cloud and increased spending on data security—are expected to last
3. Perceptions of technology have shifted from being a source of cost savings to investing in technology as a competitive advantage and for 1 in 5 executives reorienting the entire business around digital technology

Report

• How COVID‑19 has pushed companies over the technology tipping point—and transformed business forever

Analysis

These numbers provide further context around why companies that manage digital transformations well are outperforming those that don’t. It has reshaped every sector and companies that were slow to adapt pre-crisis are now trying to catch up. But in the process of playing catch-up, some companies place an emphasis on growth at the expense of data security and the growing vulnerabilities that come with a much larger digital footprint.

Though 1 in 5 executives claim to now be reorienting their entire business strategies around digital, this number will grow further in the coming 12-18 months. And as there is increasing investment into further digitizing both internal operations and external-facing customer interface, the separation between companies that do it well and those that do it poorly will also likely only grow. The Cyberhedge indices put hard numbers to how this is playing out.