The COVID-19 pandemic has supercharged the ongoing digital transformations of Australian companies, according to a new research report published today by Information Services Group (ISG) (Nasdaq: III), a leading global technology research and advisory firm.
The 2021 ISG Provider Lens™ Digital Business – Solutions and Services report for Australia finds the pandemic’s influence on business conditions, as well as emerging technologies such as AI and IoT, have led Australian companies to redouble their digitalization efforts to be more competitive, improve delivery structures and enable remote work and business continuity.
Digital transformation, which includes both digitalizing existing processes and developing new, digitally enabled ways of doing business, has far-reaching implications for these enterprises.
“Australian companies undergoing transformation not only need to solve technical challenges but also change their mindsets and question traditional management approaches,” said Scott Bertsch, partner and regional leader, ISG Asia Pacific. “Finding the right consultants, vendors and software and service providers is essential to this process.”
As part of digital transformation, many Australian enterprises effectively are becoming their own software providers, both hiring and training developers and removing the walls between development and use of applications, the report says. In addition to adopting DevOps methodologies, successful organizations are improving their flexibility, agility, collaboration and speed in other ways to rapidly respond to changes in the competitive environment. Digital transformation has also led many Australian enterprises to adopt cloud-based processing.
These trends have heightened demand across Australia for four key types of solutions and services, beginning with digital business consulting to help organizations plan, implement and manage fundamental changes, ISG says. Australia has a mature market for digital business consulting, with many local and multinational players to choose from.
Australian companies are also well-versed in applying digital customer experience techniques and technologies, according to ISG. As the world’s 14th-largest economy, the nation has a well-developed information and communications technology (ICT) market. However, companies still seek assistance from service providers to meet Australian consumers’ high expectations for customer service, ISG says.
Enterprises in Australia also seek partners to help transform their approach to supply chain management (SCM), changing physical object processes to digital processes, the report says. SCM has long been an important discipline in Australia, and there are many local suppliers and consultants to assist companies with this transition.
Sustainability and decarbonization are becoming central goals of Australian enterprises as the country’s political agenda has shifted, partly under pressure from high-profile Australian businesses, ISG says. Large companies are seeking providers to help them manage the risks of climate change and demonstrate they can meet growing expectations for sustainability.
The 2021 ISG Provider Lens™ Digital Business – Solutions and Services report for Australia evaluates the capabilities of 49 providers across four quadrants: Digital Business Consulting Services, Digital Customer Experience Services, Digital Supply Chain Transformation Services, and Sustainability and Decarbonization Services.
The report names Accenture, HCL, Infosys and Wipro as Leaders in all four quadrants. IBM is named as a Leader in three quadrants and Deloitte, DXC Technology, Empired, EY, Tech Mahindra and Telstra Purple are named as Leaders in two quadrants each. The report names Atos, Datacom, Energetics, Hexaware, McKinsey, Point Advisory, Publicis Sapient and TCS as Leaders in one segment each.
In addition, Cybage, Edge Environment, Sonata and Vuram are named as Rising Stars—companies with a “promising portfolio” and “high future potential” by ISG’s definition—in one quadrant each.
Customized versions of the report are available from Hexaware and Vuram.
The 2021 ISG Provider Lens™ Digital Business – Solutions and Services report for Australia is available to subscribers or for one-time purchase on this webpage.