Over the past 35 years, we’ve been tracking the ways in which technology and digital transformation are impacting the companies we work with. Year-after-year, we see IT budgets increase as businesses of all sizes try to capitalize on new opportunities while avoiding the risk of falling behind. However, our recent survey findings suggest that there has been a shift in how companies perceive today’s business and technology landscape.

Intuitively, it feels like technology is progressing faster than ever before – but studies confirm that this notion is not just a feeling, it’s a fact! In the past, major disruption from new technology (such as the office computer) would take years or even decades to truly change business models. Today, a new idea paired with the right technology and approach can disrupt entire industries in mere months. And when you consider the fact that the average lifespan of companies is shrinking – from 61 years in 1958 to just 18 years today – it’s hard to ignore the fact that something unprecedented is happening.

Disruption is a Real Threat and a Real Concern for Midsize Businesses

Technology is transforming business faster and more pervasively than any other time in history – and businesses are feeling the pressure to keep up! Our survey shows that nearly half (45%) of companies believe their industry will be disrupted by emerging technology in a major way in the next couple years.

As business leaders seek to be the disruptor, not the disrupted, they must combine the impact of people, process, and technology to support ongoing innovation and create real value over time. This will require an end-to-end strategy that aligns IT with the organization’s ever-shifting business strategies. This new reality is reflected in our findings; 81% of businesses agree that IT is a strategic enabler of the business; this is up from just 45% in 2016!

But even with all this focus on leveraging technology to accelerate business, there still seems to be a lot of confusion around how to turn leading-edge IT innovation into real-world transformation. Increasing corporate speed, agility, and ROI are no longer just about capitalizing on isolated technology trends – gone are the days where IT works as a silo in support of the business! IT must be the catalyst for innovation and the foundation for future growth. Naturally, this also comes with the requirement to keep the business running today, which entails navigating the expectations of a dynamic workforce, mitigating evolving cybersecurity threats, and addressing a host of other interconnected and complex challenges along the way.

As we continue to share more results from our recent Tech Insights Report, we hope these new insights – along with our experience – will help your company identify ways to better leverage technology to achieve your goals amidst today’s rapidly changing and complex business climate.