Press Release
Avasant and NASSCOM’s report Digital Enterprises 2020-2021: A New Order Out of Chaos analyzes new drivers of change across customer behavior and workforce transformation
Over the past few years, enterprises have been sailing the digital transformation voyage at their own pace. But due to the coronavirus, they were forced to accelerate their initiatives. Digital became a necessary prerequisite to survive and thrive in this COVID era. Digitally enabled, cloud-based, data-driven, customer-first companies demonstrated strong resilience and innovation throughout the unprecedented level of disruption. This paved the way for other enterprises to reimagine their business and delivery models and accelerate digital investments.
These emerging trends are covered in the new Digital Enterprises 2020-2021: A New Order Out of Chaos report, published by the National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) and Avasant. We conducted a detailed survey of about 280 enterprises across many industries to understand the enterprise outlook regarding their operational continuity, digital investments, financial health, and workforce strategy. The report also offers a perspective on the potential opportunities for service providers with respect to current and future digital requirements.
“The traditional ways of running business operations have become invalid,” said Kevin Parikh, CEO and Chairman at Avasant. “About 60% of enterprises are pivoting to new business and delivery models to enhance customer experience and ensure business continuity. To enable a successful transition, this strategy should be backed by robust change management enablers.”
U.B. Pravin Rao, COO at Infosys and Chairman at NASSCOM, added, “About 75% of enterprises have changed the way they identify, select, and engage with IT service providers. To remain competitive with the evolving enterprise criterion for vendor selection, providers must evolve their delivery and commercial models.”
Interestingly, the report finds that about 80% of respondents are working on establishing a collaborative human-machine digital workforce. At present, most companies lack clarity in managing digital workers, redesigning jobs to elevate the role of humans, and bringing effective change management. However, the report finds that over the next two or three years, about 80% of organizations will be ready to operate in an environment where humans, bots, and AI work side-by-side. Manufacturing, retail and CPG, and telecom will lead this new operating model in areas such as shop-floor automation, process automation, and delivery through robotics and drones, customer service enabled by virtual assistants, and lights-out manufacturing.
The report also finds that 60% of enterprises are fast-tracking their digital projects. While most technologies such as AI/ML, cybersecurity, cloud computing, mobility, and social media witnessed a sharp adoption, other technologies, including additive manufacturing, AR/VR, and blockchain, will witness steady investments. Banking, process manufacturing, retail and CPG, healthcare, and life sciences will be at the forefront of digital innovation.
Some of the findings from the full report include the following.
- 10%-30% decrease in implementation timelines for digital projects
- 65% of enterprises indicate preparing for a hybrid/blended workforce
- 85% of enterprises will introduce new tech-specific roles in 2021
- 80% willing to have a location-agnostic workforce
- 23% of enterprises delayed plans of returning to workplace until 2021
“The pandemic paved the way for enterprises to scale their digital investments,” said Akshay Khanna, Partner at Avasant. “Despite the financial duress, most enterprises are increasing investments by up to 30% primarily for touchless/automated operations; prediction, recommendation, and real-time insights; and front-end and back-end integration.”
Click here to download key findings of the report, Digital Enterprises 2020-2021: A New Order Out of Chaos.
About NASSCOM
The National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM®) is the premier trade body and chamber of commerce of the tech industry in India and is comprised of over 2,800-member companies including both Indian and multinational organizations that have a presence in India. Our membership spans across the entire spectrum of the industry from start-ups to multinationals and from products to services, global service centers to engineering firms. Guided by India’s vision to become a leading digital economy globally, NASSCOM focuses on accelerating the pace of transformation of the industry to emerge as the preferred enablers for global digital transformation. Our strategic imperatives are to reskill and upskill India’s IT workforce to ensure that talent is future-ready in terms of new-age skills, strengthen the innovation quotient across industry verticals, create new market opportunities - both international and domestic -- drive policy advocacy to advance innovation and ease of doing business, and build the industry narrative with focus on talent, trust and innovation. And, in everything we do, we will continue to champion the need for diversity and equal opportunity.
NASSCOM has played a key role in not just the growth of the industry to become a $180+billion industry today, but we have helped establish the tech industry in India as one of the most trusted partners, globally. NASSCOM continues to make significant efforts in contributing towards India’s GDP, exports, employment, infrastructure development and global visibility. Our membership base constitutes over 95% of the industry revenues in India and employs over 4 million professionals, and as technology blends into every aspect of the economy, we expect the industry to become key driver of growth, development and inclusion for the country. Our mission is to make India a global hub for innovation and talent so when the world thinks Digital, the world will think India.
About Avasant
Avasant is a leading management consulting firm focused on translating the power of technology into realizable business strategies for the world’s largest corporations. Specializing in digital and IT transformation, sourcing advisory, global strategy, and governance services, Avasant prides itself on delivering high-value engagements through industry-focused innovation and flexible client-based solutions.
Our seasoned professionals have an average of 20 years of industry-honed expertise, having conducted 1,000+ engagements in over 50 countries. Avasant’s next-generation consulting and advisory methods have made it the top-ranked firm in its class, with recognition from numerous organizations, including Vault, NOA, IAOP, and the Wall Street Journal.
Avasant’s engagement in the global market has inspired a strong commitment to community and purpose. The Avasant Foundation supports technology and skill development programs to create employment opportunities for youth across Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, and Latin America.
For more information, visit https://avasant.com/.
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