Australian firms are moving toward cloud computing, digital transformation

Many Australian companies are moving toward cloud computing and digital transformation, a trend accelerated by the COVID-19 crisis, according to a report published by technology and research advisory firm Information Services Group (ISG).  

The 2020 ISG Provider Lens™ Digital Business – Solutions and Service Partners report for Australia, ISG’s first report focussing on the country’s digital business provider ecosystem, found that many Australian enterprises are looking for digital ways to be more competitive, improve supply chains, enable remote working and ensure business continuity.  

ISG said the pandemic has pushed these goals to become more urgent, severely disrupting business practices, although it did not affect Australia as much as some countries.  

“As an important IT market with a mature digital business consulting sector, Australia is aggressively adopting new development and business methods,” said Scott Bertsch, ISG partner and head of ISG Asia Pacific. 

“Enterprises, supported by their providers, are moving toward DevOps modes of working and engaging more closely with users, closely linking the areas of customer experience (CX), employee experience (EX), and digital transformation (DX),” Bertsch said.  

While most organisations in Australia still have a long way to meet these goals, the report said that many are hiring developers and encouraging all employees to find ways to implement digital solutions quickly.  

The pandemic has also highlighted the need to become more agile, in terms of both technology and culture. 

ISG said Australia is highly advanced in customer experience techniques and technologies, with demanding consumers and a thriving market for digital design. 

The report also found the blockchain market in Australia to be small but vibrant. Service providers have proved the viability of the technology through numerous use cases in the country, many in the banking, financial services and insurance industry and the country’s emerging FinTech sector. 

Blockchain has also been implemented in supply chain, tracking, payment services and document and contract processing. 

In addition, digital technology has shaken up supply chain management (SCM) practices in Australia. Companies are transforming their supply chains both by applying digital technology to traditional SCM and by using SCM methods to manage the new digital products and services they are beginning to offer. 

ISG’s report evaluated the capabilities of 49 providers across five quadrants: Digital Business Consulting Services, Digital Customer Experience Services, Digital Product Life Cycle Services, Digital Supply Chain Transformation Services and Blockchain Services. 

The report named Accenture, IBM and Infosys as leaders in all five quadrants and HCL as a leader in four. Deloitte Digital, DXC Technology, Publicis Sapient and Wipro are named leaders in three quadrants. The report names Atos, Cognizant, TCS and Tech Mahindra as leaders in two quadrants, and EY, McKinsey and Mindtree as leaders in one quadrant each. 

Source: Information Services Group