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UK businesses spending millions on digital transformation, but slow decision-making hampers progress

UK businesses are spending tens of millions of pounds annually on digital transformation programmes and still consistently failing to deliver on time, according to a new report. 

The report - based on a survey of 150 senior digital transformation leaders at medium-to-large UK organisations by digital agency Reading Room - found that spending on digital transformation projects is up year-on-year for 85% of organisations, with the majority spending between £10-25m annually.

However, the majority of transformations face delay, with over half (54%) of respondents saying that most or all of their digital transformations run over schedule – most commonly between 3-6 months. 

Interestingly, when asked what single change would most significantly accelerate digital delivery, almost one in three respondents (29%) named faster decision-making processes. It ranked as the top factor ahead of factors such as legacy systems issues, project ownership, skills, and collaboration between teams.  

And it’s not only during projects when decisions need to happen faster. 43% of respondents said it typically takes between one and three months to approve a major digital or technology investment within their organisation. More than one in 10 (13%) said it takes three to six months. In a world where technologies such as AI are evolving and changing faster than most organisations can keep up, a lengthy decision cycle can be a major disadvantage. 

Polly Lygoe, Managing Director of Reading Room, said: “The research shows us that one of the primary constraints on digital transformation performance isn’t external or even technological.  It’s internal, structural and usually sits at the top of the organisation – and luckily, isn’t particularly difficult to solve. 

“Boards and executive committees that are serious about improving their digital delivery returns should first look at their internal governance models and decision-making processes before even thinking about reaching for additional budget or resource. For most organisations, setting up a process that requires fewer, faster, better-quality decisions and giving the people closest to the delivery the authority to act on them will set them up for success.”

The decision-making problem doesn’t exist in isolation. Half of all respondents are running between three and five major digital transformation programmes simultaneously, and 29% are running between six and ten. Half of leaders say that these competing internal priorities slow digital transformation often or very often. 

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Lucy Moore .