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Pandemic Put Digital Transformation Pedal to the Floor

The coronavirus pandemic brought with it a tidal wave of impact to business operations, with the biggest shift being the need to support the WFH reality. As businesses transition to this brave new world, digital transformation initiatives were forced into overdrive, turning what was initially thought to be a marathon into quite the sprint.

Twilio recently surveyed more than 2,500 enterprise decision makers to gain insight into how much COVID-19 has impacted digital transformation roadmaps. Let’s unpack some of the highlights from Twilio’s COVID-19 Digital Engagement Report.

The report refers to COVID-19 as “the digital accelerant of the decade,” with respondents noting strategy acceleration on average of 6 years and a near consensus on accelerated digital transformation. Nearly 80 percent of those surveyed stated an increased budget for transformation, as the traditional barriers of needing executive approval, lack of clear strategy, lack of time and reluctance to replace legacy software are being left in the rearview mirror.

Omnichannel is taking on increased importance, as 92% of responses state very or somewhat likely to expand digital communications – with more than half of respondents credited COVID-19 for this focus. The report highlighted the pandemic as the impetus for one in three companies to begin leveraging IVR and live chat for the first time. Engagement is the clear focus, as 95% of companies are searching for new ways to engage with customers due to the pandemic.

“Over the last few months, we’ve seen years-long digital transformation roadmaps compressed into days and weeks in order to adapt to the new normal as a result of COVID-19. Our customers in nearly every industry have had to identify new ways to communicate with their customers and stakeholders – from patients, to students, to shoppers, and even employees – essentially overnight,” said Glenn Weinstein, Chief Customer Officer at Twilio. “Cloud scale, speed, and agility are enabling organisations to innovate faster than ever. We believe the solutions being built today will be the standard for digital engagement in the future.”

How are your digital transformation efforts progressing?

Edited by Maurice Nagle