UK Business and Professional Services companies need to invest in going digital as much as any other sector – but it’s a challenging time to make those investments when the costs businesses face remain much higher than they did 18 months ago. So, how are they doing and where are they investing?
To find this out, we worked with independent research firm Vanson Bourne to speak with 150 UK B&PS CIOs to understand progress with their digital strategy, the actions being undertaken to streamline internal processes, and how this relates to their desire to offer exceptional customer experiences. You can read the full research report “Digitization trends in the Business and Professional Services sector” to learn about the findings in more detail, and compare them to your own experiences.
The year ahead for Business and Professional Services companies
Over the next 12 months, IT decision makers in Business & Professional Services will increase their investment in a range of technologies and are firmly committed to realising the benefits they offer. 86% agree their organisation needs better tools and software to allow them to generate actionable insights from data. Becoming data-driven is the focus for the vast majority with 91% saying that going data-driven will improve the efficiency of operations and 89% agree going digital will help them put their customers first.
So what are the focus technology areas?
Marketing automation
79% of respondents stated that marketing automation will be a top technology priority for them over the next 12 months. Which of your channels are most effective for a given audience? Do you know the performance of individual channels and communications that you send out? All of this can be easily automated with the right solution.
Cloud modernisation
The rate at which cloud applications are envolving is incredible, and this is not lost on CIOs. In our survey, 79% also felt modernising their cloud applications will be a key focus over the next 12 months, so they could take advantage of the advanced features that are available. Today’s applications bring features that would be uneconomical for a business to have on-premises, either because of the compute power needed, for example to power AI.
Sales automation
Getting the sales process as efficient and informed as possible is critical for any business. Data can tell you a huge amount about how to turn a lead into a completed sale, or how to manage a client that may be starting to spend less with you. 73% of B&PS respondents said this would be a priority.
Automation is key in B&PS!
What is clear from the research is that automation plays a significant role in making the most of the data an organisation has available to gain actionable insights, and ensure that getting them does not burden staff with cumbersome processes. But to make automation work, you need integration and 87% of respondents agreed that their organisation needs to improve how it integrates data from different systems and platforms.
You can learn more about what CIOs are thinking about and planning for in the Business and Professional Services sector by downloading “Digitization trends in the Business and Professional Services sector” now.
