Leading CPaaS (Communications Platform as a Service) provider, Twilio, recently published the results of a survey that revealed – over one-third of UK business decision-makers believe COVID-19’s forced them to increase their digital transformation budgets “Dramatically.” Twilio surveyed 300 IT pros, system admins, and other executives in the UK enterprise landscape to gauge the effect on their company’s digital transformation and communication efforts during the COVID era. Glenn Weinstein, Chief Customer Officer, Twilio, said the past few months have resulted in what feels like a years-long digital transformation roadmap, compressed into weeks, sometimes days, to adapt to the ‘new norm.’
Cloud scale, speed, and agility are today enabling organisations to innovate faster than ever, he contends. In the UK, specifically, David Parry-Jones, Vice President, EMEA, Twilio, said the company observed how businesses have ‘rapidly modernised in response to the pandemic,’ adding “This has affected everything from how businesses talk to customers, to how workplaces function.” So how fast has digital transformation accelerated during the time and place we find ourselves? Here are some of the key findings of Twilio’s COVID-19 Digital Engagement Report of the UK.
“COVID-19 was the digital accelerant of the decade,” a spokesperson for Twilio told UC Today, and that’s apparent from the fact that the survey found that COVID-19’s accelerated companies’ digital communications strategy by a global average of six years, the UK averages 5.3 years. Ninety-six percent of UK enterprise decision-makers say they believe the pandemic sped up their company’s digital transformation. Of these respondents, sixty-six percent of them said ‘it did so ‘a great deal.’
Nearly four-in-five or 77 percent of UK respondents said that COVID-19 increased their budget for digital transformation, of which 36 percent, more than any other country surveyed, said that it increased ‘dramatically.’ UK companies could become more progressive over time, with 37 percent reporting the easing of barriers such as lack of clear strategy, getting executive approval (35 percent), reluctance to replace legacy software (35 percent), and a lack of time (33 percent). Seventy-eight percent of tech companies said they’d accelerated their digital transformation strategies in response to the novel Coronavirus. Energy came in next at 77 percent, healthcare at 74 percent, construction at 71 percent, and retail at 70 percent.
“Notably, however, the greatest acceleration in digital communications – the construction businesses, which saw 8.1 years and energy, which saw 7.2 years of transformation while retail and e-commerce organisations reported an average acceleration of 6.1 years”
Nearly all (99 percent) of businesses surveyed say – digital technologies are only the beginning of remote work. Four-in-five tech companies answered, ‘definitely yes’ (80 percent). Another element highlighted – nearly all (95 percent) of global companies seek new ways to engage customers because of COVID-19. Ninety-two percent said the transformation to digital communications is ‘extremely’ or ‘very critical’ to meet current business needs. Omnichannel reigns supreme, with 92 percent of UK businesses reporting they’re ‘very’ or ‘somewhat likely’ to expand digital communication channels as global markets recover. Almost two-thirds (60 percent) answered ‘very likely.’ On average, the UK saw 5.9 different channels increase in usage during the pandemic, according to new data out from Twilio.
