CDOs vital to digital reinvention of companies, says Accenture report

Chief Digital Officer (CDO) is a critical player in the company's success in the digital era who defines the digital reinvention roadmap and helps lead the organization, a recent report by Accenture said.

This report further recommends three steps for CDOs to succeed in digital transformation.

Step I: Set a digital-first strategy: Developing a 'digital strategy and roadmap' for the business.

Step II: Set the agenda in the C-suite: Understand the priorities of the C-Suite and collaborate with them successfully implementing a digital-first strategy and digital reinvention.

Step III: Manage implementation: CDOs should address and meet the six core imperatives, identified through the research, to profitably combine digital technologies, deliver new efficiency gains and create enhanced customer experiences in parallel.

A handbook for Chief Digital Officers summit utilizing data from the global Accenture report and based on interviews with senior digital functionaries across companies was unveiled at the Chief Digital Officers summit organized by IAMAI.

The global survey of more than 900 executives across 12 industries by Accenture found only 13 percent companies positioned to drive both growth and efficiency with digital technologies

The report further states that 64 percent of the executives fear for their company's survival if they are unable to deliver on these two imperatives with their digital investments.

"Regardless of which industry you are in today digital transformation is absolutely critical and very important to understand how your consumers are evolving, how their behaviours are changing, how their purchasing journeys are changing and then evolve your products and services to be able to delight the consumers," Rajan Anandan, Chairman, IAMAI and Managing Director, Google India, said.

Realising the potential of digitization, 96 percent of the senior executives surveyed by Accenture globally, say that they are investing in digital to pursue these twin goals.

Some of the leading retail companies, interviewed in India for the purpose of the report, for example have started leveraging digital technologies such as virtual reality to enhance in-store customer experiences and drive sales simultaneously adopting digital to optimize operations and achieve higher operational efficiencies.

As many as 84 percent of the executives surveyed in Accenture's global report, believe that delivering differentiated customer experiences will strengthen their competitive advantage.