Mediaboss Marketing

The combination of these factors means that, unlike previous recessions, business has not responded to this crisis by hunkering down and cutting costs.

This crisis has seen companies changing and innovating their operating models via a dramatic uptick in technology investment, which has changed the game.

Just before the crisis, Accenture recorded a major performance gap between the leaders in technology adoption and the laggards.

We conducted a vast global survey, including 500 Australian executives, which found the top 10 per cent of companies leading in technology were performing twice as well as the bottom 25 per cent (the laggards).

When COVID hit, almost overnight, this digital performance gap started widening because leaders could adjust their operating models faster than laggards.

But then, something really interesting happened. The pandemic became a catalyst for pushing Australias digital laggards to transform.

Everyone has been experimenting with agile delivery and rapid implementation. And thats brought about a real change in peoples thinking about whats possible.

The value of swift and strategic technology investment has well and truly been demonstrated in a very accelerated manner. Every CEO is recognising that they are actually leading a technology company.

As a result, demand for cloud computing in Australia is at an all-time high.

The massive ramp-up of workloads moving to the cloud has hit fast forward, with cloud spending accelerating through the crisis.

In the next 3-4 years, we expect to see the average business move over 75 per cent of its operations to the cloud from the current 25-30 per cent.

The scene is set for Australian industries, supply chains and workforces to remake ourselves better, faster and smarter than before. But, as we do, we must ensure we get value from our technology investment.

Key to that is for companies to think in terms of systems not individual technologies.

To leapfrog from being a laggard to a leader requires moving to enterprise-wide future systems that are:

In short, to make our organisations resilient, we must leverage greater levels of automation in combination with high-quality, relevant data, thats been decoupled from business silos.

And we must continue to experiment with and rapidly adopt emerging technologies.

The good news is, as we shift from survival towards revival, exponential technology change is not slowing down its advancing.

Next generation technologies, like DARQ (distributed ledger technology, artificial intelligence, extended reality and quantum computing) and 5G, are making a measurable impact in the current context. The use of quantum computing and AI is developing even more rapidly as it contributes to drug and vaccine discovery.

Hyper-automation is strengthening operations and helping companies prepare for future supply chain disruptions.

As the need for these technologies comes into sharp focus, demand will accelerate invention, innovation and adoption.

What we previously imagined would be a decade-long journey is now a sprint for the next three years.

In this environment, capturing the market means getting to it first. This is why Australian companies must keep forging ahead with their rapid technology adoption.

We need to take the best of what weve learned into the future, bring our organisations with us, and crystallise digital transformation at the front and centre of strategy and competitive advantage.

This is the path that will see Australia become a smart nation and our companies become global leaders.

Scott Hahn leads Accentures technology practice in Australia & New Zealand.

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Industry insight: why smart tech adopters will dominate the future - The Australian Financial Review