Digital business initiatives involving big data, cloud computing, and social media are becoming a strategic priority for many companies, according to McKinsey & Co. More than half of nearly 1,500 C-level executives surveyed by the consultancy in April said both big data and digital marketing (including social media) were among their top 10 strategic priorities.
But many respondents also said their companies lacked the resources and the organizational structure to capitalize on such initiatives. Almost half of the executives surveyed said their companies were investing too little in digital initiatives to meet their goals. Thirty-six percent of CEOs said their digital business initiatives were funded at the right level, while only 29% of CFOs said the same.
Still, executives are somewhat optimistic about the value of digital business initiatives. A third of respondents predicted digital business would increase their company’s operating income by at least 10% in the next three years. They tended to place more value on some initiatives than others: 44% said they outperformed their competitors using big data and analytics more significantly than they did using any other digital strategy, followed by 32% for digital marketing techniques and 28% for social tools or technologies.