C-suite: technology and telcoms insights

Strong optimism about growth remains

Our research shows that despite the lingering effects of the global health crisis, 90% of sector leaders predict revenue growth this year, and 88% believe they are highly capable of overcoming the crisis.

Karine Philippon: The technology sector has been resilient during the pandemic, demonstrating agility in adapting to customers’ needs and as more organisations needed to embrace or accelerate their digital transformation. Tech companies evolved towards a service-based model delivered via cloud, resulting in higher agility, new capabilities and reduced costs. Many have adapted their delivery model for cloud to be the preferred platform as of today, to provide better customer experience by leveraging artificial intelligence, intelligent edge and advanced wireless connectivity.

Growth will continue as tech companies continue to innovate to fuel the next wave of growth in their sector and in other industries as well.

Organisations demonstrate high confidence in their level of data maturity and protection

Businesses are racing to become more data-driven and the technology and telecoms sector is no exception. 83% of companies in the sector are confident that their data maturity is higher than their competitors. This however does not eliminate the risks: 57% believe cyber security risks have increased over the past year.

Karine Philippon:  Real-time data enables us to make better and faster decisions. High-performing companies are investing in data which they use to fuel decision-making. Organisations are fully aware of the competitive advantage relevant data can provide. Yet, the challenge then becomes data quality amongst the ocean of data available and its maturity as key factor to growth.

As we saw in our data study earlier this year, ‘The race to data maturity: Is your business as far ahead as you think’, businesses are overconfident in their data maturity, which can put them at risk. A strong majority of businesses have started putting the right tools in place, but don’t necessarily have the competitive advantage they assume to. In order to close this confidence gap, they need to ensure that their decision-makers expectations are in fact data-driven.

Commitment to wider social issues is driving ESG investment 

Nearly three quarters (71%) of companies in this sector expect to undergo a technology transformation in the next five years, with 63% saying there will be an ESG transformation. While these numbers remain similar to the global average, 85% have put D&I programme in place to support the transformation, which is slightly above the global average of 81% across sectors. Nearly half of the companies surveyed (47%) expressed that brand and reputation remain an important driver for investment.

Karine Philippon:  Climate change is a reality, and technology industry leaders are aware of the threat it poses on their operations and reputation. Many tech and telecom companies need to increase their efforts to protect their assets and infrastructure. Tech companies are also facing new challenges from the evolution of the regulatory landscapes and growing pressure from employees, customers and investors to operate more sustainably. Tech companies should continue to improve their governance, data management processes and controls to comply with upcoming changes in global environmental, social and governance standards and disclosures.  

Remote working and travel restrictions remain the biggest changes facing the sector

Our research shows that the future for remote working in the sector remains unclear, with only half of the tech and telecoms companies surveyed expecting remote working to remain in place in the long-term. This contrasts with a growing sentiment across other sectors that remote work is here to stay in the long-term.

Karine Philippon:  Hybrid work is the new norm, and tech and telecom companies are not exempt from this trend. Employees’ attitude and expectations have changed because of the pandemic and the tech and telecom sector have been hit hard due to increased turnover and high competition for talent.

Because of the fast-paced environment and innovation culture in which tech companies operate, effective collaboration is key - and remote work challenges effective collaboration. Despite this, tech companies need to embrace cultural changes and experiment with new collaborative platforms facilitating interoperability and seamless connection across their organisations.