In October 2015, Microsoft commissioned Forrester Consulting to evaluate European organizations’ digital strategies and priorities. To explore these trends, Forrester developed a hypothesis that most European enterprises consider digital capabilities to be a key component of their business and customer strategies, but most have not yet reached the ability to create new sources of customer value from digital assets. Furthermore, Forrester tested the assertion that business leaders – including technology leaders – lack alignment about what digital means and what is required to transform into a digital business.
In conducting in-depth surveys of 150 European business leaders, including technology leaders, Forrester found these leaders to be optimistic about the potential benefits of digital; indeed most have digital strategies in place. However, companies hampered by traditional business models create digital strategies that paint a veneer of digitalization onto the existing business without truly creating new sources of value for customers.