Progress has been made with digital transformation projects, however technology leaders are finding that running their digitally transformed organizations is challenging and they are under increased pressure to prove business value, according to a survey from New Relic.

Start with Digital Transformation Part 1: The Challenges

Looking Ahead: Harnessing the Power of Cloud and AI to Fuel Digital Transformations

■ Moving to public cloud: The majority of respondents agreed that migration to public cloud (i.e., Amazon Web Services, Azure, Google) is at the core of respondents’ digital transformation journey – 82 percent in US, 75 percent in the U.K., 75 percent in Australia, 66 percent in France, and 63 percent in Germany.

■ Efficient way of using resources: Many (46 percent) agree that while migration to cloud is great, they don’t have a clear way of knowing what their cloud bill is going to be every month. More than half (54 percent) also say that while cloud computing promises more efficient usage of resources, the promise of greater control is not a given.

■ Expectations around AI and ML replacing jobs: Overall, 37 percent of the global respondents agree that AI and ML will replace their job in a decade, while 41 percent disagreed. These numbers were highest in France with 55 percent of the respondents confirming that they expect their current jobs to be replaced by these advanced technologies. These numbers were lowest in the US (32 percent) and U.K. (23 percent).

■ Promise of AI and ML: Interestingly, more than 92 percent of US respondents agree that Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) will become important for how they run their digital systems. Globally, almost 84 percent of the respondents believe that AI and ML will make their role easier.

How the US Stacks Up

In the US, technology leaders differed in key areas from their peers in other regions. More specifically:

■ Early movers: The US is leading the way on digital transformation, with roughly 50 percent of organizations from the region reporting that they have completed or are close to completing their digital transformation journeys -- more than any other country surveyed.

■ A modern approach to software: DevOps has more popularity in the US than any other region, with nearly two-thirds of respondents in the region claiming they’ve adopted the practice.

■ The C-suite is invested: Senior US business leaders (CEO, CFO) are more attuned than their international peers to the digital transformation process and want to stay more informed, with 54 percent requesting daily reports on how their systems are performing for staff and customers.

Methodology: The study commissioned by New Relic in partnership with Vanson Bourne, a market research firm, surveyed 750 global senior IT decision makers of enterprises with 500 to 5,000-plus employees in Australia, France, Germany, UK, and the US.