Skip to main content

Gartner: More Than Half of CEOs Say Digital Transformation is Profitable

An unsettled global political environment has not shifted CEOs' focus on profits and growth in 2017. Growth is the No. 1 business priority for 58 percent of CEOs, according to a recent survey* of 388 CEOs by Gartner, Inc. This is up from 42 percent in 2016.

Product improvement and technology are the biggest-rising priorities for CEOs in 2017.

"IT-related priorities, cited by 31 percent of CEOs, have never been this high in the history of the CEO survey," said Mark Raskino, VP and Gartner Fellow. "Almost twice as many CEOs are intent on building up in-house technology and digital capabilities as those plan on outsourcing it (57 percent and 29 percent, respectively). We refer to this trend as the reinternalization of IT — bringing information technology capability back toward the core of the enterprise because of its renewed importance to competitive advantage. This is the building up of new-era technology skills and capabilities."

CEO Understanding of Digital Business Is Improving

While the idea of shifting toward digital business was speculative for most CEOs a few years ago, it has become a reality for many in 2017.

47 percent of CEOs are being challenged by the board of directors to make progress in digital business, and 56 percent said that their digital improvements have already improved profits.

"CEO understanding of the benefits of a digital business strategy is improving," said Raskino. "They are able to describe it more specifically. Although a significant number of CEOs still mention e-commerce or digital marketing, more of them align it to advanced business ideas, such as digital product and service innovation, the Internet of Things, or digital platforms and ecosystems."

CEOs have also progressed in their digital business endeavors. 20 percent of CEOs are now taking a "digital-first" approach to business change.

"This might mean, for example, creating the first version of a new business process or in the form of a mobile app," said Raskino. "22 percent are taking digital to the core of their enterprise models. That's where the product, service and business model are being changed and the new digital capabilities that support those are becoming core competencies."

Half of CEOs Have No Digital Success Metric

Although more CEOs have digital ambitions, the survey revealed that nearly half of CEOs have no digital transformation success metric.

"For those who are quantifying progress, revenue is a top metric: 33 percent of CEOs define and measure their digital revenue," said Raskino.

CIOs to Help CEOs Set Success Criteria for Digital Business

Deeper transformation can only be achieved at scale if it is systematically driven.

"CIOs should help CEOs set the success criteria for digital business," added Raskino. "It starts by remembering that you cannot scale what you do not quantify, and you cannot quantify what you do not define. You should also ask yourself: What is 'digital' for us? What kind of growth do we seek? What's the No. 1 metric and which KPIs must change?"

Many CEOs have recognized that being open-minded, entrepreneurial, adaptable and collaborative are the most-needed digital leadership mindsets.

"It is time for CEOs to scale up their digital business ambition and let CIOs help them set and track incisive success metrics and KPIs, to better direct business transformation. CIOs should also help them toward more-abstract thinking about the nature of digital business change and how to lead it," concluded Raskino. "The disruption it brings often cannot be dealt with wholly within existing frames of reference."

The Latest

Industry experts offer predictions on how AI will evolve and impact technology and business in 2025. Part 5 covers the infrastructure and hardware supporting AI ...

Industry experts offer predictions on how AI will evolve and impact technology and business in 2025. Part 4 covers advancements in AI technology ...

Industry experts offer predictions on how AI will evolve and impact technology and business in 2025. Part 3 covers AI's impact on employees and their roles ...

Industry experts offer predictions on how AI will evolve and impact technology and business in 2025. Part 2 covers the challenges presented by AI, as well as solutions to those problems ...

In the final part of APMdigest's 2025 Predictions Series, industry experts offer predictions on how AI will evolve and impact technology and business in 2025 ...

E-commerce is set to skyrocket with a 9% rise over the next few years ... To thrive in this competitive environment, retailers must identify digital resilience as their top priority. In a world where savvy shoppers expect 24/7 access to online deals and experiences, any unexpected downtime to digital services can lead to significant financial losses, damage to brand reputation, abandoned carts with designer shoes, and additional issues ...

Efficiency is a highly-desirable objective in business ... We're seeing this scenario play out in enterprises around the world as they continue to struggle with infrastructures and remote work models with an eye toward operational efficiencies. In contrast to that goal, a recent Broadcom survey of global IT and network professionals found widespread adoption of these strategies is making the network more complex and hampering observability, leading to uptime, performance and security issues. Let's look more closely at these challenges ...

Image
Broadcom

The 2025 Catchpoint SRE Report dives into the forces transforming the SRE landscape, exploring both the challenges and opportunities ahead. Let's break down the key findings and what they mean for SRE professionals and the businesses relying on them ...

Image
Catchpoint

The pressure on IT teams has never been greater. As data environments grow increasingly complex, resource shortages are emerging as a major obstacle for IT leaders striving to meet the demands of modern infrastructure management ... According to DataStrike's newly released 2025 Data Infrastructure Survey Report, more than half (54%) of IT leaders cite resource limitations as a top challenge, highlighting a growing trend toward outsourcing as a solution ...

Image
Datastrike

Gartner revealed its top strategic predictions for 2025 and beyond. Gartner's top predictions explore how generative AI (GenAI) is affecting areas where most would assume only humans can have lasting impact ...

Gartner: More Than Half of CEOs Say Digital Transformation is Profitable

An unsettled global political environment has not shifted CEOs' focus on profits and growth in 2017. Growth is the No. 1 business priority for 58 percent of CEOs, according to a recent survey* of 388 CEOs by Gartner, Inc. This is up from 42 percent in 2016.

Product improvement and technology are the biggest-rising priorities for CEOs in 2017.

"IT-related priorities, cited by 31 percent of CEOs, have never been this high in the history of the CEO survey," said Mark Raskino, VP and Gartner Fellow. "Almost twice as many CEOs are intent on building up in-house technology and digital capabilities as those plan on outsourcing it (57 percent and 29 percent, respectively). We refer to this trend as the reinternalization of IT — bringing information technology capability back toward the core of the enterprise because of its renewed importance to competitive advantage. This is the building up of new-era technology skills and capabilities."

CEO Understanding of Digital Business Is Improving

While the idea of shifting toward digital business was speculative for most CEOs a few years ago, it has become a reality for many in 2017.

47 percent of CEOs are being challenged by the board of directors to make progress in digital business, and 56 percent said that their digital improvements have already improved profits.

"CEO understanding of the benefits of a digital business strategy is improving," said Raskino. "They are able to describe it more specifically. Although a significant number of CEOs still mention e-commerce or digital marketing, more of them align it to advanced business ideas, such as digital product and service innovation, the Internet of Things, or digital platforms and ecosystems."

CEOs have also progressed in their digital business endeavors. 20 percent of CEOs are now taking a "digital-first" approach to business change.

"This might mean, for example, creating the first version of a new business process or in the form of a mobile app," said Raskino. "22 percent are taking digital to the core of their enterprise models. That's where the product, service and business model are being changed and the new digital capabilities that support those are becoming core competencies."

Half of CEOs Have No Digital Success Metric

Although more CEOs have digital ambitions, the survey revealed that nearly half of CEOs have no digital transformation success metric.

"For those who are quantifying progress, revenue is a top metric: 33 percent of CEOs define and measure their digital revenue," said Raskino.

CIOs to Help CEOs Set Success Criteria for Digital Business

Deeper transformation can only be achieved at scale if it is systematically driven.

"CIOs should help CEOs set the success criteria for digital business," added Raskino. "It starts by remembering that you cannot scale what you do not quantify, and you cannot quantify what you do not define. You should also ask yourself: What is 'digital' for us? What kind of growth do we seek? What's the No. 1 metric and which KPIs must change?"

Many CEOs have recognized that being open-minded, entrepreneurial, adaptable and collaborative are the most-needed digital leadership mindsets.

"It is time for CEOs to scale up their digital business ambition and let CIOs help them set and track incisive success metrics and KPIs, to better direct business transformation. CIOs should also help them toward more-abstract thinking about the nature of digital business change and how to lead it," concluded Raskino. "The disruption it brings often cannot be dealt with wholly within existing frames of reference."

The Latest

Industry experts offer predictions on how AI will evolve and impact technology and business in 2025. Part 5 covers the infrastructure and hardware supporting AI ...

Industry experts offer predictions on how AI will evolve and impact technology and business in 2025. Part 4 covers advancements in AI technology ...

Industry experts offer predictions on how AI will evolve and impact technology and business in 2025. Part 3 covers AI's impact on employees and their roles ...

Industry experts offer predictions on how AI will evolve and impact technology and business in 2025. Part 2 covers the challenges presented by AI, as well as solutions to those problems ...

In the final part of APMdigest's 2025 Predictions Series, industry experts offer predictions on how AI will evolve and impact technology and business in 2025 ...

E-commerce is set to skyrocket with a 9% rise over the next few years ... To thrive in this competitive environment, retailers must identify digital resilience as their top priority. In a world where savvy shoppers expect 24/7 access to online deals and experiences, any unexpected downtime to digital services can lead to significant financial losses, damage to brand reputation, abandoned carts with designer shoes, and additional issues ...

Efficiency is a highly-desirable objective in business ... We're seeing this scenario play out in enterprises around the world as they continue to struggle with infrastructures and remote work models with an eye toward operational efficiencies. In contrast to that goal, a recent Broadcom survey of global IT and network professionals found widespread adoption of these strategies is making the network more complex and hampering observability, leading to uptime, performance and security issues. Let's look more closely at these challenges ...

Image
Broadcom

The 2025 Catchpoint SRE Report dives into the forces transforming the SRE landscape, exploring both the challenges and opportunities ahead. Let's break down the key findings and what they mean for SRE professionals and the businesses relying on them ...

Image
Catchpoint

The pressure on IT teams has never been greater. As data environments grow increasingly complex, resource shortages are emerging as a major obstacle for IT leaders striving to meet the demands of modern infrastructure management ... According to DataStrike's newly released 2025 Data Infrastructure Survey Report, more than half (54%) of IT leaders cite resource limitations as a top challenge, highlighting a growing trend toward outsourcing as a solution ...

Image
Datastrike

Gartner revealed its top strategic predictions for 2025 and beyond. Gartner's top predictions explore how generative AI (GenAI) is affecting areas where most would assume only humans can have lasting impact ...