Integration Challenges Are Slowing Down Digital
Transformation Efforts for Majority of Companies
MuleSoft Inc. (NYSE: MULE), provider of the leading platform for
building application networks, today announced the findings of its
Connectivity Benchmark Report 2018 on digital transformation
initiatives and the business impact of APIs. This year’s study
specifically looks at how IT decision makers (ITDMs) are handling
digital transformation, IT operations and change management.
The global survey of 650 ITDMs reveals that four out of five
businesses (81 percent) are expected to see a negative impact on
revenue in the next 12 months if they fail to complete digital
transformation initiatives. While IT budgets have remained
relatively static, ITDMs have seen project volumes grow, on
average, by 27 percent. As a result, IT departments are being
stretched even thinner. Most concerning, the research reveals an IT
delivery gap, with two-thirds of ITDMs admitting they were unable
to deliver all projects asked of them last year.
Among the key results of the survey:
Integration headaches are creating an IT delivery gap and
hindering innovation
One of the main contributors to the growing IT delivery gap is
integration, which continues to be a significant drain on time,
budget and resources. The survey results show the vast majority (89
percent) of ITDMs believe that integration challenges are slowing
or hindering digital transformation within their organizations.
- According to Gartner, “Worldwide IT
spending is projected to total $3.7 trillion in 2018, an increase
of 4.5 percent from 2017.”* Based on our survey results,
organizations are spending nearly a quarter (22 percent) of their
annual IT budgets on integration and thus could equate to over $800
billion spent on integration in 2018.
- On average, organizations are using
1,020 individual applications across their business. However, on
average, a relatively small number (29 percent) of these
applications are currently integrated or connected together.
- A significant number (81 percent) of
ITDMs admit that point-to-point integration has created some of the
biggest headaches their organizations have ever seen. This is
clearly a source of frustration for many ITDMs; in fact, at least
80 percent agree “point-to-point integration must die in the next
five years if organizations are to reduce costs, deliver on
business needs faster, remain competitive, deliver innovation
faster, and extract more value from data.”
“When it comes to digital transformation, it is no longer a case
of ‘if’ but ‘when’ for organizations. However, there is growing
impatience at a business level to make the goals of digital
transformation a reality right now, as those that fall behind will
start to lose revenue and market share fast,” said Ross Mason,
founder and vice president of product strategy, MuleSoft. “Today,
CIOs and IT decision makers are under a huge amount of pressure to
meet business expectations, but it’s clear that they are struggling
to keep up. Integration challenges are creating an IT delivery gap,
and organizations can no longer afford to let it drain time,
resources and budget.”
Inefficient IT operating models are slowing the pace of
change
It is clear that organizations need to adopt a more efficient IT
operating model. Yet, this is easier said than done as ITDMs
continue to face the age-old dilemma of ‘keeping the lights on’
versus innovating. Furthermore, when it comes to building new
applications and services, it is very common for development teams
to work in isolation, meaning organizations are unable to discover
and reuse the assets that have been created.
- ITDMs continue to spend the majority
(63 percent) of their time on “running the business” activity
compared to innovation and development projects.
- 93 percent of ITDMs admit that their
application development process could be more efficient.
- Just a third of organizations’ internal
IT software assets and components are available for developers to
reuse. 83 percent of ITDMs say their organization does not always
reuse software assets when it comes to developing new products and
services.
API strategies are delivering greater efficiency, innovation
and revenue
For organizations to deliver digital transformation and innovate
quicker, they need to enable self-serve IT, where the wider
business can do more on its own without relying on central IT for
each project. By making IT assets discoverable and reusable via
APIs, organizations can become more agile and competitive to drive
revenue.
- 93 percent of ITDMs believe that IT
self service will be critical to their digital transformation
success. From those organizations that own APIs, more than half (58
percent) have been able to leverage them to increase productivity;
while nearly half (48 percent) have increased innovation.
- By leveraging APIs, organizations have
been able to increase employee engagement and collaboration (43
percent), meet line-of-business demands quicker (35 percent),
increase IT self service (35 percent) and decrease operational
costs (34 percent).
- On average, ITDMs reported that a
quarter of their organization’s revenue is now generated from APIs
and API-related implementations. More than a third (35 percent) of
respondents stated over a quarter of their organization’s revenue
came from APIs.
Marshall Van Alstyne, MIT digital fellow and Boston University
professor, commented: “As the digital economy continues to grow,
more organizations are starting to realize the benefits of an API
strategy and the financial benefits it can bring. MuleSoft’s
Connectivity Benchmark Report corroborates our own findings that
there is a positive relationship between the intensity of API usage
and financial performance.”
“Digital transformation isn’t just a matter of buying new
software and hoping it solves all problems. In today’s digital
economy, more data, applications and devices need to be connected
than ever before – yet organizations are suffering from the chronic
integration issues of the past. However, through application
networks, organizations can make more of their IT assets reusable
and make application development much more efficient. This will
truly transform how IT functions in the modern enterprise and
deliver greater value to the business,” added Mason.
The complete MuleSoft Connectivity Benchmark Report 2018 can be
downloaded here.
*Source: Gartner Press Release, “Gartner Says Global IT Spending
to Reach $3.7 Trillion in 2018,” 16 January 2018.
https://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/3845563.
Methodology
The survey was commissioned by MuleSoft and independently
carried out by Vanson Bourne. The total sample size was 650 IT
Decision Makers (ITDMs) working at organizations with 1,000+
employees: US (250 ITDMs), UK (100 ITDMs), Germany (75 ITDMs),
Netherlands (50 ITDMs), Australia (50 ITDMs), Singapore (50 ITDMs)
and China (75 ITDMs). Fieldwork was undertaken in November /
December 2017. The results in the 2018 Connectivity Benchmark
Report cannot be compared to previous years due to the change in
research firm and methodology.
About Vanson Bourne
Vanson Bourne is an independent specialist in market research
for the technology sector. Their reputation for robust and credible
research-based analysis is founded upon rigorous research
principles and the ability to seek the opinions of senior decision
makers across technical and business functions, in all business
sectors and all major markets. For more information, visit
www.vansonbourne.com
About Anypoint Platform
MuleSoft’s Anypoint Platform™ is a leading solution for API-led
connectivity that creates an application network of apps, data, and
devices, both on-premises and in the cloud. This hybrid integration
platform includes iPaaS, ESB, and a unified solution for API
management, design and publishing.
About MuleSoft
MuleSoft’s mission is to help organizations change and innovate
faster by making it easy to connect the world’s applications, data
and devices. With its API-led approach to connectivity, MuleSoft’s
market-leading Anypoint Platform™ is enabling over 1,200
organizations in approximately 60 countries to build application
networks. For more information, visit https://www.mulesoft.com.
MuleSoft is a registered trademark of MuleSoft, Inc. All other
marks are those of respective owners.
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MuleSoftVera Wang, 415-294-0161press@mulesoft.com
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