Couchbase: Digital transformation needs have changed

The channel needs to ensure the digital transformation services it provides are meeting current customer needs.

According to the latest digital transformation survey from Couchbase, there are signs that a number of factors, including economic headwinds and the need to meet customer demands, have led many IT decision-makers to revise the focus of their transformation strategies.

The good news is that firms are continuing to invest in digital transformation strategies, with most of the efforts going towards improving efficiency and business resilience.

“IT modernisation and digital transformation are vital strategic initiatives for an enterprise – whether helping to adopt new technologies such as generative AI, creating new services or building resilience in times of uncertainty,” said Ravi Mayuram, CTO at Couchbase.

“These survey results show how an efficient approach to digital transformation, taking full advantage of advances in data, cloud and AI can help with business resiliency, and at the same time pursue new growth opportunities,” he added.

From a channel perspective, the challenge is to understand customer motivations and deliver the right combination of technology and services, not pitching solutions that no longer have high levels of appeal.

The Couchbase survey found that digital transformation priorities had changed in the past few years and were continuing to evolve because of the macroeconomic climate.

The firm found that 78% of IT decision-makers had changed their main priorities for transformation in the past three years, with 54% indicating they have become more reactive to market conditions and customer preferences to remain relevant.

Even with changes and concerns about focus, customers have continued to invest in digital transformation. More than half (53%) of enterprises are either on target or are ahead of their planned progress. Couchbase’s survey of 600 senior IT decision-makers found that enterprises plan to invest on average $33m in the next 12 months.

Many respondents to the survey expressed the view that modernisation would enhance business resilience. Improving the position of the business and unblocking more efficiency gains was seen as a way of dealing with some of the economic challenges.

Another area of investment exposed by the survey was around the pressure many IT leaders were being put under by their organisations to embrace new technologies. The list of areas where the channel could help included serverless computing, edge computing and IoT and low- or no-code technologies. AI was not as prominent because it is still seen as early days for the technology.

Challenging macroeconomic conditions have been a feature of the channel landscape all year, with many recognising that customer budgets have tightened and there is a desire to do more with less.

The Couchbase findings add to a sense that the channel needs to be targeted with its support and ensure it provides the combination of services customers are looking for in order to win the business.

“It’s clear that IT and business leaders recognise the importance of investing in modernisation to drive transformation and achieve their short- and long-term goals efficiently,” said Mayuram.