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Half of SMEs yet to create a digital strategy

Whereas two thirds believe they need to embrace digital, according to latest HPE research

Half of SMEs are yet to even embark on setting out a digital strategy, even though two thirds of them believe that they need to embrace the digital workplace.

That's one of the findings of a body of research conducted by HPE Aruba into the digital workplace recently.

Computing's own research found firms spread across the digital journey, with 20 per cent declaring themselves to be planning or considering digital transformation, and only six per cent claiming to be at a 'very advanced' stage.

Putting the question in another light, a majority of firms are at least recognising that the shift to digital needs to happen. In another body of Computing research related to DevOps, 60 per cent of firms said they were moving from being a traditional organisation, to a digital one. A further 29 per cent said they were already digital, while 11 per cent defined themselves purely as traditional.

Discussing the HPE research, Chris Kozup, VP of marketing at HPE Aruba (pictured), explained that of the half of SMEs who have created a digital strategy, 30 per cent have already invested in technology to enable a digitally optimised workforce.

"This has created the benefits you'd expect on the employee side, like improved productivity and creativity," said Kozup. "But we're also seeing improvements in the customer experience. Investments made in workplace design, which typically you'd think just benefit employees, also have an incremental knock-on effect on the customer experience."

Finance and healthcare were the leading industry sectors in embracing the digital workplace environment, according to the study.

"Finance is very much an environment with highly mobile employees, and it tends to have more white collar employees who often bring the latest mobile devices and applications into the workplace. That kind of forces IT to respond," explained Kozup.

"Healthcare is an extremely mobile environment, and with the movement we've seen around e-health and digital patient records, it's no surprise they're seeing a strong shift to digital," he added.

Half of SMEs yet to create a digital strategy

Whereas two thirds believe they need to embrace digital, according to latest HPE research

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