Digital not just a buzzword for Kiwi IT leaders

New Zealand IT decision makers are jumping on the digital bandwagon, according to a new study from Qual IT.

According to the 2016 Digital Readiness Study, Kiwi IT leaders are taking digital seriously and integrating the different aspects into their organisations.

The study drew data from 46 of some of New Zealand's largest organisations across the private and public sectors on their interpretation of digital and what it means for them.

"New Zealand organisations are gearing up and getting on board with the digital concept, integrating digital into their core business and adopting underlying trends," explains Reg Prasad, head of consulting for Qual IT.

"While this is a fundamental shift which ensures our nation is up to play with the rest of the world, a strategic and measured quality approach to implementing digital initiatives needs to be taken, rather than diving in head first," Prasad says.

According to the study, out of the digital concept come a handful of key digital issues which have implications for organisations, the most relevant of these, according to IT leaders, is cyber-security with 90% rating it as highly relevant (8 or more on a 1-10 scale).

Big data, mobile platforms, cloud computing and social technology were revealed as some of the other digital issues that IT leaders rated as relevant to their organisation.

"Organisations are adopting and embracing digital with new digital roles being established and digital strategies being developed and implemented alongside more traditional strategies," Prasad explains.

"Digital, to IT leaders in New Zealand, is not just a buzzword, rather a real, disruptive and opportunistic concept which they are adopting readily," he says.