This article focuses on the use of IT systems to meet rapidly changing customer needs. It places particular emphasis on the building of IT “systems strength.” This is defined at Accenture as a measure of a company’s ability to innovate at scale. It is calculated by assessing three factors: tech adoption, tech depth, and organizational culture. The article builds on multiple large sample surveys, as well as in-depth interviewing with large organizations. The second part of the paper considers what to do if your company is not a market leader. Here, the authors explain how “middle-of-the-pack” organizations can leapfrog other firms to accelerate their innovation-led growth. The key here is to change the IT budget allocation from an emphasis on operations to an increased emphasis on innovation.

Buying a high-tech solution that appears to quickly address an identified need or problem is tempting, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. So why resist? In short, the attractive easy out rarely pays off in the long run. According to the authors’ research, the ability to resist tempting but low-value IT investments is a hallmark of higher-performing companies. This article examines five temptations resisted by high performers, and outlines what they chose to do instead. The first temptation many companies face is to limit the application of new technologies to quick-payoff, high-visibility processes. The higher-value choice is to reimagine business processes across the company, not just in customer-facing areas. The second temptation is to patch or “lift-and-shift” legacy systems. The higher-value choice is to see the cloud not simply as a data centre but as a catalyst for innovation. The third temptation is to experiment with “hot” technologies in isolation. The higher-value choice is to identify foundational technologies and adopt them based on their potential effect on the entire organization. The fourth temptation is to rely on standard classroom training programs. The higher-value choice is to take a more flexible, future-focused approach. The fifth temptation is to move responsibility for IT to business leaders. The higher-value choice is to embrace systems that break down boundaries constraining data, infrastructure, and applications.

Data reveals the C-suite recognizes that technical debt -the "price" companies pay for short-term technological fixes -hinders their ability to innovate and adapt in the digital age. One strategy to combat technical debt? Digital decoupling.