Faster access to services 24/7, connectivity, access on more devices, and a more unique personalised experience top the customer expectations list for today's information generation.
That's one of the biggest findings from EMC's study - The Information Generation: Transforming The Future, Today - which explores the impact of a growing global community of digital citizens.
Based on input from 3 600 business leaders across 18 countries, the study reveals new expectations of the digital citizens and identifies the fundamental business attributes critical for organisations to successfully compete and thrive in this new landscape.
EMC defines digital citizens as individuals that are always connected and engaged online, and have the world's information at their fingertips.
"The information generation is demanding more from the organisations they interact with," says Servaas Venter, country manager at EMC Southern Africa. "Businesses 'born of the cloud' are driving this shift in expectations, and mature businesses must redefine themselves to adapt to remain relevant."
According to the study, 96% of business leaders surveyed believe new technologies have forever changed the rules of business. In addition, 93% reported that recent technology advancements are resetting customer expectations, and nearly all say this will accelerate over the next decade.
Due to new information generation-driven demands, businesses agree that transformation is critical, says EMC.
It believes to survive in this environment, businesses must be able to predictively spot new opportunities in markets; demonstrate transparency and trust; innovate in agile ways; deliver unique and personalised experiences; and operate in real-time.
While business leaders agree these attributes are high priority, they admitted that few have thoroughly embodied them. Specifically, when asked whether they address these attributes both well and company-wide, only 12% said they can predictively spot new opportunities, 9% innovate in agile ways, 14% demonstrate transparency and trust, 11% deliver personalised experience, and 12% operate in real-time.
In addition, by 2020, more than seven billion people on at least 30 billion devices will have created 44 zettabytes of data (or 44 trillion gigabytes), according to Gartner and IDC respectively, EMC says.
This is rapidly leading to a world in which nearly every element of life will be data-driven, it states, adding while businesses know they can get value from this data, 49% admit to not knowing how to turn all of their data into actionable information.
"It's critical that we systematically explore the longer-term implications of an age in which information is at the centre of everything we do, continually re-conditioning us in ways we still have yet to imagine," says Rachel Maguire, research director at Institute for the Future, who conducted the survey on behalf of EMC.
"The world's most information-savvy organisations - if they ready themselves - will lead one of the most significant transformations in history."
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