Many companies do not believe they are well prepared for the complex pressure to transform. This is one of the results of a new study by Lünendonk & Hossenfelder GmbH, a German market research and consulting company.
According to the study, companies are currently exposed to immense pressure to transform, which will continue to increase in terms of complexity and urgency in the future. Despite extensive investments in digitalization, companies are often unable to fully exploit the potential of digital technologies on their own. 85 percent are already planning to fundamentally modernize their IT in order to meet the challenges of digital transformation. However, this is often faced with obstacles such as silo-oriented organizational structures, a lack of cross-functional collaboration or isolated data landscapes. Accordingly, a clear majority of companies see themselves as poorly positioned in terms of their implementation speed and will increasingly rely on more intensive cooperation with service providers in the future – especially those who, as business transformation partners, offer all the required consulting, software development and implementation services from a single source.
These are the central results of the new Lünendonk study “Business Transformation – complex challenges require new collaboration models”. available here free of charge is.
Many urgent transformation issues at the same time
For the companies surveyed, the years 2025 and 2026 will be characterized by far-reaching technological and strategic transformations. The analysis of your business requirements shows that the next wave of transformation will be primarily characterized by technological progress, adaptation to new market requirements and regulatory requirements.
85 percent of companies plan to realign their IT and technology stacks to meet the challenges of digital transformation. This trend is being accelerated particularly by the increasing use of cloud technologies and the increased automation of business processes using artificial intelligence. 81 percent of the companies have set transformation priorities in the areas of sustainability, cost reductions and increases in productivity, while 70 percent are simultaneously focusing on expanding their customer focus and increasing their innovative strength.
From silo thinking to holistic transformation
With a view to implementing their complex transformation goals, the Lünendonk study shows that many companies are not yet well positioned in this area, which has a negative impact on transformation progress. First of all, this has to do with the necessary mindset for change. Four out of ten study participants (39%) do not see their companies as yet well positioned in terms of the necessary mindset and willingness to change. Every second interviewee (50%) complains about rigid and silo-oriented organizational structures that stand in the way of many transformation topics.
“The implementation of transformation projects is no longer limited to individual process steps, but includes the development and digitalization of entire process chains. These should ideally be covered completely, i.e. end-to-end, by service providers,” observes Mario Zillmann, partner at Lünendonk & Hossenfelder and study author. “Current transformation areas such as sustainability, customer centricity, software-defined products and, above all, AI require a move away from the often prevailing silo mentality. Only when the entire value chain is considered do companies benefit from investments in digital technologies.”
The managers surveyed see it the same way: eight out of ten interviewees (81%) stated that their transformation projects are increasingly being set up across departments and functions.
Requirements for consulting and IT service providers: transformation of entire process chains
In addition to the increasing pressure to transform and implement, two thirds of the companies surveyed (66%) have to deal with limited internal skills and capacities for the implementation of their transformation projects. Accordingly, for six out of ten companies surveyed (58%), both consulting and IT service providers play a major role in the implementation of transformation projects.
However, the requirements for service providers are changing. The study shows that integrated consulting and IT implementation services are being advertised more frequently, transformation programs are being centralized, tasks are being bundled and the number of service partners is being reduced to a minimum in order to simplify program management. Specifically, 70 percent of the companies surveyed expect their service providers to be positioned as business transformation partners and thus offer an integrated portfolio of consulting, software development, implementation and service orchestration from a single source. In tenders, 73 percent also attach importance to the fact that their transformation partners must be able to control entire processes and orchestrate multiple digital services (e.g. an entire customer journey from marketing and sales channels to customer service).
A surprising result of the study: A large proportion of the companies surveyed (43%) have difficulties finding suitable consulting and IT service providers on the market for certain transformation programs who, as business transformation partners, meet these requirements. In particular, the required expertise and the desired delivery strength make the search more difficult.
Business Transformation Partner
The study results show that the concept of business transformation partners is already highly relevant for 60 percent of companies with sales of more than one billion euros. In order to take a closer look at the market of relevant service providers in this context, the study evaluated those service providers who have significant management consulting as well as IT and transformation expertise. These criteria have so far only been met by a small number of consulting and IT service providers. With very high market strength and strong end-to-end transformation expertise, Accenture leads the field, followed by Deloitte and Capgemini. Other relevant business transformation partners include PwC, KPMG, IBM and Valantic.
About the current Lünendonk study
For the Lünendonk study “Business Transformation – complex challenges require new collaboration models”, seven business transformation partners and more than 140 CxOs, business and IT managers as well as consulting and IT purchasing managers from upper medium-sized companies and large corporations were surveyed.
