70% of Digital Transformations Still Fail as Budgets Balloon Up to 12 Times
Updated
Updated · InfoWorld · Sep 4
70% of Digital Transformations Still Fail as Budgets Balloon Up to 12 Times
3 articles · Updated · InfoWorld · Sep 4
Summary
Several years after consultants warned companies to modernize, digital transformation programs are still missing targets and often leaving organizations with technical debt, weak ROI and damaged confidence in IT.
Budgets initially pitched at a few million dollars frequently swelled to six, eight or even 12 times estimates, while projects sold as six-month efforts stretched to two years.
Consulting-led programs often pushed one-size-fits-all frameworks and vendor packages, prioritizing technology rollouts over business requirements and producing overengineered cloud systems with high costs and limited scalability.
The report says the same mistakes risk carrying into AI adoption, as companies add expensive tools and oversized infrastructure where simpler, business-led designs could solve the problem far more cheaply.
Its prescription is a minimalist approach: start with enterprise business needs, invest in core architectural training, and build only what is necessary rather than buying every new platform.