How to overcome business and IT misalignment

MuleSoft announced the findings of the 2019 Connectivity Benchmark Report, which surveyed 650 IT professionals across the US, UK, Germany, Netherlands, Australia, Singapore and China on the state of today's digital transformation initiatives.

The report reveals 78 per cent of surveyed Australian organisations are currently undertaking digital transformation initiatives, compared to a global average of 72 per cent.

Yet close to half (44 per cent) of Australian respondents report that business and IT misalignment is one of the biggest challenges to transformation within their organisations, the highest of all countries surveyed.

As companies race to digitally transform, IT must connect an ever-growing number of technologies to build new products, services and revenue channels that drive the business forward.

However, Australian respondents reported that the number of projects they are expected to deliver is increasing by 32 per cent this year despite the fact that IT budgets are increasing at a much slower rate.

Only 20 per cent of Australian respondents stated that their budgets would increase by more than 10 per cent. As pressure increases on IT to deliver more projects while budgets remain relatively flat, organisations are seeing significant challenges to achieving digital transformation.

APIs emerge as an opportunity to align business and IT by boosting productivity, reducing costs and increasing revenue

Seventy-six per cent of Australian respondents report that data silos create significant business challenges in their organisation. To eliminate these silos and help IT become a business enabler, organisations are developing API strategies to support reuse and self-service across teams.

Ninety-two per cent of Australian respondents from organisations that own APIs said they are experiencing significant business outcomes as a result, including greater productivity (59 per cent), increased innovation (47 per cent), decreased operational costs (25 per cent) and increased revenue growth (22 per cent).

Furthermore, a third of Australian respondents (33 per cent) said APIs are generating more than 25 per cent of their organisations' revenue.