BearingPoint country leader for Ireland Gillian O'Sullivan. Image: BearingPoint
The BearingPoint study assessed 35 Irish companies for their levels of digitalisation, with Virgin Media, Axa and Three scoring the highest overall.
Irish businesses in multiple sectors are showing signs of digital maturity, according to a new study by BearingPoint.
The company’s new Digital Leaders study analysed 679 companies across Europe, the UK, the US and Ireland to assess their levels of digitalisation.
Countries and companies in the study were scored on a scale of zero to five, with higher numbers representing a more positive score. The country comparison was scored by looking at the top 30 companies in each country.
Ireland moved up the rankings in 2022 with an overall score of 3.43, reaching third place out of 11 countries surveyed.
Gillian O’Sullivan, the BearingPoint country leader for Ireland, said it is “encouraging” to see Irish companies performing this well compared to their counterparts in other countries.
“It is a real sign that Irish business leaders are committed and more fully invested in the digital transformation of their businesses to better equip them for the challenges they are facing,” O’Sullivan said.
Ireland’s top performers
A total of 35 Irish companies were assessed in the survey, stemming from the banking, telecoms, insurance, energy and media sectors.
These companies were then scored based on their digital product experience, e-commerce, digital marketing and e-CRM, which evaluated a company’s ability to maintain customer relations in digital channels.
Virgin Media achieved the highest rating as a digital leader in Ireland with an average score of 3.67. The company was followed by Axa and Three, who were almost tied with scores of 3.51 and 3.5 respectively.
The telecoms sector emerged as Ireland’s most digitally mature industry from the 2022 study, followed by the insurance sector and the energy sector.
Revolut scored the highest in the banking sector, while SSE Airtricity topped the ranking in the energy sector. RTÉ was the highest ranked in the media sector with a score of 3.04.
BearingPoint said there was significant year-on-year improvements across all four scoring areas for Ireland, though e-commerce – measured as a company’s ability to sell and support through digital channels – was the weakest performer in Ireland.
“What makes a digital leader naturally changes over time, but our study has highlighted the key themes which are prevalent today; customer centricity, personalisation, data centricity, innovation and sustainability,” O’Sullivan said. “These actions – in combination – are what contributes to organisational success.”
Earlier this year, BearingPoint shared its top five tech predictions for 2023, which included the rise of generative AI, the exploration of metaverse potential and companies embracing zero trust cybersecurity.
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