Data, analytics and further investment in cloud are among the top priorities for Irish businesses in terms of the transformation objectives and delivering value over the next two years, according to EY.

The latest EY Tech Horizon report shows that 50% of Irish respondents believe cloud technologies will deliver the most value to their business over the next 24 months, closely followed by data and analytics (46%).

The sample size in Ireland for the Tech Horizon survey was small - just 50 companies. All respondents have revenue of over $1bn.

When asked to describe the specific value that could be derived from becoming "more data-centric", Irish businesses believed it to be multi-faceted, in helping them to understand changing customer behaviour and quickly identify supply chain issues.

John Ward, EY Ireland partner and head of digital and emerging technology, said the fact that Irish companies have recognised cloud, together with data and analytics, as technologies most likely to deliver value is "really interesting".

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"Over the past three years, companies have seen first-hand the transformative impact real-time access to data can play on major sectors such as healthcare as witnessed through the pandemic," Ward added.

"Other sectors, such as the energy sector, are harnessing the vast power of data led innovation as they utilise machine learning models to predict the energy generated by wind farms.

"The ability to aggregate broad datasets and to run models effectively demands a cloud platform. We see cloud, together with data and analytics, as having a symbiotic relationship and companies need to consider both as they strive to keep pace with their global peers.”

One fifth of respondents said they had completed or achieved their digital transformation objectives, compared to 13% internationally, while two out of three corporates in the survey said they have started or are in the midst of their transformation.

The findings also show that Irish businesses believe that a supportive leadership culture, more seamless integration of data across processes and systems, and bridging the talent gap will be critical to the effectiveness of their digital transformation journeys.

Skills gaps and talent retention also remain a key issue for organisations implementing their digital transformation strategies, with 54% of respondents citing difficulties related to retaining existing skilled talent.

"The fact that Irish business recognise the importance of the cloud suggests they are focused on building the technology foundations and accelerating their migration to the cloud as an enabler of data centricity," Ward said.

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