New findings from Board International, a global provider of intelligent planning solutions, reveal that despite almost every organization launching some form of planning transformation since 2020 (Global: 97%; IT & Telco: 98%), nine in ten say those efforts have at least partially failed (Global: 90%; IT & Telco: 91%). Board’s Intelligent Planning technology helps organizations plan more effectively, generate actionable insights, and achieve better outcomes.
The Board Planning Transformation Benchmark Survey questioned 2,450 decision makers across the UK, US, Germany, France, Italy, Japan, Australia and Singapore about how their organizations have coped with a series of major disruptions since the Covid-19 pandemic. Only 13% of respondents overall (IT & Telco: 15%) reported being unaffected by events such as Covid-19, the war in Ukraine and the global cost-of-living crisis.
As a result of these shocks, planning has climbed the corporate agenda: 85% (IT & Telco: 86%) say planning is now taken more seriously across their organization; 76% (IT & Telco: 80%) report increased budgets for planning transformation and larger planning teams; and 94% (IT & Telco: 95%) face pressure from boards and investors to take a more strategic approach to planning.
Despite the greater focus and investment, the report finds that 90% (IT & Telco: 91%) of transformation initiatives have fallen short. The most commonly cited reason for failure is insufficient technical capability within organizations (Global: 26%; IT & Telco: 28%). Closely following are underinvestment in skills (Global: 23%; IT & Telco: 26%) and a shortage of team resources (Global: 22%; IT & Telco: 20%).
The data also highlights widespread reliance on inefficient planning practices that hinder progress. Nearly all respondents (Global: 98%; IT & Telco: 98%) still use spreadsheets such as Excel for some portion of their planning—a tool first released in 1985. Planners spend an average of 27 hours per week (IT & Telco: 27 hours) building and modeling different business scenarios, time that could be spent on higher-value strategic work.
When asked how prepared they felt to handle the next major global disruption, many decision makers expressed low confidence. Only 29% overall (IT & Telco: 27%) said they were ready to cope with continued supply chain disruption; 22% (IT & Telco: 21%) felt ready for rising interest rates; 32% (IT & Telco: 33%) believed they could handle another pandemic; and 34% (supply chain planning professionals: 32%) said they were prepared for a recession. These results underscore the need for more resilient, forward-looking planning capabilities.
Marco Limena, CEO of Board International, commented: “With all the uncertainty in the world, business leaders must accept a new reality: the era of continuous disruption is here. That diagnosis should prompt organizations to continuously adapt, build new capabilities, and find efficiencies to thrive in today’s challenging environment. Continuous planning is no longer optional—companies that advance their digital planning capabilities can navigate change faster and gain a competitive advantage.”
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