Innovation and business development increasingly on forest industry’s agenda – new study reveals
IT barometer 2016 of forest industry, an annual report that studies how the Swedish forest industry assesses developments and trends within the business and IT has been published. The report has been conducted by Imano, a Swedish consulting company which has been part of Tieto since November 2015.
“It is a momentous time for the whole industry, which makes the result especially exciting. Companies have invested heavily in IT, but a whole 55% does not believe the profitability has been satisfactory. The industry thus has a profit potential to work with,” says Mikael Zachrisson, Business Consultant at Imano, part of Tieto.
IT barometer of forest industry is aimed at the decision makers and key people within the sector. Some sixty companies have taken part in the survey.
Increased focus on innovation
The industry’s primary IT focus continues to be in productivity and streamlining as compared to innovation and business development, but the latter portion is increasing. Compared to last year, IT managers who prioritise innovation and business development have doubled.
“The view of IT’s role among forest industry companies is increasingly moving from business support to commercial. This follows the trend elsewhere in the world, which has seen IT’s grip growing ever firmer in companies,” says Mikael Zachrisson.
Mobility and cloud
In connection with the digitalisation trend, increased mobility is the strongest focus for the forest industry. The forecast for 2016 suggests that this will be the year when more than half of the IT systems becomes accessible on mobile devices.
“Soon it will no longer be about whether the IT system can function on mobile devices, and more about the competitive advantages they create. This requires our full success with the user and customer experience,” says Niklas Agnesund, Head of Web Strategy at Imano.
In contrast, the forest industry is lagging behind the rest of the world when it comes to exploiting the potential of cloud services. The survey shows a clear, cautious approach, with companies only using the cloud for around 10% of their IT services.
Brief facts about the survey
The forest industry’s IT barometer 2016 is the second of an annual survey aimed at senior executives in positions such as CEO, Operations Manager, CFO and IT Manager. The result is based on responses from over 100 people who together represent 59 companies. Imano, which is now a part of Tieto, conducted the survey.
Download the report: http://pages.tieto.com/Forest_IT_Barometer.html
For more information, please contact:
Mikael Zachrisson, Business Consultant, Imano, tel. +46 706 085 141, email: mikael.zachrisson[at]imano.se
Niklas Agnesund, Head of Web Strategy, Imano, tel. + 46 739 82 98 79, email: niklas.agnesund[at]imano.se
Christer Lindqvist, Head of Forest, Sweden & Norway, Tieto, tel. +46 702 555 523, email: christer.lindqvist[at]tieto.com
Tieto aims to capture the significant opportunities of the data-driven world and turn them into lifelong value for people, business and society. We aim to be customers’ first choice for business renewal by combining our software and services capabilities with a strong drive for co-innovation and ecosystems. www.tieto.com
