Mumbai, Feb 28 (IANS): Even though most companies now recognise the importance of digital transformation, a mere nine per cent of businesses in the Asia Pacific and Japan (APJ) region are looking at fully digitising their entire organisations, said a new report by software major CA Technologies on Wednesday.

Nearly 80 per cent of business and IT leaders surveyed agreed that their industries had been impacted by digital disruption.

However, most organisations are lagging when it comes to staying relevant and competitive in this digital economy, showed the results of the survey titled "The CA Technologies Asia Pacific and Japan Digital Transformation Impact and Readiness Study".

The survey examined the digital transformation strategies of 900 business and IT leaders in late 2017 across nine APJ markets - Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea and Thailand.

Only 17 per cent have fully-formed digital transformation strategies, and only nine per cent are looking at fully digitising their entire organisations, the study found.

The survey found that fast evolving economic conditions, meeting of changing customer expectations and using digital transformation as a new edge in winning against traditional competitors were listed as the biggest pressures for digital transformation in the region.

However, according to the findings, priorities such as creating different business models and/or revenue streams; developing new products and services; improving customer experience; and attracting and retaining workforce are deemed to be less important.

"In an era where brands are defined by the digital experiences they offer, it is imperative that companies put customers at the heart of their business," said Martin Mackay, President and General Manager, Asia Pacific and Japan, CA Technologies.

"To thrive in the application economy, organisations need to move IT, especially software, from a supporting role to a central enabler by reinventing their software development and delivery processes so that they can consistently develop high quality applications that can enhance customer experience and deliver business value at scale," Mackay added.