Businesses have little faith that their organisations are secure and future-proofed enough to earn trust from customers and provide the security they expect over the next five years.
According to Dell's bi-annual Digital Transformation (DT) Index, nearly a third of businesses don't trust their business complies with the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR), while 16% think they will struggle to prove they are trustworthy to customers.
In fact, more than a quarter of firms don't think they can be trusted with user data, despite the majority of businesses understanding their responsibilities.
78% of businesses questioned by Dell think their organisation should be more digitally-savvy, but nine out of ten say they're being held back by challenges such as data security and privacy, lack of budget or skills.
"In the near future, every organisation will need to be a digital organisation, but our research indicates that the majority still have a long way to go," says Michael Dell, chairman and CEO of Dell Technologies.
"Organisations need to modernise their technology to participate in the unprecedented opportunity of digital transformation. The time to act is now."
Although the rate of what the company considers to be digital adopters has increased, almost 39% businesses sit in the Digital Laggards and Digital Followers categories.
To try and stay ahead of the curve, businesses are now taking digital strategy into their own hands, by developing in-house digital skills and talent, investing in digital skills training for all employees and educating about cyber security, IoT and AI.
