Published by Jessica Weisman-Pitts
Posted on September 8, 2021
5 min readLast updated: February 12, 2026
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By Huw Owen, Head of EMEA and APJ, Couchbase
Organisations of all sizes across all sectors had to prioritise their digital transformation plans with the outbreak of COVID-19. With the pressure to scale online services, other projects could well have seen significant delays, be scaled back, or fail completely.
However, things didn’t grind to a halt. A recent McKinsey & Company study revealed that the rate of innovation is actually years ahead of expectation – on average, organisations saw seven years of progress in creating digital offerings in just a matter of months. The unique circumstances of the pandemic meant IT teams were under intense pressure to accelerate some of their digital transformation projects, and many took this opportunity to innovate. But whilst initially we have seen an increase in the speed and success of digital initiatives, this does not mask that there are still underlying issues holding organisations back. In the end, there is a finite amount of people and skills, and many organisations will have found themselves without the right technology or resources to deliver digital projects, and this will cause problems further down the line, even after the initial momentum caused by the pandemic has passed.
IT teams are under pressure
The pressure to deliver digital transformation projects has never been higher. With countries forced into national lockdowns overnight, IT teams had no choice but to quickly adapt.
Organisations were faced with the prospect of rapidly developing new digital projects to keep up with customer demand, or risk losing out to their more forward-thinking competitors. However, they often had few resources at hand. Redirecting time and money in reaction to the pandemic was the most common reason why organisations’ digital transformation projects were limited last year, with 31 percent of organisations prevented from pursuing new projects in the last year because of the need to divert resources. Others have also seen projects suffer delays, be scaled back, or fail completely for this reason.
But despite the challenges of the pandemic, IT teams still delivered. In a recent survey conducted by Deloitte and Fortune Magazine, 77 percent of CEOs said that COVID-19 accelerated their digital transformation plans – which is largely a consequence of the soaring demand for online services. This boom in digital innovation meant that many organisations created significant improvements to their end-user experience in their response to COVID-19.
A short-term solution to a long-term issue
Yet while COVID-19 may have caused initial momentum for organisations’ digital transformations, the pandemic also exposed several underlying issues holding IT teams back. The overnight change in consumers’ working and shopping behaviours forced developers to divert their resources to combat this surge in demand for digital services. However, this is a short-term reaction to a long-term problem.
On average, organisations’ digital transformation spend grew from $27 million in 2019 to $27.5 million in 2020. Although the pandemic may have tipped the scales in terms of new investments in modernisation and innovation, the underlying problems in digital infrastructure still exist. Whilst reacting to new digital expectations was a necessary response, organisations must also look towards the long-term and channel their investments strategically. COVID-19 represents a permanent change to the way that customers work, live, and do business – and IT teams must view the pandemic as an opportunity to alter their digital transformation to keep up with demand.
Old problems are holding organisations back
Although the pandemic is a unique event, organisations should reflect on this period as a lesson to prepare for future crises. COVID-19 has exposed long-standing weaknesses which are stopping digital transformation projects from getting off the drawing board. Lack of skills to deliver new projects, reliance on legacy technology that cannot meet new digital requirements, lack of funds or resources, and the complexity of implementing new technologies are problems which were present long before the pandemic materialised. With failed, delayed or underwhelming projects caused by these issues costing enterprises $5.5 million a year, fixing them needs to be a priority. Online service performance relies heavily on selecting the right database, so without moving away from legacy technology, IT teams will struggle to deliver on their digital transformation projects – even after the initial boost due to COVID-19 has passed.
Organisations that take full advantage of new, modernising database infrastructure will be at a considerable advantage. Modern databases offer greater agility, reliability, and security, which will enable organisations to reach their full potential in their digital transformation strategies, as well as ensuring resilience for future crises. Moving away from outdated technology is just one way to put them in the best position to drive digital transformation success and adapt to the long-term change in consumer habits. By rethinking their past technology decisions, organisations can emerge stronger than ever from the pandemic.
COVID-19 has accelerated digital transformation plans across organisations, pushing them to adapt quickly to new customer demands and innovate at an unprecedented rate.
IT teams are under immense pressure to deliver digital projects rapidly, often struggling with long-standing weaknesses that were exposed during the pandemic.
The McKinsey study indicated that the rate of innovation has advanced years ahead of expectations, with organisations experiencing an average of seven years of progress in a short time.
On average, organisations' digital transformation spending increased from $27 million in 2019 to $27.5 million in 2020, highlighting a shift towards modernisation.
Modern databases offer greater agility, reliability, and security, which can significantly benefit organisations looking to enhance their digital transformation efforts.
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