The shift to digital: How businesses are reshaping their priorities for 2025

Do you remember Back to the Future Day? The day in 2015 when the world celebrated Marty McFly’s trip to a futuristic 2015 in the iconic movie? We laughed at the idea of hoverboards and self-tying shoes while marveling at how much of what was once science fiction was becoming real.

Here’s the thing, though: the future never announces its arrival with a neon sign or a ringing bell. It just happens. Quietly, gradually, and then suddenly, what we once thought of as fantasy becomes our everyday reality. For millennia, we banked at physical branches, shopped at brick-and-mortar stores, and mailed letters at the post office. Today, all of that is a swipe or click away.

If you needed more proof that the digital future we dreamed of has become the world we live in, consider the 2024 Gartner® Benchmark Critical Outcomes from Digital Technology Investments in 2025. We believe the data highlights what enterprises are prioritizing in their digital transformation journeys—and what they’re leaving behind.

2025 Gartner® CIO and Technology Executive Survey

According to Gartner®, “The 2025 Gartner CIO and Technology Executive Survey reveals critical outcomes enterprises seek from their digital technology investments. CIOs can learn how peers answered and plan their own digital technology investment use cases.”  

The results, as we see it, paint a clear picture: businesses across industries are focusing heavily on outcomes like improving customer experience, enhancing the digital workplace, and optimizing operational efficiency. At the same time, traditional priorities tied to physical infrastructure—like increasing utilization or improving reliability of physical property and equipment—are becoming far less important, in some cases dropping off entirely.

We believe this shift signals a profound recalibration of priorities. Enterprises are no longer bound by physical spaces or assets. Instead, they are channeling resources into digital tools and strategies that drive agility, efficiency, and customer satisfaction.

Industry-specific insights: A closer look at the data

The priorities driving digital transformation vary across industries, reflecting unique challenges and opportunities. By examining key sectors like banking, retail, and media, we can see how businesses are adapting to the digital-first era. Let’s take a closer look at the data.

Banking: Prioritizing digital experiences over physical spaces

For the banking industry, the data reflects a clear pivot toward digital transformation. Improving customer and citizen experience ranks highest at 59%, followed closely by enhancing the digital workplace (55%). We feel that this isn’t surprising, given the industry's increasing reliance on online and mobile banking.

On the other hand, outcomes tied to physical infrastructure, like increasing utilization or improving reliability of physical property and equipment, barely register—just 7% and 6%, respectively. In our opinion, the message is clear: banks are less focused on brick-and-mortar branches and more on delivering seamless, digital-first experiences.

Retail: Doubling down on customer experience

In retail, customer experience is an even higher priority, with 68% of respondents citing it as critical—surpassing the overall benchmark of 58%. In our view, this reflects how retailers know their survival hinges on keeping customers happy in an era where competition is just a click away.

Interestingly, improving the digital workplace (48%) and improving the reliability and resilience of operations (42%) remain key drivers. Meanwhile, priorities like increasing physical utilization or improving reliability of physical assets are barely on the radar, echoing the industry’s digital-first strategy.

Media: An all-digital future

The media industry takes the trend one step further. Customer experience (59%) once again dominates, but priorities like physical infrastructure fall to near-zero levels—highlighting a stark contrast with industries like manufacturing or logistics.

For media companies, the focus has shifted entirely to digital content delivery and improving internal workflows. With virtually no emphasis on improving reliability and resilience of physical property, plant and equipment (0%) or increasing physical utilization (7%). The industry signals a near-total departure from traditional, hardware-focused strategies.

Broader implications: The shift away from physical priorities

Based on Gartner’s findings, we believe the data points to a powerful trend: across industries, physical infrastructure is no longer the centerpiece of business strategy. Banking, retail, and media exemplify this shift, prioritizing digital tools and experiences that drive agility, efficiency, and customer satisfaction.

This isn’t just a reflection of technological change—it’s a response to the demands of a world that expects instant, seamless digital interactions. Whether it’s online banking, e-commerce, or streaming content, customers now define success in terms of how quickly and reliably they can access what they need.

Supporting the shift with the right tools

Achieving these critical outcomes isn’t possible, in our opinion, without the right technology. Catchpoint Internet Performance Monitoring (IPM) plays a vital role in helping businesses meet their goals by ensuring the resilience of the new Internet Stack that every business needs to monitor.  

The future may not have hoverboards or flying cars (yet), but it’s undeniably here—and it’s digital. To succeed, businesses must be laser-focused on delivering exceptional digital experiences, enhancing workplace productivity, and optimizing operations. Whether it’s banking, retail, or media, one thing is clear: physical infrastructure is no longer the centerpiece of business strategy.

To thrive in this digital-first world, businesses need tools that provide the visibility and insights required to deliver on these priorities. IPM empowers organizations to meet the demands of agility, reliability, and customer satisfaction by ensuring the resilience of your new enterprise network—the Internet.

The future never waits—it just arrives. The question is, will your business be ready to meet it?

Explore various use cases and solve real issues through our guided product tours: Tour the Catchpoint Platform

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Gartner, Benchmark Critical Outcomes from Digital Technology Investments in 2025, By Melissa Rossi Wood, Daniel Sanchez Reina, 29 October 2024.  

GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally and is used herein with permission. All rights reserved.

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