Capgemini Consulting is partnering with the MIT Center for Digital Business to anchor its strategy in new research in order to gain “best practice” perspectives on the state of digital transformation in organisations around the world.

Pierre-Yves Cros, CEO of Capgemini Consulting, said: “Digital Transformation goes well beyond technology. It is about the impact that digitization is having on the business, from strategy to people to operations. This is also about a new transformation agenda for companies: making customer experiences coherent within the multitude of channels now available. It’s about making better and smarter decisions based on an everincreasing flow of data, creating open enterprises with strong links to customers and suppliers, encouraging stronger collaboration across often geographically disparate units, as well as managing these new technologies within the existing infrastructure of the corporation.”

Capgemini Consulting is planning to expand its current global network of over 3,600 expert consultants across Europe, North America, Asia- Pacific and the Middle-East by hiring up to 1,000 additional consultants in 2011.

In a three-year joint research collaboration with the MIT Center for Digital Business, Capgemini will also conduct a joint research study into digital transformation through interviews with C-level executives from 30 of the world’s leading companies in sectors such as financial services, life sciences, retail and government. The study will examine how companies around the world are managing and benefiting from digital transformation and the processes and best practices involved, providing Capgemini Consulting with detailed market insights to inform its experts and ultimately its clients.

“The new digital economy is increasingly shaping the way we do business and digital technology is going to drive even more change in the future,” said Andy McAfee, Principal Research Scientist at MIT. “However, the extent of this digital transformation varies across companies, regions, and even within companies. Together with Capgemini Consulting, by studying companies as they currently work, we plan to gain a perspective on the state of digital transformation, the process of transformation, and how they can position themselves to benefit in the future.”