Scores of startups in the Triangle are out to “disrupt” existing industries with new products and services.

Meanwhile big players such as IBM, GSK and NetApp – to just name three – are turning themselves inside out to avoid being disrupted out of existence.

Cisco CEO John Chambers recently predicted that digital disruption was going to put a lot of companies out of business. A new Cisco report says he’s right with more than 40 percent of existing leaders are going to be “displaced” by the “Digital Vortex.” Even Cisco is changing with new leadership and Chambers stepping aside as CEO as of July 25.

Where does your company stand?

And despite being aware of the threat the “Vortex” poses, many execs say it’s “not worthy of board-level attention.”

Oh, really?

Want to take the pulse on where your business stands?

“The Internet of Everything” is driving the vortex, creating crisis and opportunity.

“At the Center of the Digital Vortex: Chaos, Disruption, and Opportunity,” wrote Cisco’s head on consulting Martin McPhee about the report.

“The only thing that remains constant is change.

“It’s an old adage. While it has always been true, it’s especially relevant now. Today’s pace of technology change is akin to a vortex, relentlessly and chaotically sweeping everything into its spiral path, demanding digitization. As with a real vortex, the force of this change is too strong to ignore and those objects (or business models) that fail to adapt will break apart and fall away.”

Inside the report

Here’s a checklist provided by Cisco and its partner the IMD business school in the “Digital Vortex:How Digital Disruption Is Redefining Industries”report:

Leadership Checklist for Digital Business Transformation

• Which capabilities are required to increase cost value, experience value, or platform value for customers?

• How can we combine capabilities to magnify the value our customers receive?

• To what degree do we possess these capabilities today?

• To what degree do competitors—both traditional foes and “overthe-top” players—possess these capabilities?

• If the landscape shifts dramatically due to digital disruption, how quickly can we adapt?

• Are our people, processes, and technology agile enough?

• How do we increase the agility of our organization to ensure we can fend off (or capitalize on) new disruptions?

Hints about trouble

The report also offers executives a list of factors to track to see if disruption is headed their way:

Indicators of Potential for Digital Disruption

  • Investment: The level of investment in companies that are focused on using digital technologies to disrupt industries. This is an indicator of where investors are placing their bets and where they see the most opportunity for digital disruption to drive economic value.
  • Timing:The length of time until digital disruption has a meaningful impact on an industry and the rate of change that digital disruption will drive in the industry.
  • Means: The level of barriers to entry that digital disruptors face in an industry, and the means of disruption (such as the number of disruptive business models) they can use to surmount these barriers.
  • Impact: The extent of disruption (such as impact on market share of incumbents) and the level of existential threat that digital disruptors represent to an industry

From IT to pharmaceuticals: Which industry is at most risk?

Finally, where does your industry rank on the disruption list?

Industries Ranked by Potential for Digital Disruption

  • Technology Products & Services #1
  • Media & Entertainment #2
  • Retail #3
  • Financial Services #4
  • Telecommunications #5
  • Education #6
  • Hospitality & Travel #7
  • CPG & Manufacturing #8
  • Healthcare #9
  • Utilities #10
  • Oil & Gas #11
  • Pharmaceuticals #12

Want more? Read the full report at:

http://www.imd.org/uupload/IMD.WebSite/DBT/Digital_Vortex_06182015.pdf