Belgian leaders believe their organization should be resilient, but reality does not always match this belief. Obsolete technological resources impede resilience.

Resilience, often referred to as an English term resilience, is the ability of an organization to react quickly to changing external circumstances. In a world that is changing rapidly and seems to have been dragged from crisis to crisis in recent years, resilience has become an important capability for companies. SAS conducted a global survey of executives’ perceived resilience. The sample of more than 2,000 participants also included 323 respondents from the Benelux countries.

There is no debate among leaders about the importance of resilience. No fewer than 99 percent of respondents in the Benelux believe that their organization needs to show resilience in order to survive. At the same time, studying the SAS reveals a large gap between aspiration and reality. Only 45 percent of executives describe the company as resilient, and one in two say they are not adequately equipped to deal with disruptions.

The top challenges cited are data security (49%), sustainability (49%), attracting and retaining talent (48%) and driving digital transformation (48%). Eight out of ten are optimistic about the future and eighty percent also say that they want to invest in the resilience of the organization.

Old technologies inhibit resilience

The perceived lack of resilience appears to be primarily a technological issue, SAS concludes. Finally, outdated technologies limit the speed at which organizations can respond to changing circumstances. Speed ​​is one of the most important requirements for resilience.

The key is data and analytics to increase resilience. 83 percent of respondents believe resilience is achievable with the right guidance and tools. More than 93 percent of respondents see data and analytics as important elements of a resilience strategy. However, various issues with data quality, integration and cybersecurity are the main obstacles to the implementation of the rules.

Five basic rules

SAS bets five resilience rules on: speed and agility, innovation, fairness and responsibility, data culture and competence and finally curiosity. “Disruptive situations like in Ukraine, the recent instability in banks and the rise of generative AI show that disruptions happen all the time. The flexibility and agility of companies is also being put to the test in the Benelux countries. Organizations that proactively deal with disruptions will be tomorrow’s winners,” says Remco den Heijer, Managing Director SAS Benelux.

You can read the full research report here. In this blog, SAS takes a closer look at the results for the Benelux countries.