Three-quarters of European business leaders believe their organisations are ‘very’ or ‘extremely’ vulnerable to technology-driven disruption, according to research conducted by management consulting firm McKinsey and backed by network equipment provider Cisco.

However, only 18% believe that they are ‘very’ effective at introducing new technologies faster and better than their competitors.

Some organisations recognise the importance of being able to deploy new products and services in response to changing demand, the study found: 31% of European business leaders surveyed described this as a priority.

But IT is not always seen as an enabler for this. Despite so many of them feeling prone to IT-based disruption, a third of respondents did not list IT among the top three mechanisms for achieving competitive advantage.

A significant majority of respondents said that the way in which IT partners with the business could be improved.