McKinsey's proprietary benchmarking survey conducted annually with a dozen regional and super-regional banks in the United States supports the axiom that investing more in IT is not as important as investing smartly.

The past 15 years have created a very different business environment, which has empowered consumers, commoditized many products and services, and dramatically compressed margins. Not surprisingly, these changes have forced businesses to operate differently. But exactly what kinds of companies have successfully transitioned to the digital age?