By June 2019, only 28% of companies worldwide managed to fully comply with the General Data Protection Regulation, with the retail sector and the banking sector having the highest compliance rates (81% and 79% respectively).

U.S. companies and organizations show the highest compliance (35%) with GDPR regulations, followed by the United Kingdom and Germany with 33% each, the Netherlands 31%, France 28%, Italy and Spain 21% and Sweden with a compliance rate of 18%.

What are the biggest obstacles companies face in trying to comply with the Regulation? According to the research

• 38% of respondents report the difficulty of older IT systems to comply with GDPR requirements,
• For 36% the requirements of the Regulation are complex, with the result that a special effort is required for their implementation and
• finally 33% say that the cost of achieving GDPR alignment is high.

Significant benefits of harmonization with the GDPR

92% of the companies that achieved compliance report that the implementation of the Regulation was a source of competitive advantage and gained significant benefits and advantages (compared to organizations that lag behind in compliance). Specifically, they showed a positive effect in percentage:

• 82% in terms of their evaluation by consumers,
• 84%, in terms of customer confidence, 76% positive impact on revenue,
• 79% positive effect on employee morale and
• 81% in the image and reputation of the brand.

But there are also hidden benefits to research: More than three-quarters of compliant organizations have achieved second-level benefits:

• 87% improvement of information systems,
• 91 Improvement in cyber practices and
• 89% improvement in organizational change and transformation.

Source: Capgemini research