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Strategy, not technology, is the key driver to success in the digital arms race that we keep hearing about recently. Some studies suggest that having a technological arsenal is enough to keep you afloat, but research conducted by MITSloan in collaboration with Deloitte paints a slightly different picture about the business world today.

Everyone agrees that being conservative isn’t exactly the best way to do business. But at the same time, neither is lavishing millions on bleeding-edge tech acquired purely in the hope that it will give your competitors the chills. The 2015 Digital Business Global Executive Study and Research Project by MIT Sloan Management Review and Deloitte reveals that strategizing your digital investments is more important than the digital investments themselves. And here’s why:

Digital maturity – Currently found in only a select few companies, and only 15% of those who are laying the first brick towards becoming such a company say that their organization has a clear and coherent digital strategy

Scope matters – Mainstream companies with no clear digital focus lack maturity in a sense that cripples their thinking: they acquire many individual technologies and only for operational purposes. At the other end of the spectrum, the digitally-mature spend on tech with the aim to transform the entire business, not just the operational side.

Build skills, not an armory – Digitally-maturing institutions are four times more likely to create skillful employees than mainstream companies. Conceptualizing how tech can build acumen in a staffer is a skill in and of itself.

Birds of a feather flock together – Your most talented employees will leave as soon as they are given the opportunity to work for a more digitally-enabled organization that offers similar benefits but much clearer advantages on the technical side. The reason is simple: “employees want to work for digital leaders,” according to the report.

You can download the original study here (subscription required).