Whilst much has been made of the "Uber" effect or "disruption" it is TRA's view that these terms are unhelpful and create a binary expectation of "disrupt or be disrupted".
We believe firmly that technology is changing things at a pace faster then ever before, and that all organisations face change. Yet, it's never as black and white as the mantra suggests. Companies have always been disrupted to varying degrees and adapting to new and innovative technologies will always be done to pursue age-old goals: profitability, delighted customers, and effective cost management.
When talking about disruption, we've seen far too many people use "Uber" and "AirBnB' as examples, which don't help anyone. Indeed, if you are going to talk to "disruption" make sure you have better examples that relate directly to your audience with lessons for how they can adapt.
For many organisations, ‘disruption’ is better interpreted as the evolution in adoption of technology solutions to address competitive market goals and dynamics.The extent to which you are effected and the way you need to adapt will always be unique to your circumstances. Failure to acknolwedge this will mean mis-guided strategy is pursued and outcomes don't meet expectations. Our recent research with Citrix Asia Pacific reinforces this notion.
Tech Research Asia (TRA) was commissioned by Citrix Asia Pacific to explore the macro-business trends impacting Asia Pacific organisations and how companies are using technology to address the ever-changing business environment. We found that organisations are looking to harness macro trends (younger generations, ‘anytime’ information access, etc) to drive success in Business as Usual (BAU) goals (grow revenues, manage costs) while managing the evolution of technology (the so-called ‘disruptive’ impact) brought about through big data, cloud, applications, Internet of Things (IoT) and mobility.
In this regard, companies are shifting from the infrastructure aspect of technology to an applications-approach centred on business-based outcomes and requirements. TRA attributes part of this shift to the relative growth in Line of Business (LOB) controlling greater proportions of IT spending. This in turn has seen a more overt focus on tech strategies targeted very explicitly at discrete business issues rather than broader technology ‘lights on’ projects.
The research very clearly highlighted that organisations understand the value of investing in technologies such as cloud, mobility and security, yet the benefits of this investment have not yet been fully realized. Mobility, security and cloud are not yet perceived as 100% successful in supporting companies’ goals and strategies. When asked about their effectiveness in supporting their business strategy, only 50% stated mobility was effective, 40% for security and 27% for cloud.
The research very clearly highlighted that organisations understand the value of investing in technologies such as cloud, mobility and security, yet the benefits of this investment have not yet been fully realized. Mobility, security and cloud are not yet perceived as 100% successful in supporting companies’ goals and strategies. When asked about their effectiveness in supporting their business strategy, only 50% stated mobility was effective, 40% for security and 27% for cloud.
The following chart shows which technologies 1000 Asia Pacific CIOs and CxOs believe will impact their organisations in future.
Which emerging technologies have the greatest impact on your business?
