INTERVIEW
We also see the adoption of cloud-based and remote work solutions to ensure users are using technology with ease and in a way that meets business needs from anywhere anytime. Another trend is taking mobility to the next level. As contactless becomes increasingly needed in 2021, the value of intuitive and personalised communications will allow companies to stay engaged with their customers in a meaningful way.
POWERING DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION ANAS JWAIED, VICE PRESIDENT AND GENERAL MANAGER FOR EMERGING MARKETS AT MICRO FOCUS, EXPLAINS HOW HIS COMPANY CAN HELP YOU WIN AT DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION WITH A RICH PORTFOLIO OF SOLUTIONS.
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hich are some of the top trends shaping digital transformation in 2021? As the world continues to pace towards the new normal, some of the digital transformation priorities we see in the marketplace have been reshaped for 2021 to cope with the new “life and business 20
CXO INSIGHT ME
MARCH 2021
style.” These include automation and AI initiatives for both IT (ITPA) and business (RPA) processes to enable innovations and raise productivity. In today’s world, making IT resilient to disruption with business continuity plans and securing perimeter is a must, and organisations are investing in data analytics to gain more business insights to meet evolving customer expectations and outrun the competition.
Should CIOs take a business-focused view of digital transformation? Definitely, they should. In fact, most companies’ board of directors have given CIOs a clear mandate: Use technology to speed the enterprise faster to its business goals. Regardless of where organisations are in their digital transformation journey, CIOs must seize this opportunity to take stock of their progress and re-align these priorities for the year ahead. Despite the challenges, a significant great opportunity exists to transform business operations and models from the ground up, enabling the business to respond to future disruption quickly and strategically. Furthermore, IT leaders expect an average 2% increase in IT spending in 2021, which contrasts with the overall economic downturn. CIOs hold a huge responsibility in ensuring that these commitments ladder up to their businesses’ overall digital transformation efforts. Do you think boosting business resiliency should also be part of digital transformation? I would say that digital transformation is key to business resilience both now and in the future. As a company or business, being responsive requires embracing digitisation for how companies manage and trust their information, enable their workforce, automate where possible, and improve their productivity. First, it starts with how firms manage information. Constant change and disruption put greater pressure to ensure all stakeholders work with and make decisions using trusted, governed information. Furthermore, with the pandemic nowadays, successful business continuity
