Intelligent CIO Middle East Issue 52 | Page 27

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// “ EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES LIKE AI, MACHINE LEARNING AND EDGE COMPUTING ARE TRANSFORMING THE TECHNOLOGY LANDSCAPE. and utilities (70%) and marine (70%) and the highest priority for planning and scheduling specialists • Improving safety and security through technology investment was a priority across all regions, with the Middle East (68%), Australia (63%) and India (60%) particularly highlighting this issue For global corporates, the two most valuable assets are their people and their data. Businesses today have a great responsibility to protect employees and customers, with technology that provides the foresight to critical failures before they occur. Lisa Johnston, CMO, AVEVA, said: “As Digital Transformation moves to the forefront of the industrial agenda, the power of technology to unify data and break silos is allowing specialists to collaborate and change business models. “The world’s most capital-intensive projects, from sustainable energy production and mining to smart factories and connected cities are now being designed, planned and delivered by global multidisciplinary teams all connected seamlessly through technology.” Other findings from the research included: Mohamad Awad, Regional VP for the Middle East, AVEVA www.intelligentcio.com • Asset Performance Managers (APM) were found to have the most demanding desires for technology investment, requiring a far-reaching product set and TRENDING visionary approach. APM was set apart from all other professional categories in the strength of their demand for technology to create new services or products, use data to drive new revenue streams and to enable collaboration with AI and analytics their most important enabler. APM also identified technology as providing great potential to upgrade both safety and security and emergency response times. • Face to face engagement and trust remain key vectors for driving sales success. Face-to-face meetings with a vendor, either at a vendor event or as an introductory meeting, are most influential across all categories, with personal referrals also particularly meaningful. Experience with a vendor is highly prioritised in UK, China and India while France, Japan and Australia place considerable weight on case studies from the vendor. • Remote Operations Centres and Learning Management and Training scored highest for relevance across global industries. China and Japan see a command centre as most relevant, while the US and Australia cite Supply Chain Optimisation as key to their business. • Delivering cost reduction and enhancing safety prioritised by high growth organisations. The countries prioritising cost reduction have been fast to scale over the past decades – China (61%), India (58%) and the Middle East (60%) indicated that significant margin improvement is possible in these geographies from software solutions. This demand for greater efficiency mirrored a requirement to invest in technology to promote safety as these economies continue to mature (China 51%, UAE 68% and India 60%). “This research was an opportunity to hear from both our existing as well as potential new customers across the globe and our findings mirror the growing demands for technology solutions in the market globally today,” added Johnston. “Emerging technologies like AI, Machine Learning and Edge Computing are transforming the technology landscape with vast data streams delivering operable output as well as true business outcomes for our customers today.” n INTELLIGENTCIO 27