FEATURE : DISRUPTIVE TECHNOLOGY
can develop competencies and master the digital disruption happening before them .
Khaled AlShami , Director , Solution Consulting , Middle East and Africa , Infor , said : “ We have seen two extremes as some companies realised early on that they were in the eye of the digital storm and redefined their strategy . This enabled them to seize opportunities to develop new services and work with customers and businesses that are embracing digital . On the other hand , organisations that were rigid and failed to adapt , are now struggling , similar to Kodak and Blackberry who left their throne because they failed to notice and act when the dynamics of the market were changing .”
AlShami said businesses and their customers are today more focused on technologies that can help streamline processes , enabling them to do more with less , while improving customer experience , boosting productivity and quality .
Rudeon Snell , Senior Director : Industries and Customer Advisory , SAP MENA , said with the advent of the Fourth Industrial Revolution , every company has to reinvent itself by becoming a digital company in order to survive and thrive in today ’ s economy .
Snell explained that new opportunities , new markets and new value adding capabilities are now at the disposal of those ready to embrace the potential these transformation technologies offer companies to drive value in unique and differentiated ways .
“ Those who are willing to experiment , embrace calculated risk taking and lead the creation of value through use of these disruptive technologies will gain lasting competitive advantage over those who don ’ t ,” he noted .
He explained that disruptive technology adoption is accelerating at an incredible pace . “ From quantum computing to Artificial Intelligence , Internet of Things , advanced analytics , Blockchain , augmented and virtual reality , 3D printing , cloud computing – all of the exponential technologies are increasing rapidly in maturity and adoption .”
Gopan Sivasankaran , Senior Manager , Solutioning META , Secureworks , said many organisations are rightly eager to figure out how they can utilise disruptive technologies such as cloud , Artificial Intelligence , Internet of Things and Edge Computing .
Miljan Stamenkovic , Regional Director , Mambu
“ In each case , the question of cybersecurity should be considered from the outset . From a security perspective , the implementation of new and disruptive technologies by organisations in the region has increased the potential for cybersecurity vulnerabilities ,” he said .
Given the nature of disruptive technology , be it from a vendor or a start-up fintech or IT solution provider , CIOs have to stay abreast with what ’ s happening around them .
Tabrez Surve , Regional Sales Director , F5 , said CIOs that emphasise innovation , forward thinking and a willingness to cater to an emerging trend rather than a historical market will speed the introduction of beneficial technological disruption .
However , Surve cautioned that CIOs need to follow certain guidelines to ensure disruption occurs only if it will lead to a profitable business model rather than threaten the current environment .
“ As ever , CIOs must keep a close eye on technology trends at all times . There is growing interest among enterprises in looking beyond what ’ s new , to what ’ s next . An understanding of what ’ s coming may inform early planning and enable relationships that could help organisations reap rewards in the future ,” he said .
Sivasankaran explained that given the growing sophistication of cybercriminals and the increasing attack surface of many organisations , we recommend that CIOs and their security teams – whether internal or outsourced – adopt security solutions such as Extended Detection and Response ( XDR ) and Managed Detection and Response ( MDR ), which are better equipped to tackle the kind of threats we see in the region as compared with older security information and event management ( SIEM ) solutions .
“ The best option for CIOs and their security teams as they look to protect themselves is to work with a cybersecurity specialist with a global presence and a broad view of all the latest threats in real time . The provider should also have the ability to combine Machine Learning with human intelligence , which ensures that suspicious activity affecting a certain sector in one part of the world can be analysed and communicated
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