FEATURE : DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION
operate from a people , digitising processes and embracing technologies perspective to add superior value to the customer and responsive to change by enabling agility and pace ,” he said . “ In MEA , the digital landscape stimulates an innovative economy in which organisations can offer new forms or ways of doing business digitally , interconnecting across the world and accessing a wider client market than physical presence would . Digitalisation will assist in improving amongst others our health and education systems and allow for economic expansion .”
Nicholas Durrant , CEO , Bluegrass Digital , said with the current digital acceleration taking place within Africa , multiple drivers have been identified as a necessary means to digitally transform , one of which includes managing rising customer expectations . Durrant said MEA ’ s unique socio- and geo- economic challenges has led to innovation in mobile tech , mobile wallets and cashless payment solutions where you can argue that the MEA region and in particular Africa is leading the way . “ As the majority of companies are optimising their digital offerings , customers have increased their expectations of how well the brand that they ’ re interacting with performs digitally ,” he said . “ As a result , MEA customers are now examining functions such as user experience , speed , data security and so forth . If organisations fail to digitally transform their business activities , they are at a greater risk of losing customers .”
Digital Transformation trends
According to research firm Gartner , by 2025 , over 50 % of equipment manufacturers will offer outcomebased service contracts that rely on IoT connectivity , up from less than 15 % in 2019 . Seen in the light of these projections , it is not surprising that the global state of emergency the world all entered into last year has driven companies to adopt a ‘ remote everything ’ mindset , even those far outside of traditional service provision , whose businesses are servitised by design .
Emma Murray , Chief Operating Officer , APJMEA , IFS , said the disruption of the pandemic has brought fresh urgency to business decisions that will influence how people live and work for years to come .
Murray added that businesses must completely rethink how they use digital tools and how they can better help them to approach their customer , employee and user experience . “ The 2020s will be defined by the way organisations transform their businesses to address changing circumstances – becoming nimbler and securing their longevity in the process ,” he said . “ Business turns ‘ remote everything ’ as servitisation comes to the fore ( again ): The interest among manufacturers to transform their traditional products into services isn ’ t a new trend . However , the COVID-19 pandemic has given new urgency to servitisation among decision-makers in the manufacturing sector and elsewhere .”
CIO challenges
With momentum around Digital Transformation initiatives garnering momentum across the continent , what are some of the challenges CIOs face when implementing Digital Transformation strategies in their organisations ?
Gavin McDougall , Senior Solution Architect , Red Hat , said considering the current context of working from home ( WFH ), security and data protection , the skills gap especially in the African context and aligning culture with the digital strategy poses a huge challenge to any successful implementation of Digital Transformation . McDougall said while organisation leaders understand
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