Forrester on how CIOs can prepare for moderate tech spend ahead
- 26 January, 2017 11:48
CIOs will have to prioritise their tech budgets based on how aggressive their firms’ digital transformation plans are.
The slowing economies in most Asia Pacific markets will mean lackluster 3 per cent growth for technology budgets in 2017.
This will be followed by faster growth to almost 6 per cent in 2018, according to Forrester analysts Andrew Bartels and Frederic Giron.
“CIOs will have to prioritise their tech budgets based on how aggressive their firms’ digital transformation plans are,” the two analysts report in Forrester’s Asia Pacific Tech Market Outlook For 2017 To 2018.
“Customers in the region will grow and exert more power, creating challenges that require CIOs to do more — and do it faster,” they point out.
Meanwhile, they predict digital talent — especially mobile developers, data specialists, and security experts — will continue to be in high demand.
The Forrester analysts advise CIOs to shift their focus to business technology software and services, as leading companies are already moving to the next generation of cloud-based infrastructures.
CIOs now need to turn their attention to working with their business partners to find the right commercial software and related tech services to support their strategic objectives.
With most countries, apart from Japan, projected to enjoy solid economic growth, a key strategic objective is certain to be revenue growth, they state.
In New Zealand and Australia, the Forrester analysts call on CIOs to implement a "customer-obsessed operating model".
In 2016, CIOs in New Zealand and Australia embraced the digital revolution as a way to remain relevant, they state. “In 2017, ANZ CIOs need to accelerate the changes to the technology team that will make them fast, agile, and customer-obsessed. This includes making Agile development a standard practice, training technology teams on human-centered design principles, and changing key performance indicators to reflect customer outcomes.”
“Don’t fear cloud — profit from it,” they advise as well.
Cloud computing is not only a viable option for a broad range of technology workloads, it has become the preferred method for entering new markets and remaining competitive. They say CIOs should not think this perspective does not apply to their organisation.
Major cloud providers like Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Google have invested in various markets in the region to alleviate CIOs’ concerns about security, data residency, and local regulations, they point out.
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