According to Dell Technologies Digital Transformation Index, a mere 3% of businesses in Malaysia are Digital Leaders and only 21% have a clear digital plan and strategy. The study revealed that 51% of Malaysian business leaders believe their organisation will struggle to meet changing customer demands and 48% fear they’ll be left behind within just five years.
The Dell Technologies Digital Transformation Index (the DT Index) was completed in collaboration with Intel. It maps digital transformation progress of mid to large-sized companies and examines the digital hopes and fears of business leaders.
“We’ve talked about being on the cusp of tremendous change for some time now. That’s no longer the case. The next digital era has arrived and it’s reshaping the way we live, work and conduct business. Which means that time is of the essence. Genuine transformation needs to happen now, and it needs to be radical.” said KT Ong, Country Manager – Malaysia, Dell EMC.
The DT index’s calculations are based on companies’ perceived performance in the following areas – delivering against the core attributes of a digital business; their existing IT strategy, workforce transformation strategy and planned investments.
The top five barriers hampering digital transformation are:
- Lack of budget and resources
- Data privacy and cyber
- security concerns
- Lack of right in-house skills sets and expertise
- Lack of senior support and sponsorship
- Immature digital culture: lack of alignment and collaboration across the company.
The research indicates that businesses are taking steps to overcome their barriers, along with the threat of being outmaneuvered from more nimble, innovative players.
- 56% of businesses building security and privacy into all devices, applications and algorithms; and striving to develop the right skills sets and expertise in-house, such as teaching the staff how to code
- 54% of Malaysian businesses using digital technologies to accelerate new product/services development
- 47% sharing knowledge across functions, by equipping IT leaders with business skills and business leaders with IT skills
Companies are also turning to emerging technologies and cybersecurity to power (and secure) their transformation.
Planned investments by Malaysian businesses within the next one to three years:
- 56% intend to invest in cybersecurity
- 50% intend to invest in IoT technologies
- 39% intend to invest in multi-cloud
- 35% intend to invest in Artificial Intelligence
- 33% intend to invest in a compute-centric approach to data center design and workload enablement/optimisation
“It’s an exciting time to be in business. We’re at a crucial intersection – where technology, business and mankind meet to create a better, more connected world,” added Ong. “However, only technology-centered organisations will reap the rewards offered by a digital business model, including the ability to move quickly, to automate everything and to delight customers. This is why digital transformation needs to be a number one priority.”
