Convergent tech driving companies to go digital

The convergence of social media, mobile computing, analytics and the cloud is driving companies to go digital, according to Accenture. 

Nontawat Poomchusri, managing director of Accenture Thailand, said yesterday that the technology for accomplishing these business goals is available today, but that adopting a new digital mindset is required to harness the potential. 

The power and reach of converging IT trends such as mobility and cloud computing means that business leaders need to understand the implications of a software-driven, “connected everything” world.

Today’s software, for example, has the potential to change the very business model of a company or industry in the future, according to the “Accenture Technology Vision 2013” report.

“Organisations and their leaders need to hit the reset button on how they use technology to drive market differentiation, deepen customer relationships and deliver growth and profitability,” Nontawat said. 

The report looks at the future of enterprise IT and makes recommendations for how companies can take advantage of technology and software to improve their competitiveness, operations and business results. 

Organisations in Thailand are increasingly empowered by a range of exciting technologies that make it possible to take customer relationships beyond simply transactions and move into richer, more personalised interactions.

“Employing advanced data analytics and multiple digital touch-point is leading to the development of meaningful relationships with customers. To execute this at scale requires a major change in how Thai companies approach these technologies and their go-to-market strategies in order to implement a new unified approach across IT and the business,” he said.

As data become more widely used and companies see increasing competitive advantage from faster “data to insight”, the data and analytical skills in an organisation also become more critical to converting insights to action before opportunities are lost.

The pervasiveness of Web-based social technologies like Facebook and Twitter and video tools like Skype and Google+ Hangouts has profoundly changed the way users communicate with one another. 

By embedding similar collaborative tools into their business processes, enterprises can take advantage of employees’ growing comfort with social networks to gain a new level of productivity. Employees do not necessarily need to become more social for collaboration to work. Rather, it’s the work and processes that need to be more social.

Many organisations are already embedding the cloud with their legacy systems and traditional software to create “hybrid” environments. This requires a clear understanding of, and approach to, the skills, architecture, governance and security required, whether it’s the applications, platforms or IT infrastructure that’s in the cloud.

“The real challenge for Thai businesses in today’s digital landscape is to create effective business models in a world that is increasingly driven by software and apps,” he said. 

“To succeed, organisations must leverage IT innovations to analyse large quantities of often unstructured data in order to derive insights that enable them to optimise their enterprise, take advantage of emerging opportunities, strengthen customer loyalty and deliver better business outcomes,” he added.