Malaysian IT decision-makers turn to open source to maximise IT capabilities

• Seventy percent believe that using open source can help reduce software licensing costs
• In the next few years open source will play a major role in the evolution of digital technologies

RED Hat, Inc, a provider of open source solutions, announces the results of a commissioned study by Forrester Consulting, on behalf of Red Hat, about the use of open source in digital innovation initiatives in the Asia Pacific region.

The results, highlighted in the study Open Source Drives Digital Innovation revealed that majority of IT decision-makers in Malaysia are turning to open source in order to maximise their IT capabilities.

The research surveyed 455 CIOs and senior IT decision-makers from nine countries in Asia Pacific. The insights gathered reflect that 76% of respondents in Malaysia regard open source as a cost-saving option whereas 24% consider it to be a strategic investment for their organisations.

“Many anticipate that the pace of digital disruption will only pick up, causing wider and deeper impact on businesses, and every industry may soon find a digital competitor.

“It is more urgent than ever for organizations to find their own competitive advantage through technology. With this shift, open source has evolved to play an increasingly strategic role as a default choice for technology innovation to help businesses improve their agility, efficiency and innovation,” says Red Hat Asia Pacific senior vice president and general manager Dirk-Peter van Leeuwen (pic).

The study also discovered that updating and modernising key legacy applications within the next 12-months is one of the top IT initiatives for survey respondents.

Seventy percent of respondents from Malaysia believe that using open source can help their organisations reduce software licensing costs. Aside from that, 68% shared that open source enables their organisation to engage with an open ecosystem of innovation partners, which can foster greater collaboration.

Another key benefit noted by 62% of those surveyed in Malaysia is the ability of open source to support business innovation with new capabilities.

 The survey results also predicted that, within the next two to three years, open source will play a major role in the evolution of digital technologies. In line with that, 54% of respondents in Malaysia shared that their organisation is planning to adopt and implement open source solutions in their technology roadmap within the next 12-months.

On the other hand, 42% of respondents from Malaysia have already adopted open source solutions, and other respondents are looking to expand the implementation of open source solutions.

Aligning strategic initiatives to meet changing customer needs

To succeed in an age where customers are taking a front seat, many organisations are working to translate business objectives into IT initiatives, enabling organisations to create high-value experiences for customers.

To do so, many organisations are adopting more efficient and agile approaches to application and system management. Insights gathered from survey respondents in Malaysia revealed that the following IT initiatives are likely to be the key priorities for organisation in the next 12-months.

• Updating and modernising key legacy applications (68%)
• Integrating back-end systems and applications with customer facing mobile and web systems (64%)
• Consolidating customer-facing systems to create a single customer view (62%)
• Increased mobility for workforce efficiency and business improvement (66%)

The research predicts that over the next two to three years, the role of open source will accelerate, enabling enterprises to expand their capabilities and innovate further.

Ninety percent of respondents from Malaysia believe that the overall success of their organisation is strongly tied to innovation.

This research was commissioned by Red Hat and completed in September 2016. Forrester Consulting conducted a computer-assisted telephone interviewing (CATI) survey of 455 senior IT decision-makers and CIO’s across nine countries in Asia-Pacific (Australia, China, Indonesia, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan).

The custom survey was completed with organisations having 1,000 or more employees. Survey respondents included are from organisations in the financial services, government, healthcare and telecommunication industries. 

 
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