Time to smarten your business

• In this time of change, enterprises must transform to stay relevant
• Here are three business transformation trends to look out for this year

IT is now a time of transformation amongst countries in the Asia Pacific region. In line with IDC predictions, efforts are underway to bring countries like Singapore, China, Japan and South Korea one step closer to becoming smart cities through transformational ICT such as the cloud, big data, mobility and social media.
 
Several other countries such as India and Indonesia have also announced plans to build smart cities.
  
The business landscape is set to change as enterprises become more open to leveraging technology to enhance their productivity and efficiency.
 
In the realm of enterprise communications, the global Unified Communications (UC) market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 14.08% from 2014 to 2019. Additionally, the cloud market in Singapore alone is projected to undergo a CAGR of 21.00%, hitting S$916 million (US$731.5 million) by 2017.
 
In this time of change, enterprises must transform to stay relevant – for instance, creating whole new ways for employee collaboration through technology solutions.
 
Here are three business transformation trends to look out for this year:
 
More businesses are going mobile
 
With more businesses shifting from a fixed desk model to a hot-desking, there will be a greater demand for softphones, UC clients and mobile clients.
 
The proliferation of smart devices such as tablets, smart phones, watches and even smart glasses will further accelerate the need for UC solutions.
 
UC allows businesses to become smarter by empowering employees with a seamless communication experience across multiple communication platforms. This leads to more effective collaboration, drive innovation and business growth.
 
While some businesses have already adopted cloud-based UC systems, more are exploring how these systems can be better integrated into their business.
 
Time spent tackling infrastructural issues can then be better channelled to accomplishing core business functions and goals.
 
Enterprises and SMBs embrace the cloud

According to IDC, more enterprises are choosing the cloud as their go-to service delivery platform, generating competitive advantages for their business. For example, businesses would be better able to hasten service delivery and drive financial efficiencies.
 
To meet the needs of businesses that may be reluctant to uproot existing infrastructure and legacy systems, there are now pay-as-you-use options available to businesses that will allow users to reap the benefits of the cloud.
 
The year 2015 will see more businesses embrace hybrid UC systems, which will in turn drive the growth of UC-as-a-Service (UCaaS) Solutions – a mid-market sector that is a green-field for growth.
 
Additionally, the cloud has been nominated as the top area for new technology spending by CIOs (chief information officers) in Asia Pacific, with one-third of enterprises embracing the public cloud – placing them ahead of their global counterparts.
 
This however, is not without its challenges, with many enterprises in Asia Pacific reluctant to adopt the cloud due to unfamiliarity with cloud technology and security concerns.
 
Organisations and consumers are moving progressively to address security and privacy, establishing greater trust in the industry.
 
Smarter ways to harness data

With increased adoption of the Internet of Things (IoT), data analytics has grown in relevance in the world of business. Data empowers businesses to make sense of raw numbers, and transforms them into meaningful decisions and intelligent predictions to drive business growth.
 
With ever increasing amounts of data, businesses are strategising ways to manage the data deluge or risk being overwhelmed.
 
Solutions such as streamlining IT infrastructure or deploying intelligent networks that contain systems to enable automation for example, will go a long way in future-proofing businesses to take on the data-driven future.
 
Enterprise network providers have developed increasingly sophisticated networks that are capable of dedicating network bandwidth intelligently based on areas of most pressing need, such as core business services to ensure prime performance.
 
These networks are also capable of generating useful business insights and trends to drive business growth and to achieve better customer satisfaction.
 
With an ever-evolving communications landscape and talk of creating smart nations, enterprises too need to develop smarter ways of conducting business, such as adopting UC systems to empower employees with more effective ways to communicate and collaborate.
 
The cloud is also set to increase in relevance, with more available options such as hybrid cloud systems to meet every kind of business need.
 
This, in combination with UC, will offer new ways for businesses to harness the power of data to drive better decision-making, give them an edge over competition, and achieve greater business growth.
 
Matthieu Destot is vice-president of Sales for Asia Pacific, Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise.
 
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