Avaya/IDC Research: Asia-Pacific Enterprises Lead the way in Digital Disruption

Companies in Asia-Pacific are more confident in their ability to disrupt markets by implementing new digital technologies and business models, according to research conducted by International Data Corporation (IDC), and commissioned by Avaya Holdings Corp. Almost a third, 29.2%, of respondents said they were market disrupters, compared with the global average of 19.5%.

According to IDC’s Digital Transformation: The Key to Getting it Right report, increased employee productivity is a primary driver for digital transformation for 65.6% of organizations in Asia-Pacific, above the international average of 62.1%. Supporting new products and revenue streams and delivering better customer experience were ranked as the second and third-most important drivers for digital transformation.

The results of the survey were revealed today at Experience Avaya Asia-Pacific, the premier event for the future of the communications experience and its impact on digital transformation. Jim Chirico, President and Chief Executive Officer, Avaya, Nidal Abou-Ltaif, President, Avaya International, and other senior Avaya executives joined more than 400 customers, partners, and suppliers to examine how emerging technology trends are driving digital transformation initiatives in the region, and explore ways of collaborating together more effectively.

Greater use of communications was seen as vital by organizations, with 91.5% saying it is important or extremely important to embed communications into core business processes and applications. This would enable better productivity and collaboration for remote and mobile workers, cited by 80.5%, and allow greater control over the business (84.6%).

While organizations acknowledged the importance of human interaction in customer service, insufficient skills and training was seen as the biggest barrier to blending digital technologies with the “human touch,” followed by lack of appropriate procedures and processes.

“Organizations in the Asia-Pacific region are setting the pace for digital transformation, and are driving innovation in their industries. Companies understand the importance of communications and its impact on increasing employee efficiency. Empowering workers should in turn lead to better customer experiences, as more productive staff should be better able to meet their needs. However, companies recognize that there is still work to do on driving digital transformation. Avaya is working with leading organizations here in the region to leverage emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, blockchain and the Internet of Things to enhance business performance.”

Sami Ammous, Managing Director, ASEAN, Avaya

Additional APAC findings:

• 53.1% said a digital strategy is being executed in a coordinated way across the organization (50.4% globally);
• 62.8% indicated that IT is responsible for their organization’s digital transformation initiatives (74.6% globally);
• 15.6% of organizations have a centralized digital innovation group in charge of DX (11.1% globally);
• 57.4% of organizations claim that most but not all customer interactions are supported by a single, seamless experience across all services, functional areas and departments (45.5% globally);
• 79.5% of organizations regard blockchain as important or extremely important in managing customer security and privacy (79.1% globally);
• 73.5% of organizations see biometrics such as voice recognition for authentication purposes as important or extremely important (66.5% globally);
• Lack of insight into customer behaviors and preferences was ranked as the greatest barrier to improving customers’ experiences, cited by 52.8% (48.7% globally).