Lack of talent hinders Asia’s tech transformation

Although confident of their digital strategy, most companies are slow to adopt new tech

Lack of talent hinders Asia’s tech transformation

Most companies in Asia are slow to adopt technology due to budget constraints (47%), lack of adequate talent (43%) and an unfit IT infrastructure (42%), found a recent study by Cisco.

Even in cybersecurity, which is highly critical to the success of digital transformation, almost half of the respondents (47%) admitted to having a reactive approach and implementing security solutions and upgrades only after a breach.

Among the employers in ASEAN countries,

  • only 60% have started to adopt cloud tech
  • 59% have adopted cybersecurity solutions
  • 55% used big data and analytics
  • and 48% have automated processes.

However, despite the relatively low rate of tech adoption across the Asia Pacific region, confidence and awareness of technology’s crucial role for future business success remains high – particularly in ASEAN companies. The study found that the confidence among companies in ASEAN is higher than the rest of the Asia Pacific region (84%).

The majority of companies based in one of ASEAN’s six countries are confident that their current digital transformation strategy is appropriate to help them stay competitive (94%), and that they are adequately prepared to adopt relevant technologies (93%).

While companies in ASEAN are prepared to accelerate digital transformation, confidence levels vary across companies. The study shows 19% of IT leaders in large organizations don’t think they are ready to adopt relevant technologies for transformation, compared with 7% in smaller companies.

The findings suggest that unburdened by legacy systems and large user base, younger and smaller companies have a unique opportunity to leapfrog their IT development.

 

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