Only the strongest and most innovative will survive in today’s increasingly digital world, according to Kenneth Arredondo, president and general manager, Asia Pacific & Japan (APJ), CA Technologies in his opening keynote address at the CA Technologies APJ Media & Analysts Summit. That was the underlying message echoed by other speakers and industry experts at the regional conference.
From paying bills to monitoring health patterns to booking movie tickets, almost everything is now at your fingertips. Today, ever-evolving apps are enabling transactions seamlessly and have become the main point of customer contact for many businesses. This digital world is what CA refers to as the application economy.
Highlighting the prevalence of the application economy worldwide especially across APJ, Arredondo outlined how organizations should focus on matching the pace of innovation with the pace of disruption, and capitalize on the opportunities to transform and grow during challenging times.
Seizing opportunities amid challenges in APJ
While economic uncertainties are widely expected to persist through 2016, there are some bright spots in APJ which cannot be overlooked. Arredondo pointed out how the region will likely continue to be the global growth leader, having more than half the world’s population with strong youth demographics.
“Today’s digital world is shaped by a confluence of revolutionary technologies like cloud, mobility, big data and Internet of Things, which are making the future even more exciting. There is increasingly more awareness about the urgency to embrace digital transformation. Placing it firmly on the agenda of governments and business leaders, to help enable them transform and grow in a world adjusting to new realities,” said Arredondo.
In the current complex business scenario, organizations need to be agile, innovative and operationally sound. These were among the key attributes highlighted at the summit that will enable organizations to incubate ideas fast; being able to be the first to go to market with new products and services; and scale their operations easily when their businesses grow.
“Disruptors are not all about new companies and start-ups. Disruptions can happen with companies looking for new ways to increase productivity,” he added. “The digital evolution is already happening, and history has taught us that it is critical for companies to catch and successfully ride the next innovation wave, or risk being left behind especially as the window of opportunity to surf this wave gets shorter. Industries that once enjoyed decades of market dominance have needed to adapt or die,” he added.
CA’s Strategic Approach in today’s Application Economy
Arredondo underlined how CA has designed its portfolio of solutions to help customers transform to become truly digital businesses.
“Software has existed for decades. However, today, we look at software in a different way – it is not just a technology product. Business and IT leaders need to look at software as a basic organizing principle as it allows scale, reduces friction, adds speed and enables repeatable, automated transactions. When software is harnessed at this level, it becomes a lever to innovate and grow, and more importantly, create completely new business models. We have helped organizations defend, evolve, and grow their businesses in today’s application economy by focusing on APIs, implementing DevOps, investing in security and becoming truly agile.”
At the summit, the inaugural edition of the CA Technologies (APJ) Application Economy Index (AEI) 2016 was also unveiled. The study identifies the readiness of 10 APJ markets to thrive in today’s digital world. Singapore led the rankings ahead of Australia and South Korea. However, based on future market potential accelerators, China, India and Indonesia leapfrogged to the top of the table.