Navigating Disruption: The Future of Agile Business Success in China
Telstra, a leading global telecommunications and technology company, today published research exploring how 512 ICT and business decision-makers in north Asia, including 102 in mainland China, adapted during the COVID-19 pandemic and how they see their future IT strategy. Specifically, the research sought to discover the priorities and impacts of rapid digital transformation over the course of 2020 as well as future shifts in strategy.
Click Here to View the Full Research Report
Working with Kantar, an independent market research company, Telstra surveyed decision-makers across North Asia in major hubs based in mainland China, Hong Kong SAR, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan. The research surveyed the digital needs and challenges that businesses in these markets have experienced during this pandemic period of intense growth and digital transformation, as well as their subsequently evolving ICT investment priorities.
In the inaugural report, “Navigating disruption: The future of agile business success”, Telstra found that digital transformation needs were already high, but priorities have since changed. As businesses in mainland China and across the region began to work from home and move services online, the demands on networks, IT systems, and transformation projects grew immediately.
The changes to the way organisations will continue to work are permanent with 96 per cent of businesses in mainland China agreeing that the move to remote working fundamentally changed their business. The need for collaboration and cloud solutions is here to stay with 77 per cent of Chinese businesses saying hybrid working models, which are a mix of office and remote working, will become the norm over the next year. This was higher than any other country surveyed in north Asia.
The biggest challenge when it comes to delivering remote work is security, according to 64 per cent of respondents in mainland China. Telstra’s research shows that the other technological barriers for digital transformation projects are application and data readiness, as well as infrastructure readiness.
“The pandemic highlighted the importance of the cloud and of having an adaptable, secure, and resilient network. This will help businesses to not only survive but also to thrive,” said Chi Tat Yan, Chief Executive Officer, Telstra PBS. “With our suite of advanced network and data centre services, we are committed to supporting Chinese businesses transition to the cloud and support them in their shift to successful hybrid working.”
The report also found that the pandemic has caused project costs to escalate. In fact, 79 per cent of businesses in mainland China have seen an increase in digital transformation project investments due to the pandemic. Fifty-eight per cent of Chinese respondents said they were increasing their cyber security policies to support remote workers in the next 18 months, and 80 per cent said they would introduce measures to protect against security threats.
“Doing business in 2021 is not easy – it requires resilience, foresight, and nerve,” added Paul Abfalter, Head of North Asia and Global Wholesale at Telstra. “Businesses have risen to the challenge of adapting to the reality of remote working by rapidly putting policies in place which let employees easily stay connected and work from home. However, there is still work to do, as businesses need a holistic digital transformation plan which brings together connectivity, cloud, collaboration, and security.”
For more information about our research report, please visit:
https://www.telstra.com.hk/en/
