News facts:
- Competitors
are driving 3 in 4 organizations to adopt digital transformation, followed by
customers
- 1 in 4 organizations have experienced a failed
digital project in the last two years - at an average cost of SGD788,354 (€483,534),
which is lower than the global average cost of SGD904,872 (€555,000)
- More than two-thirds (68 percent) of the
respondents in Singapore admit a digital skills shortage, with 94 percent
believing that Artificial Intelligence will transform the skills needed
internally
- 74 percent say shadow digital projects are the
only way parts of the organization can complete meaningful innovation
- 80 percent of business leaders pointed to big
data and analytics as being most important to their financial success, while 74
percent cited that cybersecurity systems were most crucial to operational
success over the next decade
SINGAPORE - - February 22, 2018 -Although businesses recognize the importance of
digital transformation, organizations worldwide are struggling to balance the
elements needed to deliver on digital. Fujitsu's latest report, the Digital Transformation PACT, which surveyed 1,625 global
business leaders found that one in three (33%) has canceled a project in the
last two years at a cost of SGD689,659 (€423,000), while one in four
(28%) has experienced a failed project costing SGD904,872(€555,000). 82 percent
of businesses say that their customers expect them to be more digital, while 71
percent believe that they are behind their competitors. Ultimately, two in three
(66%) believe that they will lose customers relative to their competitors as a
result of digital transformation.
Business leaders in Singapore, among the respondents surveyed, proved to
be highly confident when it comes to digital transformation. Fewer than half of
Singapore businesses said that the fear of failure seriously hindered their
organizations' digital transformation initiatives, while nearly 2 in 3 business
leaders said that digital is creating entirely new business processes and
functions that are entirely digital-led -- the highest among all countries
surveyed.
Mr Wong Heng Chew, Country President, Fujitsu Singapore, comments:
"Technology is not the only influencing factor in achieving digital strategies,
and companies in Singapore have caught on to this, with close to half (48
percent) of them saying that Action is the most important factor in achieving
their digital strategy. Digital transformation is firmly integrated into
Singapore's business culture, and the majority agree that this goes beyond
creating new business models and revenue sources, to include the changing of
business processes. Co-creation remains a strong influence on businesses as
well. However, there is still much work to do, with the recognition of a distinct
lack of digital skills within the organizations, and the concern that slow
progress in digital technology will cause them to lose customers to their
competitors."
Key Highlights for Singapore
Realizing that digital transformation is about much more than technology
alone, the research commissioned by Fujitsu examines how businesses perform
against the four strategic elements required to digitally transform: People,
Actions, Collaboration and Technology (PACT).
In Singapore, 1 in 4 organizations have experienced a failed digital
project in the last two years. While this is consistent with global trends, the
average cost of failed projects locally was lower at SGD788,354
(€483,534) , compared to the global average cost of SGD904,872 (€555,000).
More than two-thirds (68 percent) of the respondents admit a digital
skills shortage. 74 percent of businesses say shadow digital projects are the
only way parts of the organization can complete meaningful innovation, while 92
percent say that their customers expect them to be more digital.
Local organizations generally recognize the importance of digital
transformation with majority of their projects having either been delivered or
are in progress. 46 percent of business leaders have already implemented
transformation projects with outcomes delivered, while 40 percent say they are in
the process of implementing digital transformation projects. For firms, the
biggest external factor driving transformation was competitors (76 percent),
while customers were a close second (68 percent). However, businesses continue
to face challenges across the four pillars of PACT -- People, Actions,
Collaboration and Technology.
-
People
Business leaders recognize the role of digital skills, upskilling their
staff through digital training programmes, and attracting the right digitally-native
talent. When considering their approach to the people involved in digital
transformation, the vast majority of business leaders (92 percent) are taking
steps to increase their access to digital expertise, with 68 percent admitting
there is a clear lack of digital skills within their organization.
Looking to the future, finding and nurturing talent with the right
skillsets will continue to be a key business concern. 98 percent of the
respondents in Singapore agree that upskilling existing staff will be vital to
success in the next three years. In addition, 94 percent saw that artificial
intelligence will transform the skills needed internally by 2020.
-
Actions
Survey results showed that Singapore is the most confident country in
believing that digital transformation is creating entirely new business processes
and functions that are digitally led. Almost all Singapore business leaders
agree that their business has a clearly defined digital strategy (94 percent).
90 percent are confident that the rest of the business knows what their overall
strategy is while 92 percent say that the leadership team is involved in the
planning of all digital transformation projects. However, two in three organizations
focus too much on technological change during transformation, rather than the
skills, processes and behaviors that must support it. 72 percent of business
leaders here say that silos within their organization seriously hinder the
ability to achieve their digital strategy, which is similar to sentiment
globally.
Shadow digital projects remain a prevalent issue in Singapore. 76
percent of respondents say that digital transformation projects often
undertaken are not linked to the overarching strategy, while 74 percent say
that shadow digital projects are the only way that parts of the organization
can complete meaningful innovation. While the majority (55 percent) say that
the cost of failed digital transformation projects has discouraged their
organizations from pursuing them in the future, the sentiment is still better
than the global average (66 percent).
-
Collaboration
Co-creation remains a strong influence in Singapore, with over two
thirds of businesses looking to undertake co-creation projects. Most of these
partnerships have been formed with technology experts (77 percent), followed by
existing customers (59 percent) and start-ups (56 percent). All three findings are
ranked above the global mean.
Over three quarters (76 percent) say they would be willing to share
sensitive information such as business plans and project pipelines with an
external partner as part of a co-creation project. However 72 percent admit
that a lack of success in a short timeframe would quickly put an end to
strategic partnerships.
-
Technology
Technology is also changing the way businesses in Singapore operate. Business
leaders planned to implement digital technologies such as cyber security
solutions (76 percent), big data and analytics (72 percent) and cloud computing
(66 percent) in the next 12 months. In the longer term, business leaders
pointed to big data and analytics as being most important to their financial
success (80 percent), while cybersecurity systems were most crucial to organizational
success (74 percent) over the next ten years.
There is a lack of optimism when it comes to businesses' progress with
digital technologies, more so in Singapore than globally. 92 percent admit that
their customers expect them to be more digital, while 60 percent feel that they
are behind their competitors in using digital to deliver for their customers.
The majority (70 percent) believe that digital transformation in their sector
will cause them to lose customers relative to their competitors.
While it was unanimous that technology is creating a fast-moving
business landscape, over two-thirds (70 percent) are concerned about their
organizations' ability to adapt to digital technologies such as artificial
intelligence. 82 percent conclude that it was impossible to guess who their
closest competitors would be in ten years.
An Infographic on key Singapore highlights is available at: .
Notes to editors
Fujitsu's
"The Digital Transformation PACT" report
This
quantitative research was carried out in July and August 2017 by independent
research company Censuswide. 1,625 business decision makers were surveyed
within mid to large sized businesses across public sector, financial services,
retail and manufacturing. All respondents had either already delivered a
digital transformation project or had expressed an interest in doing so in the
future. Survey sample size per
country:
- Australia: 153
- China: 150
- Finland and Sweden: 150
- France: 150
- Germany: 151
- Hong Kong: 50
- Ireland: 20
- Italy: 150
- Japan: 150
- Singapore: 50
- Spain: 151
- United Kingdom: 150
- United States: 150
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Fujitsu is the leading
Japanese information and communication technology (ICT) company, offering a
full range of technology products, solutions, and services. Approximately
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customers. Fujitsu Limited (TSE: 6702) reported consolidated revenues of 4.5
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in business development, technology innovation and customer support as regional
headquarters for the Fujitsu group of companies in ASEAN and was subsequently
established as the Asia region headquarters in 2014. Building on Fujitsu's
three decades of experience in the region and with a pool of highly skilled
engineering talent, Fujitsu Asia is dedicated to providing comprehensive
integrated IT-based business solutions that deliver tangible business value and
enable customers to meet the challenges of the new global economy. Fujitsu Asia
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leading provider of IT-based business solutions for the global marketplace. For
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