June 20168 Digital transformation is topping the boardroom agenda across the Asia-Pacific region for good reason. The region is home to half of the world's Internet users, and has become one of the world's most economically dynamic areas, with billions of consumers impacting the way businesses operate.In fact, digital is transforming chief information officers' (CIOs') roles as much as it is transforming their businesses. For example, in today's digital world, a cloud-based service can be provisioned and scaled from one to 100,000 users ­ in minutes. Customers expect to engage in real time, using social media platforms and any mobile device they choose. And employees want access to their work tools that's as easy and available as a mobile app. As digital disruption continues, CIOs should move quickly to exploit new technologies that can make their companies' operations more efficient and potentially generate revenue.First, it's important to acknowl-edge that digital transformation means more than updating systems and pro-cesses, or putting a digital spin on ex-isting products or services. It's much bigger than that. Next, CIOs should recognize those digital technologies ­ like social media, the cloud, data analytics and mobile - are disrupting business across all industries, fundamentally changing the ways in which consumers interact with companies, while creating new business models. As a result, building an effective business strategy in a digital world now means understanding the impact that the combination of web, mobile, social, analytics, cloud and the Internet of Things has on all parts of a business. It is about driving change and efficiency across all parts of the enterprise.In particular, digital disruption means that CIOs should consider the growing role that data plays in digital disruption, generating a more data-driven approach to understanding customers and their behaviors. Although many clients have invested heavily in data analytics to understand data within the enterprise, the new operating model for digital will require organizations to become adept at IN MY VIEW RISING TO THE CHALLENGE OF DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION: AN IMPERATIVE FOR CIOSBy Richard Suhr, Global Digital Leader, EY's Advisory ServicesErnst & Young is one of the "big four" consulting firms, widely known for its global reach and market value. Headquartered in London, United Kingdom, EY provides professional services, assurance, tax, and advisory services to businesses worldwide.
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