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Expereo, the world’s leading global intelligent internet company that connects people, places, and things anywhere, has announced the release of the Expereo-commissioned IDC InfoBrief “Enterprise Horizons 2024: Technology Leaders’ Priorities on Their Digital Business Journey.” The Expereo Enterprise Horizons report details insights from a survey of over 650 global technology leaders and highlights attitudes towards growth and investment as well as the key inhibitors to achieving these ambitions.

The survey results, published in the IDC InfoBrief, reveal that APAC organisations are optimistic about their business outlook for the next 12 months, with 85% of technology leaders expecting to see moderate to high growth in this period. The role of technology in helping deliver that growth has reached new prominence, driven by the pace of AI adoption. However, the Expereo Enterprise Horizons report reveals major obstacles that must be overcome for technology to fully enable growth priorities, notably the emergence of a short-term, opportunistic attitude to technology planning.

Technology’s Role in Business Growth Strategies

When asked about their business outlook for the next 12 months, 50% of APAC enterprises expect to see moderate growth and a further 35% expect high growth. The ability of technology to help deliver this growth has never been higher on the agenda, with almost a third of technology leaders (33%) saying growth (to increase revenue and/or expand into new markets, segments, and/or geographies) is in their top 3 priorities driving tech investments in their organisation. In addition, the top priority of technology leaders is now to contribute to business growth / increased turnover.

Short-Termism Putting Growth Ambitions Under Threat for Many

However, the Expereo Enterprise Horizons report found that only 23% of APAC enterprises have reached full digital maturity—a scenario where a long-term digital business strategy is in place and there’s an orchestrated enterprise-wide digital-first trajectory. The reality is that most of organisations are still working on opportunistic and short-term digital plans with isolated and siloed digital excellences across IT and Business units.

In fact, a third (32%) of APAC enterprises admit to having a short-term focus, meaning digital strategy and initiatives are enterprise oriented but typically have a short lifespan. Interestingly, there are more than a quarter (29%) of APAC respondents who say whilst the CEO supports digital initiatives, they do not work closely enough with technology leaders, putting digital transformation initiatives in jeopardy.

Expereo Enterprise Horizons Report See Digital Maturity as Vital to Meeting Challenges

The range of challenges identified in the Expereo Enterprise Horizons report reflects the mix of technical, economic, and cultural factors that technology and business leaders face today.

When asked what the biggest risks or inhibitors are to their growth ambitions over the next 12 months, 37% of APAC respondents cited geopolitical issues as potentially affecting either their business or their technology providers. This is followed by inflation (31%), economic uncertainty (32%), uncontrolled spending by lines of business (33%), and performance of networks /connectivity globally (30%).

When asked about serious challenges to executing the digital initiatives aimed at enabling growth, IT integration complexity (41%), partners’ capabilities (40%), and lack of regional expertise (35%) were identified.

Increased Automation, Enhanced Cost Containment Seen as Key Growth Enablers

When asked how their organisations were planning to deliver global growth over the next 12 months, the number one driver is via increased automation for more than half (52%) of respondents; a further 63% agree that automating business operations and processes are now considered important or extremely important. Additional growth initiatives include an increased focus on cost containment and efficiencies (49%) and increased innovation (38%).

AI Is the Number One Technology Investment Priority

43% of respondents named AI as their number one technology investment priority, narrowly beating security (39%) and cloud or multicloud networking/ connectivity (37%). 34% of respondents believe AI/ML will be critical to fulfilling business ambitions, a further 60% say it will be important.

Ben Elms, Chief Executive Officer at Expereo, said: “This year’s Expereo Enterprise Horizons report brings encouraging news: there is a growing optimism about global growth, and the critical role of technology in driving this progress is widely acknowledged. Many organiasations are eager to accelerate their journey toward the future through digital transformation, but the path forward remains a work in progress for many. Bridging the gap between the fifth of global organizations that exhibit full digital maturity and the rest is imperative.

To move swiftly into the future with digital transformation, organisations need a comprehensive long-term 360-degree digital strategy. This strategy, according to the Expereo Enterprise Horizons report, must encompass every aspect of the technology stack—from AI/ML, automation, and analytics, to cloud performance, security, network visibility, and connectivity. Such a strategic approach is essential for ensuring the performance, agility, and scalability necessary for sustained high growth.”

For the full Expereo Enterprise Horizons report, please visit: https://www.expereo.com/whitepapers/enterprise-horizons-2024.

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