Companies in Singapore have caught up in technology but 48 percent of them says Action is the most important factor in achieving their digital strategy.
Wong Heng Chew, Country President, Fujitsu Singapore said while tech is not the only influencing factor in achieving digital strategies, it goes beyond creating new business models an revenue sources.
“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,” said Wong.
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, reveals the Fujitsu’s latest report, the Digital Transformation PACT.
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.
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.