Neat: APAC businesses losing over 4.5 hours weekly per employee to outdated meeting tech

Outdated meeting room technologies are causing Asia-Pacific (APAC) organisations to lose an average of 4.5 man hours per employee each week. This inefficiency translates to an estimated USD$8,524,000 annual loss for a 1,000-employee company and accounts for approximately 11% of total man-hours lost per employee annually.

These findings are found in From Lagging to Leading: How Smart Collaboration Redefines Work in Asia/Pacific, an IDC InfoBrief commissioned by Neat. IDC surveyed 1,080 executives across the region and found that key frustrations negatively impacting physical meeting productivity include technical issues when using videoconferencing equipment (63%), using outdated technology (55%), and difficulty in setting up or using meeting equipment (55%).

"The data is pretty stark. What many businesses might consider 'good enough' collaboration technology is, in reality, costing them significantly in both time and money," said Niko Walraven, Area VP for APAC at Neat.

"This isn't just an IT issue; it's a fundamental business productivity issue that affects the bottom line and employee experience across the APAC region."

The evolving nature of work in APAC confirms that flexible models are here to stay, requiring purpose-built technology to support them. One-third of APAC-based organisations have 50% of their team members located remotely. Despite a trend of employees returning to the office (over 65% spend three to four days in-office), the need to connect dispersed teams effectively remains critical. This need for hybrid equity is underscored by the fact that 72% of meetings now involve videoconferencing with remote colleagues, and investments in collaboration technology are increasingly prioritised over other workplace facilities.

Looking ahead, IDC predicts that by 2028, 70% of G1000 (the top 1000 largest organisations globally in terms of revenue) employee content will be enhanced with visual, auditory, and/or tactile modalities that will boost effective collaboration.

Neat said specific market insights further highlight the urgency for smart solutions.

Organisations in India show the strongest belief in the region that working from the office boosts productivity (64%). However, they face the second-highest productivity loss from outdated tech, with an estimated 4.8 hours lost per employee per week and a US$9 M annual cost for a 1,000-employee company.

In Singapore, 29% of organisations expect a shift to 100% in-office work in the next 18 months, increasing the pressure on meeting room efficiency. These diverse scenarios all point to the common requirement for adaptable and intelligent collaboration tools to meet specific market demands, Neat said.

Cisco APAC SMB Digital Maturity Index finds Singapore SMBs in the lead

Source: Cisco ebook. The Cisco APAC SMB Digital Maturity Index measures digital maturity along four dimensions.

· SMBs in Singapore ranked No. 1 on Cisco APAC SMB Digital Maturity Index*

· Cybersecurity is the top technology that SMBs in Singapore are investing in, followed by cloud and analytics

· Lack of digital skills and talent within the organisation and lack of insight into operational and customer data listed as the top challenge by SMBs across the country

Small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) in Singapore are the most digitally mature across the Asia Pacific region, according to the APAC SMB Digital Maturity Index released by Cisco in mid-April.

The index highlights that more than 60% of SMBs in Asia-Pacific have started to embrace digitalisation, driven by improved Internet access and growing smartphone ownership. These SMBs are redefining customer experience and expectations, disrupting sectors and in some cases creating entire new ones, while capturing investment and funding opportunities.

The index, developed by research firm IDC based on an independent survey of 1,340 respondents in 14 countries across the region, looked at digital maturity of SMBs across four business dimensions: technology adoption and application, digital transformation strategy and organisation, processes and governance, and the capability to source, manage and retain the right talent to enable their digital transformation.

SMBs in Singapore were classified into the Digital Observer stage of digital maturity, but are still some way from advanced maturity. There are four stages of maturity in total, with Digital Indifferent being the least mature, Digital Observer and then Digital Challenger moving up the scale of maturity, and Digital Native being the most mature. The Digital Observer stage is defined as being one where companies’ digital efforts are heavily focused on processes automation to achieve efficiencies.

The level of maturity of SMBs in Singapore is best exemplified by the technologies that they are prioritising with cybersecurity being the top technology they are investing in, according to 16.7% of respondents. This highlights that they are placing security front and centre of their digital transformation journey.

As SMBs in Singapore become more digital, it is not surprising that cloud is the top technology they are investing in, at 12.9% of respondents. This is in line with the trend of cloud adoption across the region as the technology allows SMBs to scale rapidly as and when required and without significant upfront capital investment in IT infrastructure.

SMBs in Singapore are also adopting analytics technologies, with 11.2% of respondents listing these as one of the top three technology types that they are investing in. This highlights that they have a proactive data driven approach in their go-to-market decision making. Singapore and China are the only countries in the Asia Pacific region where analytics solutions rank in the top three for technology investments.

“SMBs in Singapore are often the first to embed digital technologies into the business to amplify their size, presence and competitiveness in the market. As a result, they are the first to benefit from productivity improvements, efficiency gains and new revenue opportunities. To get ahead, SMBs need to be more savvy with government initiatives that have been set up to support them,” said Tay Bee Kheng, MD, Singapore, Cisco.

However, SMBs in Singapore are also facing hurdles to digital transformation. Respondents said they are being held back by the lack of digital skills and talent within their organisation (16.7%), lack of insight into operational and customer data (16.7%) and lack of perceived value for digital transformation in their industry (13.1%).

The survey also revealed that government initiatives have an impact on SMB digitalisation in Singapore. About 41.4% of respondents say they are aware of government initiatives that support SMBs and have already benefitted from them. Another 52.9% are aware but have not taken part in these programmes.

Bidhan Roy, Regional Director & GM, SMB Markets & Distribution, ASEAN, Cisco added, “SMBs in Singapore are aware of the importance of developing a digitally-enhanced business to compete and use technology to improve business decision making around customers’ needs across all industries. The exceptional enabling environment in Singapore for innovation and digital transformation, combined with modern, upgradeable infrastructure, means that SMBs can readily take advantage of new innovations as they become available. This continuous focus on innovation is key for SMBs to keep driving Singapore’s economic development.”

The index suggests the following recommendations that can accelerate the digital transformation journey of SMBs in Singapore:

Digital transformation is a journey

It is not a sprint but a marathon. SMBs should constantly access their maturity across the four dimensions and prioritise key initiatives to address gaps.

Invest strategically

SMBs need to have a well-defined digital transformation strategy and roadmap. They need to use this as a guide to make strategic technology investments, ones that help them address their key challenges and leverage specific growth opportunities.

Embark on process automation and digitalisation

SMBs should look to gain efficiencies through process automation by leveraging relevant technologies. They should establish policies to standardise processes. As the organisation matures in their digital transformation journey, they should leverage data and digital technologies to transform processes, increase innovation rates and gain agility.

Secure buy-in

Change can be difficult, so SMBs need to ensure buy-in from employees and senior management. They need to identify digital champions within the organisation and bring them in early to the process. They should leverage these champions to catalyse a culture of change by encouraging collaboration, sharing success stories, and taking calculated risks.

Find a trusted partner

Many SMBs find it difficult to execute on their digital transformation strategy. SMBs should look for an experienced technology partner that brings consultancy and project management services, on top of technology knowhow. When deciding, it is important to find partners with experience working with and within the SMB ecosystem.

Explore:

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*Respondents were from Australia, mainland China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, Taiwan and Vietnam. The SMBs were from multiple industries, including financial services, manufacturing, construction and resources, public sector, services, infrastructure, retail and wholesale.

AR, VR show promise in APeJ

Asia Pacific excluding Japan (APeJ) spending on augmented reality and virtual reality (AR/VR) is forecast to reach US$11.1 billion in 2018, an increase of more than 100% from US$4.6 billion the previous year, says research firm IDC.

The latest update of IDC's Worldwide Semiannual Augmented and Virtual Reality Spending Guide shows investments on AR/VR products and services have gained "exceptional market momentum" in 2018 and are expected to achieve a five-year CAGR of 68.5% through the forecast period of 2017 to 2022.

“The availability of new standalone VR headsets such as Oculus Go from Facebook and Mirage Solo from Lenovo is expected to drive adoption as well as content spending in 2018 and beyond, as these headsets eradicate the need for pairing with PCs or consoles that used to drive costs higher for AR/VR experiences," said Avinav Trigunait, Associate Research Director at IDC Asia Pacific.

The consumer sector will continue to drive growth for AR/VR products and services, and accounts for 51.3% of overall spending in 2018. The growth will be primarily driven by the availability of new headsets for VR which will lead to VR consumer spending. 

AR spending will be dominated by the purchase of services – the launch of AR software development kit (SDK) platforms from both Google and Apple are also expected to drive spending on application development and games for mobile platforms. AR games in the consumer sector look  promising and are projected to hit a five-year CAGR of 90.9%, whilst VR games will register a growth of 54.7% in five-year CAGR over the forecast period. 

Source: IDC. Top use cases for AR/VR based on 2018 market share.

Enterprise spending, which represents more than 48% of AR/VR spending in 2018, is expected to overtake the consumer sector in the next five years with 58% share by the end of the forecast period. Each of the five commercial sectors is forecast to register solid growth in spending throughout the forecast period, led by the distribution and services, and public sector. Distribution and services, worth US$2 billion, will be the largest amongst the five commercial sectors in 2018, led by the personal and consumer services, retail, and professional services industries. The second-largest sector will be manufacturing and resources (US$1.7 billion) with balanced spending across the process manufacturing, construction, and discrete manufacturing industries.

The VR games use case has the highest share among all the sectors, garnering a 39.4% share of overall spending in 2018. In the distribution and services sector, training and retail showcases will be the two largest AR use cases with a combined spending of more than US$329 million in 2018. Training, industrial maintenance and project management will be the largest use cases in the manufacturing and resource sector. In the public sector, infrastructure maintenance and government training will be the two largest use cases in 2018.

"The use cases for both AR and VR are proliferating in the enterprise segment as companies across sectors are developing new IT and business applications. Many enterprises in the region have already developed solutions utilising AR and VR such as for design and visualisation, corporate training, field maintenance and customer experience, and marketing applications," added Trigunait.

"AR/VR technologies are quickly crossing the chasm with several real-world applications emerging every day in both enterprise and consumer segments. Although, the Asia Pacific excluding China and Japan adoption is slower when compared with the US or even China markets, the growth trajectory is very promising with enterprises which are utilising AR/VR technologies to accelerate their digital transformation strategies. In terms of spending, the education industry is expected to top the charts from 2019 till the end of the forecast period out of the 19 industries covered in this spending guide. Other key industries driving growth for AR/VR include retail, manufacturing and healthcare," said Swati Chaturvedi, Senior Market Analyst, IDC IT Spending Team.

On a geographic basis, China will be the region with the largest AR/VR spending with 91.3% share of the overall spending (US$10.2 billion) in APeJ in 2018 and this trend is likely to rise over the forecast period with a five-year CAGR of 70.5%. While, AR/VR technology in other countries of APeJ are slowly emerging and experimenting around how AR/VR can improve the retail and other industry experiences.

Asia Pacific sees improvements with future-ready IT

· Future-ready enterprises can be divided into four categories: Current Focused, Future Aware, Future Focused and Future Creators

· Future Creators outperform Current Focused peers in key performance indicators

· The most future-ready enterprises in APJ report improvements in eight different business indicators

Source: Dell infographic. The four things that future-ready organisations are more likely to do.

Dell has announced the Asia Pacific findings of a global study* by analyst firm IDC - commissioned by Dell - which underscores the association between IT innovation and business results for organisation's in this region. The research discovered measurable business improvements as a result of future-ready IT adoption, tracked over a three-year period from 2012 to 2015.

The most future-ready organisations in Asia Pacific and Japan (APJ) cite the following benefits:

· Over 50% increase in customer satisfaction/retention and growth in revenue from new products

· More than 40% increase in revenue or sales/bookings, on-time customer delivery, regulatory compliance, reduction in time to market for new products and services as well as new customer acquisition

· Improved employee productivity by 39%

Based on the data, IDC has classed 16% of all companies as Current Focused; 32% as Future Aware; one-third are Future Focused, while the remaining 18% are called Future Creators. Future Creators are the most future-ready enterprises who lead with agile platforms and big data, while Current Focused organisations are defined as those that are still focused on traditional IT or still at the beginning of their technology journey.

“The Future Ready Enterprise Index has shown that the most future-ready organisations are able to successfully promote agility, scalability, and innovation in their business through the adoption of converged infrastructures, cloud, big data and analytics (BDA) solutions. Mapping out four different stages in the future-ready journey, the white paper clearly highlights that being a ‘Future Creator’ in Asia Pacific is a clear competitive advantage, while staying ‘Current Focused’ tends to be a competitive disadvantage. Businesses that pay attention to where they are on their journey and adapt suitable practices within their unique business context will make the most of their technology investment,” said Peter Marrs, Vice President & General Manager, Enterprise Solutions, Dell APJ.

Strategies that produce deeper business insights

According to the survey, organisations need real-time visibility to make effective decisions for successful business outcomes. Traditionally, solutions that can cross and bridge multiple data types and sources so that they have the right data at their fingertips, at the right time to make the right decisions, do not exist off-the-shelf, and require specialised expertise to conceptualise and develop.

The Future Ready Enterprise Index has found that Current Focused organisations have little or no BDA strategy, and any BDA outputs typically have little or no influence on decision makers. In contrast, Future Creators have implemented enterprise-wide BDA strategy, with findings treated seriously by decision makers. In Asia Pacific, 98% of decision-makers from Future Creators have access to BDA at the right time compared to 58% of executives at a Current Focused organisation. This has led to faster organisational reaction times to change, driving improved business outcomes.

Enabling better use of infrastructure and data resources

The research found that business units at Current Focused organisations do not execute IT-led cloud strategies, but instead use public software-as-a-service (SaaS), platform-as-a-service (PaaS), and infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) offerings on an ad hoc basis. In contrast, Future Creators maintain cross-cloud catalogues, plus audit/security and data control.

In APJ, over 50% of Future Creators noted that cloud adoption has enabled BDA within their business, and most have seen more effective use of infrastructure and data resources. These have allowed the respondents to track usage and performance, leading to greater productivity and optimised outputs.

An example of a Future Creator that has successfully deployed cloud technologies to better utilise its IT and data resources is Samitivej Hospital in Bangkok. The private healthcare provider operates a network of facilities in Thailand, employing 3,000 healthcare professionals. The hospital has upgraded IT infrastructure, such as data centre storage, cloud computing and data recovery functions. This enabled the institution to be future-ready, delivering better, faster, and more cost-effective patient services.

Optimising IT and business assets

Future Creator respondents from Asia Pacific highlighted greater resource utilisation, greater IT staff productivity, improved business agility and flexibility to adapt to change in the market as the top four benefits of using hyperconverged infrastructures.

eResearch South Australia, a joint venture between the University of Adelaide, Flinders University and the University of South Australia, has for example created an open-source cloud and high-performance computing infrastructure to improve its research methodologies. Becoming a Future Creator has enabled cost savings and empowered its researchers to collaborate across distance and disciplines to share insights and gain access to data to be more innovative.

Adopting advanced technologies which enable future readiness can benefit businesses, but organisations which are structured to be the most future ready - Future Creators - benefit the most.

Interested?

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Determine your Future Readiness Ranking

*The IDC Future-Ready Enterprise Index studied the current state of digital transformation, surveying 2,529 IT executives across 20 industries in the US, Canada, UK, France, Germany, Japan, China, Australia, New Zealand, India, Brazil and Mexico. Companies were evenly divided between those with 100 to 999 employees; 1,000 to 4,999 employees; and 5,000 or more employees. Results were weighted by country/company size using GDP and employment distribution.

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IDC shares what consumers in APAC look for in mobile devices

IDC has published an infographic handily describing how consumers in the Asia Pacific region decide on mobile devices. Key takeaways for the Essential Guide to Device Decisions of a Connected Consumer in Asia Pacific include:

Source: IDC infographic. What consumers like about bigger phone screens.

Nearly eight in 10 (77%) consumers surveyed currently own a larger smartphone compared to their previous phone while 8% bought a smaller phone.

More than 50% of smartphone owners who previously owned a Samsung have switched to other brands. A third of these are currently using an iPhone.

Source: IDC infographic. What APAC consumers use their tablets for.

A quarter of the consumers in China shop online on their tablets.

About six in 10 (58%) of consumers in Asia Pacific excluding Japan intend to purchase a 2-in-1 device.

A smartwatch’s battery life and compatibility with the user’s existing phone is one of the top purchase criteria for consumers in Asia.

Interested?

View the complete infographic 

E-tailing grows in popularity for smartphones in China

Need to reach more customers? Working with an e-mall may be the way to go, particularly in China. IDC's latest Mobile Phone Tracker shows that the share of e-tailers (such as JD, Alibaba's Tmall and Suning Yigou) for smartphones sold in China increased from 14% in Q214 to 21% in Q215. In terms of unit growth, the number of smartphones sold online through e-tailers increased by 58% year-on-year (YoY) in Q215.

"With operators reducing their smartphone subsidies, there is greater opportunity in the open market for vendors, and e-tailers are a key channel that vendors are focusing on,” said Tay Xiaohan, Senior Market Analyst with IDC Asia/Pacific's Client Devices team. "E-tailers in China often offer discounts or free gifts to consumers, and also tend to sell phones at a lower price as compared to the offline retail shops. They have also started offering more services in the recent years."

IDC expects the share of e-tailers to grow over the next few years. Other reasons include:

Major promotions. JD, Tmall and Suning Yigou have huge promotions at least three times a year. This includes the promotions on 18 June and 18 August to celebrate the anniversary of JD and Suning Yigou respectively. Rival e-tailers often match a competitor's promotion. Another major online festival to boost sales is the annual Singles Day promotion, held 11 November.

Discounts and services. E-tailers such as JD offer consumers the option of paying for a phone through monthly instalments, or to trade in their old phones to obtain a discount. They also add service options like insurance for damage to mobile phone screens. JD will repair the phone for free for insurance holders, or provide monetary compensation in the event that the screen is damaged.

Variety. A wider range of models are offered, and some phone models can now be found only through e-tailers. In contrast, consumers are limited to phones of a specific brand at vendor-branded retail shops. Typically, physical shops which carry multiple brands cannot command the same economies of scale to offer the same variety of models that an e-tailer can.

Convenience. From same-day delivery of purchased phones to easy price comparison of phone models and access to user reviews and feedback, e-tailers offer more options to consumers.

With most major vendors maintaining agreements with e-tailers, IDC expects that e-tailing will continue to be a popular channel in China in the coming years. Even vendors like Xiaomi, which has a large emphasis on retailing via its own website, recently signed a deal to open an online store on JD's website in May 2015. Huawei, which sold the most number of phones through e-tailers in Q215, has online stores with the three major e-tailers in China. 

iCharts

IDC Financial Insights picks top 50 mobile pioneers in APeJ

In early 2014, IDC Financial Insights published Mobilizing Financial Services in Asia/Pacific, a report detailing the most innovative and interesting mobility initiatives within financial services. The company has just released an infographic describing the findings. 

IDC Financial Insights notes that Australia, mainland China, Hong Kong, India, South Korea and Singapore are leading the mobile charge in the Asia Pacific excluding Japan region (APeJ). 

The company says the opportunity for mobile commerce is high, with growing adoption of mobile devices in Asia, and great interest in paying for goods and services via a mobile channel. Close to 10% of mobile Internet users in APeJ already make purchases through their mobile devices, for example.

Digital, the company says, has become the preferred customer channel for banking customers in Asia. 

A comparison of banking behaviour between 2010 and 2012 shows a clear rise in mobile transaction volumes over online equivalents in Malaysia and Korea, while a look at transactions in China and Thailand show that both mobile and Internet transaction volumes are expanding their share of the digital transaction mix over ATM transactions for the same period. Banks have been responding by ramping up their support for mobile channels, IDC has noted.

Finally, IDC Financial Insights has revealed the top 50 mobile pioneers in APeJ. These are companies which have adopted advanced mobile technologies like proximity payments, where bringing a mobile device near a payment terminal is enough to complete the transaction; remote payments, or payments which are not made in person; and mWallets, which are applications that allow users to store virtual cards, loyalty and promotional offers, and money in a single mobile app.

View the full list of 50 here.

*All images from the IDC Financial Insights "Asia's Top 50 Mobile Pioneers in Financial Services" infographic. View the full infographic here.

SMEs, consumers to benefit as banks ramp up on innovation

Small businesses and bank customers now have more innovative choices for banking. Selected financial institutions in the Asia Pacific region received Financial Insights Innovation Awards (FIIA) at the Asian Financial Services (AFS) Congress 2014 in Singapore in late February in recognition of their innovation and creativity in fulfilling business objectives:

AllianceBank Malaysia is Asia's Most Customer Friendly Bank for its BizSmart Academy initiative. The Academy combines business education, coaching and seed funding to young SMEs and reaches out to both existing customers and the wider business community. 

The bank offers business education and training to customers through a structured year-long curriculum covering various management, business and finance topics, and also backs an annual SME Innovation Challenge through which high potential SMEs benefit from a two-month training and coaching programme, after which one winner receives RM250,000 to implement their business ideas. 

The Academy also features an online resource of tools and information for entrepreneurs.

Alliance Bank picked up Asia's Best Online Banking award as well for a customer-centric Online Banking solution for the business segment, along with other innovative products such as the Picture Business Credit Card and value-added propositions in the form of business education for SMEs and collaboration platforms.
 

CIMBBank has Asia's Best Payments & Remittance Service

OctoSend via CIMB Clicks service was launched on 23 August 2013 in Malaysia. This feature allows the bank’s customers to send money to anyone using only their mobile number or email address, taking away the hassle of remembering lengthy bank account numbers. This service can be accessed online, via the CIMB Clicks App and through OctoPay, the bank’s Facebook banking application.

Asia's Leader in Smart Banking is Cathay United Bank

Cathay United Bank's Agile Marketing Transformation programme is geared towards enabling more relevant relationship marketing initiatives more quickly. It uses predictive modelling to better align the right product to the right customer, adds greater automation, and leverages on analytics-backed enrichment of new customer data.

DBSBank received the Asia's Best Branch Banking award

Transformed DBS branches deliver an easy and convenient banking experience for its customers that is enriching, educational and entertaining through breakthrough banking infrastructure and technology.

DBS (Hong Kong) Bank, a branch of DBS Bank, provides Asia's Best Mobile Banking

DBS mobile app advertised in Singapore

At DBS Hong Kong, the DBS Online Loans Centre offers automated online straight-through loan application processing, where consumers can use either a desktop computer or smartphone to complete their application and obtain results within minutes, thereby saving time and providing added convenience for consumers.

The annual FIIA by IDC Financial Insights are given to top Asia Pacific financial institutions that have demonstrated innovation and creative thinking in the areas of customer engagement, product development, process reengineering or risk management to fulfill their business goals.

Cheaper smartphones.. if you're in an emerging market

Manufacturers are already thinking about other emerging markets when planning for future smartphone growth. China accounted for one out of every three smartphones shipped around the world in 2013, but is reaching saturation, according to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker.

IDC says smartphones already account for over 80% of China’s total phone sales. The next half billion new smartphone customers will increasingly come mainly from India and Africa, the research firm predicts. 

"The China boom is now slowing," said Melissa Chau, Senior Research Manager for mobile devices at IDC Asia/Pacific. "China is becoming more like mature markets in North America and Western Europe, where smartphone sales growth is slackening off." 

Xiaomi already has the Redmi, while Nokia announced the Android Open Source Project-based Nokia X family of low-end smartphones and accompanying developer platform at the Mobile World Congress in Spain on February 24. The Nokia Xs are positioned between the Asha feature phones and high end Lumia smartphones, allowing the phone maker a stab at a new market.

Based on the Android Open Source Project (AOSP), and backed by Nokia's deep ties with operators, the Nokia X platform gives Android(TM) developers the chance to tap into, and profit from, a rapidly expanding part of the market. The launch builds on Nokia's leadership in delivering innovation to more price points with its family of Lumia smartphones, and the latest momentum for Windows Phone. - See more at: http://press.nokia.com/2014/02/24/nokia-welcomes-android-developers-expands-global-developer-footprint-with-momentum-across-lumia-and-asha/#sthash.mvMryHhu.dpuf

oday at Mobile World Congress, Nokia unveiled five new affordable handsets including a new family of smartphones debuting on the Nokia X software platform. Based on the Android Open Source Project (AOSP), and backed by Nokia's deep ties with operators, the Nokia X platform gives Android(TM) developers the chance to tap into, and profit from, a rapidly expanding part of the market. The launch builds on Nokia's leadership in delivering innovation to more price points with its family of Lumia smartphones, and the latest momentum for Windows Phone. - See more at: http://press.nokia.com/2014/02/24/nokia-welcomes-android-developers-expands-global-developer-footprint-with-momentum-across-lumia-and-asha/#sthash.mvMryHhu.dpuf

India will be key to future smartphone growth as it represents more than a quarter of the global feature phone market. "Growth in the India market doesn't rely on high-end devices like the iPhone, but in low-cost Android phones. Nearly half of the smartphones shipped in India in 2013 cost less than US$120," said Kiranjeet Kaur, Senior Market Analyst for mobile phones at IDC Asia/Pacific.

It's all about mobile this year for the Philippines

When it comes to the Philippines, it is not about technology so much as it is about mobile technology. 

"The younger segment of the population make up the new workforce. They have the utmost need to be connected, updated, informed and entertained. In most cases, they also have lower number of dependents. All these characteristics point to stronger demand for anything mobile, whether devices, services or applications,” says Jubert Alberto, Research Manager, IDC Philippines.
IDC has forecast that an expected increase of 22% on smartphone spending and 40% on tablet expenditure, coupled with rosy economy indicators, will drive overall ICT spending in the Philippines in 2014. Apart from devices, ICT spending starting this year will be impacted by other aspects of mobility, plus cloud, big data/analytics and social business, as the Philippines embraces these four key pillars of the 3rd platform, IDC said.

Usage of these technologies is being driven by the need of companies for new and effective ways to market and reach out to targeted customers, said the research firm, as well as increasing ICT demand from small and medium enterprises.

The following are some of the top predictions that IDC believes will have the biggest commercial impact on the ICT industry in the Philippines in 2014: 

Mobile data continues to drive telecom growth in the Philippines 

Unlike in other Southeast Asian countries where mobile data will only surpass mobile voice in terms of overall size in 2014, mobile data will continue to drive the Philippines market. Mobile data is expected to grow by 15%, with voice peaking at 7%.

Karen Rondon-Garcia, Research Manager, IDC Philippines, commented: “Popularity of mobile computing devices such as smartphones, mini notebooks and tablets will increasingly translate to actual mobile data usage especially as 3G and 4G coverage improve, and mobile operators become creative in pricing their mobile data services.”
 
The smartphones and tablets craze will open up bigger opportunities in the 3rd platform space

IDC forecasts 40% growth for tablet shipments to the Philippines in 2014. It is also noteworthy that people in the Philippines patronise local brands more often compared to their Asian neighbours. The country still has a lot of room for growth in the tablet space.

Jerome Dominguez, Analyst, IDC Philippines says, “With the bullish tablet and smartphone growth in the country, novel opportunities within the 3rd platform space of social and mobility will increase - which businesses can utilise to their advantage.”

4. Increasing integration of social media and mobility will give rise to new modes of consumption

With the increase of smartphones and tablets in the Philippines, mobile devices have become the preferred primary devices for consumers. Due to this, social media and mobility have increasingly been integrated. 

Cecilia Santos, Analyst, IDC Philippines, states, “In 2014, more organisations will see the importance of having visibility in the mobile social network and look for more creative ways of selling themselves to their consumers through app partnerships.”
 
Mobile apps will go more “Pinoy*” than ever

Over the past few years, Pinoy pride has become very apparent. This is driving the need for a plethora of apps developed which have Pinoy flavor and/or which are specific to Pinoy interests and customs. This trend will be likely continue in 2014.
 
Geolocation will unlock opportunities for commerce

Filipinos are increasingly letting their circles know about the places they frequent, from restaurants, to hang out places to vacation spots through social media. This trend has influenced IDC to forecast that geolocation information will be the game changer in 2014. 

Such data could allow marketers to study the behaviour of current and potential customers based on the places they frequent, their social activities, and interests.
 
Pervasiveness of mCommerce and mobile banking will rise in 2014

mCommerce and mobile banking are not new to the Philippines. However, the explosion of smartphone sales, coupled with expanding 3G coverage and LTE roll out and improving affordability of mobile data services are leading to demand for applications that allow mobile users to shop for products and tickets, book taxis, and sample content among others. 

The growth in smartphone usage is also putting pressure on banks to provide mobile banking services as more customers are demanding it for its convenience. 

Rondon-Garcia adds, “Additionally, mobile banking is the easiest way for banks to reach a larger population, and bridges the gap between banks and people who have no access to traditional banking facilities, particularly in agricultural areas.

"Furthermore, as online shopping becomes increasingly popular, whether using a smartphone or a personal computer, mobile wallets offered by mobile operators provide customers a means to pay for online purchases even when they have no credit cards, PayPal or bank accounts.” 

More technology players in “next wave cities”

With increased expansion of technology-dependent commercial activities outside Metro Manila, IDC predicts a rise in IT spending across more cities in the country: Sta. Rosa in Laguna, Bacolod, Iloilo, Metro Cavite (Bacoor, Imus, and Dasmariñas), Lipa in Batangas, Cagayan de Oro, Malolos in Bulacan, Baguio, and Dumaguete.

*Pinoy is a term often used to describe something that is uniquely Filipino.

Small business vs enterprise predictions: making it real

Over 2013, and indeed even in 2012, vendors and analysts have been highlighting the same few trends that will impact all businesses: the rising use of mobile devices, increasingly popular cloud services, social technologies that have become more and more common, and 'big data', or rather the potentially valuable business insights that can be afforded by the large volumes of data that are collected about customers by businesses today.

And the owner of a smaller business might snort and think, "Yet another forecast for large firms. What does this have to do with me?" As usual, the real-life answer is: "it depends". They might not generate enough data to call it 'big data', but small companies are very often already making use of cloud services, mobile devices and social technologies.

Today, every employee has a mobile phone, maybe two (or more). They probably store documents in the cloud. They can check email from their devices. And at the very least, they are chatting about work, company policies and the boss somehow: through those phones, or on the computer through an online chatting method, so that nobody hears any of the chatter (especially the uncomplimentary bits). 

The scale and scope of how the technology is used might be different, but any business with three or more staff does need to think about how staff make use of personal mobile devices in order to get work done, and what policies it should put in place for such practices. 

The business needs to consider if they should invest in an enterprise version of a technology. A cloud storage system for anyone is not as secure as an enterprise version of cloud storage for example.

But most important of all, the business should make it easy to get work done to ensure that customers are served as quickly as possible. If mobile devices are not supported in the basic business infrastructure, for example, perhaps they should be. 

Research firm IDC refers to the combination of mobility, cloud, social networks and big data as the 3rd Platform. Some aspects of this platform may look less relevant for small businesses, but others are already relevant today. The start of a year is a good time to think about #4 and #10 below, and get prepared for the future.

IDC's top 10 predictions for 2014 are:

#1: In two years, over 70% of CIOs will change their primary role from directly managing IT to become an innovation partner
#2: Before 2017, only 40% of CIOs will rise to produce business enhancing insights from big data and analytics

#3: 70% of CIOs will increase enterprise exposure to risk to accelerate business agility through increased cloud adoption
#4: Enterprise business mobility will require 60% of CIOs by 2017 to support an agile architecture with next-generation mobile applications
#5: The demographic shift to young and mobile customers will require 80% of CIOs in consumer-facing businesses to integrate IT with public social networks by 2015
#6: By 2015, 3rd Platform requirements will drive 60% of CIOs to use enterprise architecture (EA) as a required IT tool, but only 40% will deploy EA effectively.
#7: By 2015, 60% of CIO security budgets for increasingly vulnerable legacy systems will be 30-40% too small to fund enterprise threat assessments
#8: By 2017, the transfer of 3rd Platform investments from IT to line-of-business budgets will require 60% of CIOs to focus the IT budget on business innovation and value
#9: By 2016, 80% of the IT budget will be based on providing broad portfolio of IT and business services
#10: By 2018, adoption of 3rd Platform IT technologies will redefine 90% of IT roles