IT, make-or-break new normal factor

Information technology is still deemed the key to survival among enterprises in dictating the success of small business owners.

During the opening of the CXO Innovation Summit 2022 in Shangri-La Boracay in Malay, Aklan, Jimmy Go, president, and CEO at VST ECS Philippines, Inc., emphasized that innovation remains the key for companies to be protected from future economic uncertainties such as global recession, among other inevitable headwinds.

"IT modernization underpins the success of all enterprises. At the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, technology has been pivotal to keeping businesses agile, staying connected with colleagues, friends, and families, enabling online education, supporting remote work, and enabling companies to operate," he said.

Quoting a report from the global management consulting firm McKinsey and Company, Go said the contagion has even pushed companies over the technology tipping point, transforming businesses incessantly.

"We have seen a massive shift in IT prioritization, requiring organizations to recalibrate IT investments. As digital adaptation takes a quantum leap, new opportunities emerge, but it's also sad that we are also exposed to lots of vulnerabilities. Now that the digital channel and physical platform have been accepted for communication and transaction, IT is at the center stage," he said.

To address the demands of the changing world, he said enterprises need to prepare for the unpredictable future where technology is the center of innovation for the success of every business.

Future norms

With this, he said the new normal is seen being dominated by a lot of innovations, changing the brick-and-mortar way of life, namely artificial intelligence, bitcoin, financial technologies, digital transactions, smart city, virtual and augmented reality, renewal energy, and circular economy.

"For 2023 and beyond, we are faced with a global recession, high-interest rates, foreign exchange fluctuation, higher power costs, global stock tumbles, job cuts, supply chain disruption, and a lot of risks. So, we need to plan for the uncertainties for the next few years," Go advised firm representatives during his address.

"But during those uncertain times, IT will no longer be considered as an operational expense, as technology will be considered as the strategic investment for survival and success of every enterprise," he emphasized.

Moreover, he said that in the post-pandemic era, agility is also imperative to business survival, which means that IT modernization is crucial to allow organizations to reinvent and rapidly scale up the business, harness cloud technology, support the dispersed workforce, optimize the abundance of data, and understand customers better.

However, he said the path to IT modernization may vary per company, per organization, or depending on business priorities.

"Modernization can be in any area such as cybersecurity, data protection, storage, data management, networking, and cloud solutions, among others. But ultimately, IT modernization initiatives should result in business transformation," according to Go.

The CXO Innovation Summit is the biggest annual event organized by VST ECS Phils. Inc. for key IT decision-makers.

In partnership with leading ICT vendors, the program creates an atmosphere for C-Level attendees to listen, discuss, and gain insights on the future direction of technology, the latest trends, challenges, and best practices relevant to today's evolving business landscape.

This year's summit, which was stopped for two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic, is themed "Modernization in the Era of Digital Economy," which will run until 25 November.

Participating brands at the CXO Innovation Summit are Oracle Philippines, Trend Micro, Cisco, Huawei, Adobe, VMware, Fortinet, Dell Technologies, Yugabyte, Aruba, APC by Schneider Electric, Lenovo, IBM, HPE, and Microsoft Philippines.