Forrester's Report Addresses APAC Software Strategy Execution Hurdles

In today’s rapidly evolving digital landscape, high-performance IT is crucial for businesses to maintain a competitive edge, especially in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region. With the software industry in APAC projected to grow by 10.3% in 2024, achieving optimal performance in software strategy execution remains a significant challenge for many companies.

Forrester's report, The State Of The Software Market In Asia Pacific, 2023, highlights that APAC software decision-makers view budget constraints as the primary barrier to effectively implementing their software strategies and realising the anticipated business benefits.

In an exclusive interaction with Manisha Sharma, Assistant Editor, Charlie offers valuable insights on overcoming the key challenges faced in executing software strategies across the Asia-Pacific region. His analysis delves into effective strategies, best practices, and innovative solutions to address these challenges, providing a roadmap for organizations to achieve successful software strategy execution.

Charlie Dai, VP and Principal Analyst at Forrester, offers strategic advice and guidance to technology executives across various domains. His expertise spans cloud technologies, big data and AI, IoT, blockchain, commercial drones, quantum computing, DevOps, digital process automation, low-code, and open-source software. With rich experience in technology strategy, enterprise architecture, and software delivery management, Charlie leads global research on technology architecture in several emerging areas. He also focuses on vendor landscapes and best practices in China, Asia Pacific, and worldwide. As a key contributor to Forrester's consulting team, Charlie helps clients address business requirements and accelerate digital transformation. His 20+ years of experience in the software industry, combined with certifications in PMP, ITIL, and FinOps Practitioner, underscore his in-depth industry expertise and dedication to helping global enterprises and vendors achieve success. Charlie holds a BS in automation and an MS in pattern recognition and intelligent systems from Tsinghua University of China.

Can you elaborate on the key factors causing misalignment between IT and business units in your organization?

Key factors causing misalignment include differences in assessing competencies and value, inadequate governance structures, poor communication channels, and insufficient collaboration and shared decision-making, specifically in APAC, the corporate culture can be a big challenge. For example, excessive respect for authority and hierarchy will discourage questioning decisions made by superiors; and the low-risk tolerance will lead to resistance due to cultural attitudes toward uncertainty.

What are the primary challenges faced in coordinating between operations technology teams?

Common challenges include misaligned goals and objectives, ineffective leadership and management, lack of clear metrics or accountability mechanisms, lack of trust and team cohesion, and resistance to change.

How does the lack of executive support affect the implementation of software strategies in your organization?

First, without strong backing from top leaders, executing software strategies becomes challenging. Lack of support may lead to delays, resistance, and inadequate resource allocation. Second, when executives don't actively endorse software initiatives, the misalignment with organizational goals will result in missed targets and suboptimal outcomes. Finally, without executive sponsorship, employees and stakeholders may resist change or lack motivation to participate fully, limiting access to necessary resources for successful implementation.

What role does communication play in achieving business unit alignment, and how is it managed in your organization?

Communication plays a pivotal role in achieving business unit alignment within organizations. Effective communication ensures that all business units understand the organization's overarching goals and their specific objectives; brings clarity to individual roles and responsibilities; creates a shared vision and purpose; allows teams to exchange insights, discuss challenges, and celebrate successes; and encourage collaboration and cooperation.

What security measures have been implemented to mitigate these challenges, and how effective have they been?

APAC software leaders are actively addressing cybersecurity challenges by implementing various security measures, such as zero-trust security frameworks, security operations powered by foundation models, and intelligent threat detection. The effectiveness varies based on implementation, organizational context, and evolving threats.

How do you approach the modernization or replacement of these applications to improve flexibility?

A range of approaches are available for organizations to employ for cost reduction and flexibility improvement for legacy systems, such as application rationalization and consolidation, re-platforming to the public cloud, application modernization through refactoring or moving to SaaS, as well as the adoption of FinOps practices for continued improvement.

What challenges and successes have you encountered in integrating AI into your software solutions?

Successful adoption of AI can bring strategic values to organizations, such as improving efficiency, powering smart decisions, differentiating customer and employee experiences, generating new revenue streams, and expanding the business ecosystem boundary. However, a range of challenges would hinder the AI adoption, including misaligned use case prioritization, poor AI readiness of data, the lack of AI governance for security, privacy, and regulatory compliance, the short of skilled talents, and incapable partners for AI adoption.

How is CX prioritized within your software strategy, particularly in markets like India and Australia?

Software decision-makers in Australia, India, Japan, and Malaysia most often cited CX as a focus for software strategy and investment. CX directly affects revenue, customer loyalty, and brand reputation. In highly competitive markets, consumers and enterprise customers demand seamless, personalized experiences at scale, and superior CX differentiates businesses.

What factors do you consider when selecting a public cloud provider in a competitive market?

When selecting a public cloud provider in a competitive market, several factors should be considered, including the breadth, depth, and ease of use of the cloud services across the full-stack spanning infrastructure, development, and platforms, especially the support for intelligence and automation in every domain; the support for hybrid cloud and cloud migration; regional differences and local service availability; alignment with existing IT landscape and workforce skillset; partner ecosystem and community coverage; industry solution coverage and consulting/solutioning capabilities; and the cloud cost for production and long-term roadmap.

What software strategies are in place to capitalize on the expanding e-commerce opportunities in these markets?

Enterprises in the region should proactively seek collaboration with eCommerce partners to explore business opportunities. Technologies like public cloud, generative AI, and customer analytics will play a key role.

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