In today’s digital world, data is an essential part of almost everything we do. From making informed business decisions to providing the best customer outcomes, data plays a crucial role in shaping organisations’ actions and strategies. With the increasing availability of customer data, companies can now gain valuable insights into customer behaviour, preferences, and expectations; and offer personalised experiences to build long-lasting relationships.
Ecosystm Principal Advisor, Audrey William talks about 5 things to keep in mind when working on your data strategy to improve customer experience.
- Build a data-driven CX culture. If you don’t have a Chief Experience Officer, appoint one.
- Understand your data needs. Blindly gathering data without evaluating significance or utilisation, can cost you.
- Evaluate your data repositories. Invest in a CDP or an Intelligent Data Platform for a unified view of customer data.
- Use Speech Analytics to truly understand your customer. Go beyond traditional metrics to gather data-driven insights.
- Aim to achieve hyperpersonalisation. Make it the goal and core of your data and customer strategies.
Read on to find more.
Download Putting Data at the Core of CX Transformation
During tough economic times, organisations need to be even more attentive to their customers’ needs and find creative ways to deliver high-quality customer experiences while keeping costs under control.
Tim Sheedy – VP Research, Ecosystm presents the best practices that organisations can use to modify their customer experience during these uncertain times.
- Bring back the empathy. While people might have stopped worrying about their health, economic concerns are real.
- Focus on customer retention. Customer attraction takes more effort and investments than customer retention.
- Invest in customer support. This can be done through digital touchpoints as well as in-person interactions.
- Continue to simplify the purchasing process. Even the slightest friction in the purchase process is enough to drive potential customers away.
- Focus on value over discounts. Customers look for value more than they look for discounts.
Read on to find out more.
Download Modify Your CX for Tough Economic Times as a PDF
We have seen a steady shift in people’s awareness of the environmental and social impacts of their actions. And this awareness, has led to a demand for sustainable and ethical practices from brands they interact with. Consequently, organisations are feeling the pressure to incorporate ESG factors into their business models to attract and retain customers; to nurture a purpose-drive talent pool; to address investor activism; and to comply with industry and country regulations.
At the Leaders Dialogue: Asian Sentiment 2023 conversation, Ecosystm Founder and Chairman, Amit Gupta; Ahmed Mazhari, President of Microsoft Asia; Padmashree (Paddy) Santosh, VP & Global Head of Learning, Diversity and Organisation Effectiveness at Olam Agri; and Luca Destefanis, Head of Marketing APAC at Kyndryl discussed the biggest drivers, opportunities, and challenges for Asian leadership in driving a sustainable future.
Here are the key takeaways:
- There has been a clear growth in a collective consciousness.
- ESG initiatives must start with a clear definition of the goals.
- It will require a multi-dimensional strategy that focuses on strategic alignment and people.
- ESG strategies need to be technology-enabled
- Ultimately, data is the key enabler of all ESG efforts
- Tech companies are focusing on expanding their ESG impact.
Read on to find out more.
Download The ESG Conversation as a PDF
Organisations are uncertain about how 2023 will shape up for them, amidst concerns about recessions, supply chain uncertainties, continued geopolitical volatility, energy crisis, and labour disruptions. At the same time, they have to continue to evolve their products and services, the customer experiences they deliver, and overall brand image.
If you are a tech leader, your first instinct would be to cut down on technology spend to align with your organisation’s cost optimisation strategy. And that is where you would make the first mistake – this is the time to invest in the right technologies to help your organisation face the uncertainties with agility.
Here are 5 things that you should keep in mind when shaping your organisation’s tech landscape in 2023.
- Focus on the shortest time to value. Choose a few smart digital improvements that are aligned with the strategic goals of the business and deliver value quickly.
- Drive better corporate outcomes through Sustainability programs. The transition to smart and sustainable digital assets and infrastructure should be a top priority for today’s technology leaders.
- Build resilience by improving value chain visibility. Digital technologies will continue to play an important role in providing visibility and insights across the value chains for risk management and resilience.
- Treat location data as a feedstock for AI & Automation. With the increasing importance of automation, especially to contemporary service models like digital twins and metaverse, incorporating spatial and location data into your strategy is essential for staying ahead of the competition and driving meaningful business outcomes.
- Find allies against cyber adversaries. Join the cybersecurity communities that exist in your geography and industry. Participate openly as possible so that lessons are shared quickly and widely. Don’t try to defeat the flood on your own.
Read on to find more.
Download Making the Right Tech Decisions for Better Value as a PDF
People management has always posed challenges for businesses and their HR leaders. Leaders have to address skills shortages, develop strategies to attract and retain talent, and promote inclusiveness in their policies. Today’s digital landscape – where there is a scarcity of digital skills across industries – makes it even harder. Leaders are now paying close attention to employee experience and retention, and topics such as digital workplace, hybrid work, flexibility, and wellness have made it to management discussions.
At the Leaders Dialogue: Asian Sentiment 2023 conversation, Ecosystm Founder and Chairman, Amit Gupta; Ahmed Mazhari, President of Microsoft Asia; Padmashree (Paddy) Santosh, VP & Global Head of Learning, Diversity and Organisation Effectiveness at Olam Agri; and Luca Destefanis, Head of Marketing APAC at Kyndryl discussed where Asia is facing their biggest challenges in talent management and how to mitigate them.
Here are the key takeaways:
- Digital skills shortage is real
- Purpose empowers employees
- The ‘Productivity Paradox’ needs addressing
- Hybrid Work is the accepted norm
- Technology & Culture differentiate the employee experiences
- Getting workplace transformation right is crucial
Read on to find out more about the future of talent in Asia.
Download The Talent Conversation as a PDF
There is no doubt that 2023 is off to an uncertain start. However, despite the economic headwinds we expect that some areas of technology will see continued growth. In fact, from our conversations with business and technology leaders, it appears that many organisations will take the opportunity to right-size their businesses, remove excess fat and waste, and accelerate their transformation efforts. The plan is to emerge from a global slowdown – leaner, smarter and better.
Where there is an opportunity to automate organisations will take it – and technology spend will trump people spend in 2023.
But it won’t all be smooth sailing as technology buyers become more discerning than ever and manage costs closely.
Here is what tech providers should focus on to remain resilient in these uncertain times.
- Be prepared to work harder – especially cloud and SaaS providers
- Help customers optimise costs
- Accelerate innovation to stay ahead of M&A activity
- Employ security to manage risk
- Prepare for product-led growth
Read on to find out why.
Download Be Alert – Not Alarmed: Analyst Guidance for Tech Providers as a PDF
Today, Asia is home to nearly 60% of the world’s population and accounts for 39% of the global GDP. As the region’s importance continues to grow (7 out of the top 10 economies is expected to be from the region, contributing to 47% of the global GDP by 2030), investment in Asia is a key priority for governments and large corporates around the world.
With the region taking centre-stage, there is a growing optimism as opportunities open up for local economies. It remains a unique market – differentiated by a strong spirit of innovation, vibrant startup ecosystem, and propensity to leverage technology to transform.
At the Leaders Dialogue: Asian Sentiment 2023 conversation, Ecosystm Founder and Chairman, Amit Gupta; Ahmed Mazhari, President of Microsoft Asia; Padmashree (Paddy) Santosh, VP & Global Head of Learning, Diversity and Organisation Effectiveness at Olam Agri; and Luca Destefanis, Head of Marketing APAC at Kyndryl discussed where Asia is leading and lagging behind when it comes to tech-led transformation and innovation.
Here are the key highlights:
- Asia demonstrates a “Disrupt or be Disrupted Mindset”
- The need for innovation is encouraging corporate venturing
- There is a growing interest in emerging tech
- Yet organisations might be scratching the surface
- Outcome-led transformation will be the key
Read on for more insights into Asian sentiment.
Download State of Digital Transformation in Asia as a PDF
2023 has started amidst concerns. Economists are talking about slowdowns, recessions, and downsizing. In the past, every time the economy has been uncertain, we have seen a downtrend in tech spend by companies.
2023 will be different!
Today, all organisations know of the power of digital transformation and will continue to invest in technology to counter the market uncertainties. They will respond to the emerging forces of innovation, deploy automation to counter skills gaps, and focus on being nimble and agile businesses – all with the help of technology.
Here are the 5 trends that will impact tech spending in 2023.
- Organisations will aim for “Big Ticket Innovations”. This will see innovation becoming integral to strategic discussions on culture, people, process, and technology; and the resurgence of emerging technologies.
- AI will replace Cloud as organisations’ transformation goal. Organisations will evolve their AI roadmaps and strategies – focusing on both short-term wins and long-term success factors. They will also make an effort to identify digital debt and weed out applications and services that are sub-optimal for AI
- Building the right data platform architecture will gain importance. Data platforms will become free from the constraints of operational technologies. This will see a reduction of dependence on centralised data repositories; and an uptick in adoption of data fabric architecture to manage distributed data
- Organisations will invest in proactive cyber protection amidst escalating threats. Organisations will focus on immutable backups, data masking techniques and on building a single pane of glass view of all cyber tools and applications
- Sustainability will drive tech investments. This will see an evaluation of all infrastructure (whether cloud or on-premises) with a focus on cost and sustainability and a growing need to integrate all organisational data – across digital, IT, and OT systems
To find out more, read below.
Download 5 Trends Impacting Tech Investments in 2023 as a PDF.
The Blockchain ecosystem relies on distributed ledger technology and its promise to make systems and processes cheaper, faster, inclusive, and permissionless. The use of the word “decentralised” has become central to advocacy discussions as well as daily conversations about digital assets. However, it is a loaded term that entails governance, economic, management, processing, and legal attributes. The degree of decentralisation across these attributes needs to be examined, clearly defined in a spectrum, and evaluated for the benefit of the current and the future participants of crypto networks as well as other stakeholders, including public policy makers and regulators.
What is decentralisation? How can we define the spectrum of decentralisation? How decentralised are the leading crypto networks right now? How are market forces impacting it? What are the main benefits of decentralisation in Decentralised Finance (DeFi)? What are the risks and vulnerabilities associated with decentralisation?
These were some of the themes discussed at an invitation only ThinkTank session at the Singapore FinTech Festival 2022 hosted by Ecosystm and supported by Oliver Wyman:
- DeFi is a very broad term and needs to be clearly defined. “Decentralised” is a spectrum with governance, economic, management, processing, and legal attributes for crypto networks.
- To test the principles of decentralisation, an element of stress or concentration must be introduced, especially when technologies are still at a nascent stage.
- There has been a growing interest in DeFi in the banking space, and leading institutions are building teams to better understand the technology and how they can apply it to their business models.
- Along with institutional capital, transparency and trust are essential for progress. New technology comes with different risks, but finding the right balance between technology, processes, and security is key.
- Regulators are open to working together as they are also struggling to keep up with the fast-moving industry. Conversations with institutions, regulators, and law enforcement agencies are vital to understand how to implement and regulate different innovations.
Download Report – The degree of Decentralization in DeFi
(Clicking on this link will take you to Oliver Wyman website where you can download the report)
