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State of the Asian CXO 2012   1




                    State of the
                     Asian CXO


brought to you by        sponsored by
2      State of the Asian CXO 2012




             Contents
3            Foreword by tC seow, editor, CIo Asia


       4          Foreword by Martijn blanken, Managing director, telstra global


             5         executive summary


                  6          business challenges and priorities


                        9          technology challenges and priorities


                              10        the rise of cloud computing


                               12              the challenge of social networking


                                 13                    the role of the CXo


                                  14                       It skills




                                                          Acknowledgements
    Produced and designed by: CIO Asia                    About Fairfax Business Research                        telstra global provides innovative and flexible
    Magazine and Fairfax Business Research                Fairfax business research (Fbr) is the                 global communications services and solutions
    Sponsored by: Telstra Global                          demand-side research division of Fairfax               for organisations looking to maximise the
    this report is based on the findings of a survey      business Media. Fbr provides business                  benefits of globalisation, particularly across
    of It leaders in public and private organisations     intelligence and custom research services              growth regions such as Asia, whilst driving
    in singapore, Malaysia, thailand, the                 in Australia, new Zealand and across 11                sustainability and enhancing business agility.
    philippines, Indonesia, hong Kong and India.          countries in the Asia pacific.
                                                                                                                 together with its offshore subsidiaries and
    our sincere thanks to all survey participants         About Telstra Global                                   international investments, telstra global
    for sharing their insights.                           telstra global is a leading global supplier of         serves over 200 of the world’s top 500
                                                          managed network services and international             companies, spanning Asia pacific, eMeA and
    About CIO Asia Magazine                               data, voice and satellite services. It is a division   the Americas. It operates award-winning
    CIo Asia builds the It business case for high         of telstra Corporation Limited and owns one of         networks which are amongst the largest and
    level members of the executive suite.                 the most technologically advanced Ip backbone          most diverse in Asia pacific and facilitates
    the publication is read by Asia pacific region’s      networks in the world.                                 access to over 1,400 pops in 230 countries and
    leading top-level business executives who                                                                    territories across the globe.
    make up the It steering committee of major
    enterprises.these executives define It
    strategies to deliver corporate objectives.


                                                                                                                 DesIGn By OlIveGRIn
State of the Asian CXO 2012    3




                              Clearer Skies Ahead
                              When we published last year’s state of             internally and externally, these forward-
                              the Asian CXo survey report, the regional          looking organisations are already breaking
                              economies were going through a rough patch.        new grounds to engage not just their internal
                              this year, the prevailing economic situations      staff but their external stakeholders as well.
                              do not seem too different; yet, the results
                              compiled show a contrasting representation         Making sense of big data now takes on an
                              of the It landscape around the region. Much        even more urgent pace, as more understand
                              of the feedback we have gathered proves that       the intricacies of data dicing and splicing
                              the skies are brightening, although there are      to better predict customer behaviours and
                              still stormy forecasts over the horizon.           demands. business analytics remains high
                                                                                 on most organisations’ list of priorities, while
                              this annual survey, spanning seven countries       social media — shunned by a large percentage
                              in Asia this year, provides not just a fairly      of respondents last year — are seeing high
                              good indication of the senior executives’          acceptance as a credible platform to engage
                              sentiments regarding their technology use          customers and to enhance brand value.
                              and operations, but also their outlook for the
                              next 12 months.                                    CXos could also breathe easier. the survey
                                                                                 shows that most respondents have more
               T.C. seow      Keeping the lights on is a given; It has           time for strategic thinking, although dealing
           editor, CIo Asia   strategic roles to play in virtually every part    with their peers and negotiating with external
                              of the business, be it from raising efficiencies   parties still make up the bulk of their day-to-
                              in sourcing, manufacturing to retail, but also     day tasks.
                              to enabling the business to forecast better
                              and to attain its goals faster. We all know the    Cloud has also been seen as dependable
                              consequence of not doing well in this area         means for delivering It services, minus
                              — losing the competition due to the lack of        the cost structure often associated with
                              strategic It plans is an outcome businesses        on-premise deployments. but concerns
                              can ill-afford in today’s intensely competitive    still exist, especially in the area of risk
                              environment.                                       management and compliance. said one
                                                                                 respondent: “to be effective in our role,
                              Cost cutting was the prerogative last year.        It should be seen as a value provider and
                              perhaps CXos are tired of being overly             not as an expense centre. top management
                              cautious — last year’s budget cuts weren’t         support is very critical. they should see It’s
                              doing much good in the longer term except          value to business.”
                              to better reflect the numbers in the short
                              term. the contrarian would have taken the          this aptly sums up the key challenges faced
                              opportunity to invest in growth areas and stay     by CXos now. that It should be a value
                              ahead, instead of stifling growth opportunities    enhancer to the business is absolutely
                              by constraining budgets on all rounds.             relevant in today’s environment where
                                                                                 business is conducted at Internet speeds. In
   CXos could also            Interestingly, the upturn is now visible. More     the end, how an organisation stands to gain
                              are increasing their It budgets for 2013.          from its It ventures will depend on how well
breathe easier. the           While disruptive trends such as mobility           its implementations are and how quickly
                              and consumerisation of It are forcing many         the plans are realised. the dark clouds are
 survey shows that            organisations to rethink their fundamental         clearing. It’s time to catch the wind and set
                              management beliefs, some have already              sail into the right direction.
 most respondents             embraced these trends to initially understand
                              how change should be implemented and
have more time for            ultimately, to benefit from new ways of
                              getting things done. From introducing new
 strategic thinking           user policies to delivering new services
4    State of the Asian CXO 2012




Every Cloud has a Silver Lining
telstra global is pleased to continue its        through a combination of our network and
support of “the state of the Asian CXo           data centre infrastructure, telstra global will
survey 2012” for the third consecutive year.     also be able to better serve both Asian-based
this annual survey provides an insight           organisations and european, north American
into the minds of 280 CXos across seven          and Australian organisations looking to more
countries in Asia pacific to understand their    effectively grow in Asia pacific.
challenges, needs, priorities and attitude
towards emerging technologies, such as           this year’s survey results support our
cloud computing.                                 prediction that 2013 will see CXos build on
                                                 their knowledge of cloud computing over
reviewing this year’s survey results, it has     the next 12 months, resulting in cloud-
become apparent that, despite the economic       based solutions becoming true enablers to
downturn, Asian CXos are looking towards a       business growth. this is especially true when
more positive future. Whilst managing costs      we consider the increasing use of saas at an
and It-business alignment are still priorities   organisational level.
for CXos, it is pleasing to see that cloud-
based solutions are being considered among       Low-latency network infrastructure has also
the top technologies that help organisations     been identified in this survey as a business
realise productivity benefits and contribute     process enabler by Asian CXos in 2012.                               Martijn Blanken
towards business growth at a global level.       It is evident that MnCs are increasingly               Managing director, telstra global
                                                 demanding network infrastructure to
since last year’s survey, we have announced      cater for highly competitive business
the launch of telstra global, replacing the      environments, such as high frequency
previous telstra International brand. the        trading in capital markets, online gaming
evolution of our brand follows a period of       and cloud-based services where speed and
transition for the business over the past 12     reliability of a service are crucial to remain
months as we move from being a network           competitive.
provider to a network-based services
provider.                                        over the past 12 months, we have also
                                                 launched our epL express solution, which
With the launch of telstra global, we have       enables customers to mitigate risks,
embarked on a three-year roadmap to              scale quickly to meet changing business
update existing assets, and product and          and bandwidth demands, as well as take
service offerings, as well as build new          advantage of growing opportunities in the
capabilities. together, these enhancements       Asia pacific region.                               CXos will build on
to our services will ensure that our
customers have access to innovative and          epL express provides low latency connectivity      their knowledge of
flexible global communications on one of the     between major financial capitals in Asia
most technologically advanced Ip backbone        pacific with their european and American           cloud computing
networks in the world.                           counterparts. this means we can support a
                                                 customer’s services in financial centres like      over the next 12
We now own one of the best networks in           singapore, sydney, tokyo, hong Kong, seoul,
Asia meaning that our customers are not          new york, Chicago, London and Frankfurt.           months, resulting
only using telstra global more for data
and voice, but are also increasingly looking     I trust you will find “the state of the Asia CXo   in cloud-based
to explore cloud-based solutions. telstra        survey 2012” of interest and invite you to get
already has significant cloud infrastructure     in touch with myself or a member of my team        solutions becoming
nodes located within Melbourne and               directly to discuss how telstra global can
singapore and our existing offering will         help your organisation leverage the benefits       true enabler to
soon be augmented with new infrastructure        of an effective global communications and It
in key Asian markets.                            services strategy.                                 business growth
State of the Asian CXO 2012    5




Executive Summary
this year’s state of the Asian CXo survey            the ‘consumerisation’ of It are having a
provides a fascinating insight into the              significant impact in the corporate world.
challenges and opportunities faced by senior
It executives across the region.                  4. While managing costs remains the biggest
                                                     challenge for CXos, many appear to have
Against a background of uncertain economic           more time available for strategic thinking.
conditions and subdued global growth, Asian          Issues occupying their minds include the
organisations are seeking ways to improve            increasing complexity of their businesses,
performance while also keeping a lid on              difficulties in achieving It integration,
operational costs. In many cases, It is being        and coping with the overwhelming pace
seen as a vehicle that can deliver both goals.       of technology change. these findings,
                                                     consistent with last year’s, show CXos are
When the results of the 2012 survey are              playing an increasingly strategic role in
compared with previous years, it’s clear many        their organisations.
priorities remain consistent. business and It
alignment, complexity and cost management         5. Cloud-based solutions have been
continue to rank highly. yet, at the same time,      identified as the top technologies that will
some new factors have entered the mix.               contribute to business growth, followed
Mobility, cloud computing, big data and social       by secured and managed services, and
networking have all grown in significance,           low-latency     network     infrastructure.
adding to CXo workloads and requiring a              these findings confirm the general
rethink of long-term plans and priorities.           move towards cloud computing to realise
                                                     greater efficiencies and lower costs.
some of the key conclusions of the 2012
survey include:                                   6. social media has found a place in the
                                                     enterprise. While a small percentage of
1. properly aligning It with business                respondents said a ban on social media
   goals still ranks as the number one               was still maintained in their organisations,
   management priority for CXos across the           about a third said access to social media
   region. this is followed by cost control and      was allowed at specific times. this augurs
   business continuity / risk management.            well for businesses wanting to expand
   these findings clearly show It executives         their horizons in reaching out, not just
   continue to struggle with the same issues         to their customers, but also suppliers
   they have faced for the past few years.           and business partners via social media.
                                                     however, staff productivity and enterprise
2. the key benefit delivered to the business         security remain two key concerns.
   by It was nominated as reduced business
   costs. Interestingly, those surveyed           this year’s survey provides some fascinating
   felt this would be replaced in 2013 by         insights. While the global economic outlook
   ‘enabling business innovation’ followed        remains uncertain, it is heartening to note
   by ‘creating competitive advantage’. this      that Asian CXos are putting their worries a
   points to an increasing maturity in the way    little behind them and pushing ahead for
   It is perceived within many organisations.     some real improvements — especially in
                                                  the areas of cloud computing and social
3. technology priorities remain relatively        media. this augurs well for progress in
   unchanged compared with last year. While       coming years.
   business intelligence still ranks in the
   top three, a surprise entry was mobility/
   wireless which did not appear in the top
   five last year. It’s clear that the trends
   of byod (bring your own device) and
6    State of the Asian CXO 2012




Business Challenges
and Priorities                                                                                                        figure 1
Asian CXos continue to face a growing list
of challenges. Within the constraints of
tight budgets they must constantly prioritise
activities and investments to ensure business
requirements are met and the potential of
new technologies is exploited.

the results of the 2012 survey clearly show
the perennial challenge of aligning It and
business goals remains at the top of many
priority lists. It is only by achieving this goal
that an organisation can extract maximum
value from its It investments and achieve
the best possible competitive advantage.
other top priorities include cost control and
business continuity (see Figure 1).

the fact that business and It alignment
has remained the top management priority
across all countries in the region (apart from
thailand where it is number 2) is cause for
some concern. the senior management
within many organisations would have rightly          RAnk        2011                               2012
expected this issue to have been dealt with
years ago. With technology now playing                   1        Aligning IT and business goals     Aligning IT and business goals
a critical function across all areas of a
business, proper alignment with It is vital for          2        Controlling costs                  Controlling costs
efficiency and reliability.
                                                         3        Business continuity /              Business continuity /
however uncertain economic conditions and                         risk management                    risk management
constantly changing business priorities are
clearly making such alignment an ongoing                 4        Enterprise IT security             Improving internal customer
challenge. CXos recognise more must be                                                               (user) satisfaction
done and are keeping it atop their to-do lists
for another year.                                        5        Improving internal customer        Process improvement
                                                                  (user) satisfaction
Figure 1: Top five CXO management
priorities
Cost control is another high management
priority, flagged by CXos across the region.        encouragingly, pursuit of these priorities
this reflects a need within all organisations       during the coming year will be supported by
to do more with less and maximise return            healthy It budgets (see Figure 2). More than
on investments in hardware, software and            half of those surveyed (54.9 percent) believed
services. yet this push for cost control            their It budget will be increased in 2013
cannot come at the expense of It systems            with another 34.8 percent saying it is likely
performance and reliability. the survey found       to remain the same. only 10.3 percent feel
business continuity and risk management             their budget will be reduced. these results
ranked in third place, and this goal can only       reflect the vital role played by It and an
be achieved with the support of a robust            acknowledgement by management boards
underlying It platform.                             that ongoing investment is vital.
State of the Asian CXO 2012    7




  figure 2                                                                                                                      figure 3

  In 2013, yOuR IT BuDGeT wIll:                      Pressure for cost management and reduction                                                 56.7%

  be increased              54.9%
                                                     Difficulty proving the value of IT                                        45.6 %
  remain unchanged          34.8%

  be decreased              10.3%                    Lack of alignment between business goals and IT efforts               43.3%

  Total                     100%
                                                     Lack of key technical skill sets within IT                            43.3%



                                                     Shortage of time for strategic thinking/planning                  40.9%



                                                     Unknown/unrealistic expectations from the business        37.2%



Figure 2: IT budgets in 2013                         Lack of business knowledge with IT department             37.2%
yet, despite the clearly important role that It
plays within large organisations, the survey
found somewhat surprisingly that many CXos           Inadequate budgets                                        37.2%
still have difficulty in proving its value. When
asked to nominate the biggest challenges to
their effectiveness, 45.6 percent put pressure       Risk and uncertainty due to volatile economic conditions 35.8%
for cost management and reduction in top
place (see Figure 3).
                                                   0%              10%              20%               30%        40%                50%             60%
Figure 3: Biggest challenges to role
effectiveness
some of this pressure can be attributed            to direct investment towards products and
to the fact that a large proportion of CXos        services that can provide the best support for
have an ongoing difficultly in proving the         business activity.
value of It. this challenge is difficult to
understand and perhaps points to a lack of         Coupled with this challenge is a feeling that
communication between the It department            corporate cultures do not devolve enough
and the wider organisation. If the channels        responsibility to It to innovate. this ranked at
of communication were improved and                 number 4 in 2011 but has risen to number 2
senior management had a clearer picture            this year. the third nominated roadblock, that
of the supporting role provided by It, such        It execs are too busy maintaining existing
anomalies could surely be reduced.                 systems in infrastructures to innovate,
                                                   ranked in second place last year.
Another possible reason for the continuing
challenge of explaining the value of It            overall these results paint a picture of a
emerged from the survey (see Figure 4). As         concerning disconnect between CXos and
they did in 2011, CXos feel they are involved      their It departments and the wider business.
too late in the decision making process.           For organisations to get the most from their
this can result in decisions that do not           It investments, this disconnect needs to be
take advantage of new technologies or fail         addressed and resolved quickly.
8    State of the Asian CXO 2012




                                                                                                                                figure 4




Figure 4: key Roadblocks to Innovation
on a more positive note, the 2012 survey
found It has delivered some key business
benefits to organisations across the
region (see Figure 5). While the top benefit
nominated by CXos during the year was
‘reduced business costs’, others included
‘creating competitive advantage’ and                 RAnk        2011                                         2012
‘enabling business innovation’. While the
priority might change slightly, these three             1        IT executives are involved too late in       IT executives are involved too late in
items are forecast to remain at the top of the                   the decision making process                  the decision making process
list during 2013.
                                                        2        IT executives are too busy maintaining       The corporate culture does not give
A comparison with the 2011 survey results                        existing systems and infrastructure          enough responsibility to IT
shows these top benefits have remained                           to innovate                                  to innovate
relatively consistent—evidence that the
key benefits afforded by investments in                 3        Inadequate opportunities for IT to           IT executives are too busy maintaining
technology remain the same over time.                            communicate innovative ideas                 existing systems and infrastructure
                                                                                                              to innovate
encouragingly, the shift of ‘enable business
innovation’ into the top spot for 2013 indicates        4        The corporate culture does not give          Inadequate opportunities for IT to
that CXos believe they will be in a position to                  enough responsibility to IT to innovate      communicate innovative ideas
shift their focus away from cost reduction
and spend more time on enabling innovation.             5        Senior management does not                   Lack of C-suite confidence in IT’s
this will help to position organisations well                    encourage IT to proactively innovate         ability to generate ideas and
to take advantage of any economic recovery                                                                    to innovate
should it begin to appear next year.
                                                        6        Lack of C-suite confidence in IT’s           Senior management does not
Figure 5: Benefits from IT on                                    ability to generate ideas and to innovate    encourage IT to proactively innovate
overall business


  figure 5


  RAnk              2011                           2012 (Projected)                 2012                               2013 (Projected)

     1              Create competitive             Create competitive               Reduced business                   Enable business innovation
                    advantage                      advantage                        costs

     2              Enable business innovation     Enable business innovation       Enable business innovation         Create competitive advantage

     3              Reduced business costs         Reduced business costs           Create competitive advantage       Reduced business costs

     4              Improved customer              Improved customer                Improved customer                  Improved customer
                    (external) satisfaction        (external) satisfaction          (external) satisfaction            (external) satisfaction

     5              Improved security/risk         Enable new revenue streams       Improved security/risk             Enable new revenue streams
                    management                                                      management
State of the Asian CXO 2012     9




                                           Technology challenges
                                           and priorities
                                                                     figure 6                 result has been driven, in no small part, by
                                                                                              the rapid rise in the use of mobile devices
 Mobility and wireless                                                             46.5%      within all organisations. Whether provided to
                                                                                              employees or introduced as part of a bring
                                                                                              your own device (byod) program, smart
 Business intelligence                                                          44.7%         phones, tablets and other devices are playing
                                                                                              a much more important role than they were
                                                                                              even 12 months ago.
 Business continuity                                                            44.2%
                                                                                              As well as allowing employees to be much
                                                                                              more productive while away from the office,
 Integrating/enhancing systems and processes                               42.3%              the mobility and wireless trend also presents
                                                                                              a range of fresh challenges for CXos.
                                                                                              security of core It systems and data must be
 Business process automation                                             41.4%                maintained while at the same time allowing
                                                                                              access to those who require it. Attention
                                                                                              must also be given to the overall cost of
 Cost management                                                         41.4%                portable devices to an organisation to ensure
                                                                                              that value is being achieved for the level of
                                                                                              investment being made.
 Enterprise IT security                                       36.3%
                                                                                              The rise of cloud computing
                                                                                              For the first time, the survey asked
 Network connectivity                                        35.8%                            respondents about their plans for and use of
                                                                                              cloud computing services and technologies.
                                                                                              the results paint an interesting picture
 Virtualisation                                          34.9%                                of where Asian CXos stand in this rapidly
                                                                                              developing space.

 Cloud computing                                     32.1%                                    In 2011, cloud computing and the linked topic
                                                                                              of virtualisation did not appear in the top five
                                                                                              list of technology priorities for the year. In
0%            10%              20%             30%              40%                     50%   2012, they remain outside the top five but are
                                                                                              included in the wider top-10 list. this result
                                                                                              is somewhat surprising, giving the intense
                                           results from the survey questions dealing          interest in cloud computing across the It
                                           with technology challenges shed some very          industry and the considerable marketing and
                                           interesting light on what is going on at the       educational efforts being made by vendors.
                                           coalface of corporate It. With one eye on the
                                           business priorities (see previous section),        however, while CXos did not place cloud
                                           CXos are also dealing with an ever-changing        computing at the top of their priority lists,
                                           mix of technologies, products and services.        the survey revealed usage has been growing
                                                                                              consistently during the year (see Figure 7). In
                                           Figure 6: Top technology priorities for 2012:      fact, 32.8 percent of those surveyed reported
                                           Interestingly, the survey found mobility and       that hosted (cloud-based) solutions were now
                                           wireless had jumped into the top spot on           common across their organisation and a further
                                           the priority list for many CXos, overtaking        26.8 percent said they would be adopting hosted
                                           perennial topics such as business intelligence     solutions as some parts of their organisation
                                           and business continuity (see Figure 6). this       had already gone down this path.
10   State of the Asian CXO 2012




Figure 7: stage of adoption of hosted                                                                                  figure 7
solutions
drilling down further in the area of cloud
(Figure 8), the survey found the need for
infrastructure and compute resources
was ranked as the number one priority for
adoption. this tallies with one of the key
benefits of cloud computing — organisations
can rapidly scale their It resources up and
down as demands change.

Figure 8: Cloud computing priorities
not surprisingly, making use of business
applications — delivered by either a
platform-as-a-service (paas) or software-
as-a-service (saas) platform — also
ranked highly. this is to be expected as
organisations come to understand the cost
savings and efficiency improvements that            Hosted solutions are now common               32.8%
such an approach can deliver.                       across the organisation

When asked what specific technologies               Some parts of the organisation are already    26.8%
would contribute to business growth                 using hosted solutions
during the next year, cloud-based business
process management was nominated by                 I am an early adopter and I am leading the    29.3%
38.1 percent of respondents. A further 12.6         organisation’s adoption of hosted solutions
percent nominated cloud-based virtual
contact centres.                                    Many parts of the organisation are using      11.1%
                                                    hosted solutions
there is no question that cloud adoption in all
countries covered by the survey is very strong      total                                         100%
and will continue to grow. With pressure to
restrain It spending set to continue, the
financial benefits around the adoption of
cloud-based services and resources will gain
                                                                                                  figure 8
further attention.
                                                  singapore (Figure 9). this is not surprising,   Cloud Computing Priorities Rank
Figure 9: Major city hubs for cloud               as the island state has done much to position
computing                                         itself as a solid base from which cloud         Infrastructure and              1
For many organisations considering the            service providers can operate. significant      compute resources
adoption of cloud computing services, the         investments in networking infrastructure
location from which those services will be        also mean reliable, high-speed links can be     business applications           2
delivered is an important consideration. If       provided throughout the region.                 (including saas/paas)
a cloud service is to be used for storage of
sensitive commercial or personal data, an         The challenge of social networking              big data (analytics &           3
organisation will be keen to know where the       For some years, social networking has been      interpretation of data)
servers are physically located, what security     regarded by many large organisations as a
is in place, and whether there are redundant      time-wasting nuisance that does little more
network links to allow access should              than reduce staff productivity. however,
connection outages occur.                         during the past 12 months, corporate
                                                  attitudes towards the trend have changed
When asked to name the major city hubs            as increasing numbers of senior managers
for cloud computing services, the majority        come to realise the potential that social
(86.5 percent) of those surveyed nominated        networks offer.
State of the Asian CXO 2012    11




figure 9                                                                                           Figure 10: Potential of social networking
                                                                                                   as a business tool
City Hub            Percentage Rank                                                                others felt social networks could add value
                                                                                                   as a means of connecting with partners and
singapore                86.5%         1                                                           suppliers or as a way to develop new products
                                                                                                   and services.
hong Kong                66.5%         2
                                                                                                   Interestingly, one in five CXos (20.3 percent)
shanghai                 52.6%         3            the 2012 survey asked CXos about their         felt social networks were too insecure to be
                                                    attitudes towards social networking, and the   used as a business tool. this attitude is a
Kuala Lumpur             52.1%         4            results provide an interesting insight into    little surprising and will have to be revised as
                                                    the approach being taken by organisations      the take-up of social networking continues
sydney                   43.7%         5            (Figure 10). of those surveyed, 42.6 percent   to rise at an increasing rate. organisations
                                                    said they believed social networking could     that opt not to make use of networks, such
tokyo                    42.8%         6            potentially benefit their enterprise CrM       as Facebook and twitter, risk losing out on
                                                    approach.                                      opportunities to competitors that do.



                                                                                                                           figure 10




            Social computing could potentially
                   benefit our enterprise CRM                                                                            42.6%
                                     approach

              Social computing could be used
     internally by our enterprise as a method                                14.7%
          of developing products and services

            social computing could be valuable
              as a tool for staying in touch with                                       21.3%
              business partners and suppliers

                        social computing is too
               insecure to be used for business                                       20.3%
                                      purposes

                                           other       1%
12   State of the Asian CXO 2012




                                                   figure 11



                                                 Other                                                  Social
Figure 11: social computing policies in the                                                             computing is
enterprise                                                                                              banned in our
yet, despite more than 78 percent of             Social                               5.6%              enterprise
respondents saying social networking             computing,
offers some benefit to their organisation,       relating
23.9 percent of those surveyed said its use      to our                                         23.9%
remains banned within their organisations        enterprise
(see Figure 11). A further 32.5 place            business, is
restrictions on its use at certain times. such   permitted          29.4%
attitudes, while understandable, contradict      in our
the acknowledgement that social networks         organisation
can offer real business benefits.

the survey found CXos and other senior
mangers opt to ban or limit use of these
networks through a fear of reduced staff
productivity (see Figure 12). this can be                                   8.6%             32.5%
overcome through proper staff education and                                                             Social
the establishment of recognised policies on      We have integrated                                     computing is
social networking use during working hours.      social computing into                                  allowed, but
                                                 our operations                                         only at certain
Figure 12: Greatest concern of social                                                                   times
media
the benefits offered by the intelligent use
of social networks within the enterprise
are considerable. From brand promotion
and marketing to direct communication              figure 12
with customers, social networks have
quickly become a valuable communications         Other                                                  Corporate
channel. CXos across Asia will need to                                                                  Branding
monitor developments closely to ensure
their organisation is well placed to maximise                                         4.6%
its potential.

                                                 Staff                                        18.8%
                                                 Productivity




                                                                    40.6%




                                                                                              34.5%




                                                 Staff Loyalty
                                                                                   1.5%                 Security
State of the Asian CXO 2012   13




                                           The role of the CXO
                                           this year’s survey shone new light on the         When compared with the 2011 survey, these
                                           complex role played by CXos in larger             results confirm that the role of the CXo is
                                           organisations. As well as the expected            becoming more complex and strategic. the
                                           tasks associated with overseeing It systems       fact that the task of strategising and big
                                           and staff, CXos are also deeply involved          picture planning was nominated by 60%
                                           in interactions with vendors, designing           of respondents (up from 56.6 percent last
                                           business processes and budgeting.                 year) indicates the critical role played by the
                                                                                             position inside large organisations.



                                 Others            Board of                                                   No
  figure 13                                                                    figure 14
                                                   directors

To whom do you                                                               Are you a
report to?               22.3%       11.2%                                   member of
                                                                             the business
                                                                             executive             33.5%
                                                                             management
                                                 28.4%                       team in your
                                                                             organisation?
                 15.8%                                         CEO                                                             66.5%

Corporate CIO
                            13.5%         8.8%



                 CFO                                     COO                                                          Yes




                                             figure 15


                                             On which of the following activities do
                                             you spend the most time?

                                             Strategising and big-picture planning              60.0%
                                             Interacting with vendors/outsourcers               54.4%
                                             Designing/optimising business processes            49.3%
                                             Budgeting                                          47.4%
                                             Leading projects                                   46.0%
                                             Interacting with your company’s CXOs               40.5%
                                             Making strategic systems decisions                 38.6%
                                             Hiring, developing and managing staff              31.2%
                                             Strategic planning                                 30.7%
                                             Learning about technologies                        25.6%
                                             Managing IT crises                                 22.8%
                                             Security management/planning                       17.2%
                                             Interacting with external business                 15.8%
                                             Compliance management/planning                     16.3%
14   State of the Asian CXO 2012




IT skills
the survey results provide insight into
the skill sets CXos are looking for as they
built out their It teams in the coming year.
Following are some highlights of the results.




  figure 16

will your headcount
increase, decrease or
remain unchanged during
the next 12 months?
                                                           Increase




                                                   37.2%




                                           60.0%




                                                   2.8%




Remain unchanged                                           Decrease
State of the Asian CXO 2012   15




figure 16




       If you are hiring, what are the top five skill sets you are looking for in candidates?



       Application development                           63.7%

       Architecture development/management               28.8%

       Database management                               46.0%

       Help desk/user support                            30.2%

       Open source technology                            16.3%

       Networking                                        38.1%

       Project management                                48.8%

       Security                                          37.0%

       Website development                               20.9%

       Vendor relationship management                    10.2%

       Infrastructure technology                         43.7%

       Web services                                      15.8%

       Business or industry knowledge                    29.8%

       Business knowledge                                32.1%

       Emerging technologies                             33.0%

       Others                                            5.1%
16   State of the Asian CXO 2012

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Telstra Global - State Of The Asian CXO 2012 Report

  • 1. State of the Asian CXO 2012 1 State of the Asian CXO brought to you by sponsored by
  • 2. 2 State of the Asian CXO 2012 Contents 3 Foreword by tC seow, editor, CIo Asia 4 Foreword by Martijn blanken, Managing director, telstra global 5 executive summary 6 business challenges and priorities 9 technology challenges and priorities 10 the rise of cloud computing 12 the challenge of social networking 13 the role of the CXo 14 It skills Acknowledgements Produced and designed by: CIO Asia About Fairfax Business Research telstra global provides innovative and flexible Magazine and Fairfax Business Research Fairfax business research (Fbr) is the global communications services and solutions Sponsored by: Telstra Global demand-side research division of Fairfax for organisations looking to maximise the this report is based on the findings of a survey business Media. Fbr provides business benefits of globalisation, particularly across of It leaders in public and private organisations intelligence and custom research services growth regions such as Asia, whilst driving in singapore, Malaysia, thailand, the in Australia, new Zealand and across 11 sustainability and enhancing business agility. philippines, Indonesia, hong Kong and India. countries in the Asia pacific. together with its offshore subsidiaries and our sincere thanks to all survey participants About Telstra Global international investments, telstra global for sharing their insights. telstra global is a leading global supplier of serves over 200 of the world’s top 500 managed network services and international companies, spanning Asia pacific, eMeA and About CIO Asia Magazine data, voice and satellite services. It is a division the Americas. It operates award-winning CIo Asia builds the It business case for high of telstra Corporation Limited and owns one of networks which are amongst the largest and level members of the executive suite. the most technologically advanced Ip backbone most diverse in Asia pacific and facilitates the publication is read by Asia pacific region’s networks in the world. access to over 1,400 pops in 230 countries and leading top-level business executives who territories across the globe. make up the It steering committee of major enterprises.these executives define It strategies to deliver corporate objectives. DesIGn By OlIveGRIn
  • 3. State of the Asian CXO 2012 3 Clearer Skies Ahead When we published last year’s state of internally and externally, these forward- the Asian CXo survey report, the regional looking organisations are already breaking economies were going through a rough patch. new grounds to engage not just their internal this year, the prevailing economic situations staff but their external stakeholders as well. do not seem too different; yet, the results compiled show a contrasting representation Making sense of big data now takes on an of the It landscape around the region. Much even more urgent pace, as more understand of the feedback we have gathered proves that the intricacies of data dicing and splicing the skies are brightening, although there are to better predict customer behaviours and still stormy forecasts over the horizon. demands. business analytics remains high on most organisations’ list of priorities, while this annual survey, spanning seven countries social media — shunned by a large percentage in Asia this year, provides not just a fairly of respondents last year — are seeing high good indication of the senior executives’ acceptance as a credible platform to engage sentiments regarding their technology use customers and to enhance brand value. and operations, but also their outlook for the next 12 months. CXos could also breathe easier. the survey shows that most respondents have more T.C. seow Keeping the lights on is a given; It has time for strategic thinking, although dealing editor, CIo Asia strategic roles to play in virtually every part with their peers and negotiating with external of the business, be it from raising efficiencies parties still make up the bulk of their day-to- in sourcing, manufacturing to retail, but also day tasks. to enabling the business to forecast better and to attain its goals faster. We all know the Cloud has also been seen as dependable consequence of not doing well in this area means for delivering It services, minus — losing the competition due to the lack of the cost structure often associated with strategic It plans is an outcome businesses on-premise deployments. but concerns can ill-afford in today’s intensely competitive still exist, especially in the area of risk environment. management and compliance. said one respondent: “to be effective in our role, Cost cutting was the prerogative last year. It should be seen as a value provider and perhaps CXos are tired of being overly not as an expense centre. top management cautious — last year’s budget cuts weren’t support is very critical. they should see It’s doing much good in the longer term except value to business.” to better reflect the numbers in the short term. the contrarian would have taken the this aptly sums up the key challenges faced opportunity to invest in growth areas and stay by CXos now. that It should be a value ahead, instead of stifling growth opportunities enhancer to the business is absolutely by constraining budgets on all rounds. relevant in today’s environment where business is conducted at Internet speeds. In CXos could also Interestingly, the upturn is now visible. More the end, how an organisation stands to gain are increasing their It budgets for 2013. from its It ventures will depend on how well breathe easier. the While disruptive trends such as mobility its implementations are and how quickly and consumerisation of It are forcing many the plans are realised. the dark clouds are survey shows that organisations to rethink their fundamental clearing. It’s time to catch the wind and set management beliefs, some have already sail into the right direction. most respondents embraced these trends to initially understand how change should be implemented and have more time for ultimately, to benefit from new ways of getting things done. From introducing new strategic thinking user policies to delivering new services
  • 4. 4 State of the Asian CXO 2012 Every Cloud has a Silver Lining telstra global is pleased to continue its through a combination of our network and support of “the state of the Asian CXo data centre infrastructure, telstra global will survey 2012” for the third consecutive year. also be able to better serve both Asian-based this annual survey provides an insight organisations and european, north American into the minds of 280 CXos across seven and Australian organisations looking to more countries in Asia pacific to understand their effectively grow in Asia pacific. challenges, needs, priorities and attitude towards emerging technologies, such as this year’s survey results support our cloud computing. prediction that 2013 will see CXos build on their knowledge of cloud computing over reviewing this year’s survey results, it has the next 12 months, resulting in cloud- become apparent that, despite the economic based solutions becoming true enablers to downturn, Asian CXos are looking towards a business growth. this is especially true when more positive future. Whilst managing costs we consider the increasing use of saas at an and It-business alignment are still priorities organisational level. for CXos, it is pleasing to see that cloud- based solutions are being considered among Low-latency network infrastructure has also the top technologies that help organisations been identified in this survey as a business realise productivity benefits and contribute process enabler by Asian CXos in 2012. Martijn Blanken towards business growth at a global level. It is evident that MnCs are increasingly Managing director, telstra global demanding network infrastructure to since last year’s survey, we have announced cater for highly competitive business the launch of telstra global, replacing the environments, such as high frequency previous telstra International brand. the trading in capital markets, online gaming evolution of our brand follows a period of and cloud-based services where speed and transition for the business over the past 12 reliability of a service are crucial to remain months as we move from being a network competitive. provider to a network-based services provider. over the past 12 months, we have also launched our epL express solution, which With the launch of telstra global, we have enables customers to mitigate risks, embarked on a three-year roadmap to scale quickly to meet changing business update existing assets, and product and and bandwidth demands, as well as take service offerings, as well as build new advantage of growing opportunities in the capabilities. together, these enhancements Asia pacific region. CXos will build on to our services will ensure that our customers have access to innovative and epL express provides low latency connectivity their knowledge of flexible global communications on one of the between major financial capitals in Asia most technologically advanced Ip backbone pacific with their european and American cloud computing networks in the world. counterparts. this means we can support a customer’s services in financial centres like over the next 12 We now own one of the best networks in singapore, sydney, tokyo, hong Kong, seoul, Asia meaning that our customers are not new york, Chicago, London and Frankfurt. months, resulting only using telstra global more for data and voice, but are also increasingly looking I trust you will find “the state of the Asia CXo in cloud-based to explore cloud-based solutions. telstra survey 2012” of interest and invite you to get already has significant cloud infrastructure in touch with myself or a member of my team solutions becoming nodes located within Melbourne and directly to discuss how telstra global can singapore and our existing offering will help your organisation leverage the benefits true enabler to soon be augmented with new infrastructure of an effective global communications and It in key Asian markets. services strategy. business growth
  • 5. State of the Asian CXO 2012 5 Executive Summary this year’s state of the Asian CXo survey the ‘consumerisation’ of It are having a provides a fascinating insight into the significant impact in the corporate world. challenges and opportunities faced by senior It executives across the region. 4. While managing costs remains the biggest challenge for CXos, many appear to have Against a background of uncertain economic more time available for strategic thinking. conditions and subdued global growth, Asian Issues occupying their minds include the organisations are seeking ways to improve increasing complexity of their businesses, performance while also keeping a lid on difficulties in achieving It integration, operational costs. In many cases, It is being and coping with the overwhelming pace seen as a vehicle that can deliver both goals. of technology change. these findings, consistent with last year’s, show CXos are When the results of the 2012 survey are playing an increasingly strategic role in compared with previous years, it’s clear many their organisations. priorities remain consistent. business and It alignment, complexity and cost management 5. Cloud-based solutions have been continue to rank highly. yet, at the same time, identified as the top technologies that will some new factors have entered the mix. contribute to business growth, followed Mobility, cloud computing, big data and social by secured and managed services, and networking have all grown in significance, low-latency network infrastructure. adding to CXo workloads and requiring a these findings confirm the general rethink of long-term plans and priorities. move towards cloud computing to realise greater efficiencies and lower costs. some of the key conclusions of the 2012 survey include: 6. social media has found a place in the enterprise. While a small percentage of 1. properly aligning It with business respondents said a ban on social media goals still ranks as the number one was still maintained in their organisations, management priority for CXos across the about a third said access to social media region. this is followed by cost control and was allowed at specific times. this augurs business continuity / risk management. well for businesses wanting to expand these findings clearly show It executives their horizons in reaching out, not just continue to struggle with the same issues to their customers, but also suppliers they have faced for the past few years. and business partners via social media. however, staff productivity and enterprise 2. the key benefit delivered to the business security remain two key concerns. by It was nominated as reduced business costs. Interestingly, those surveyed this year’s survey provides some fascinating felt this would be replaced in 2013 by insights. While the global economic outlook ‘enabling business innovation’ followed remains uncertain, it is heartening to note by ‘creating competitive advantage’. this that Asian CXos are putting their worries a points to an increasing maturity in the way little behind them and pushing ahead for It is perceived within many organisations. some real improvements — especially in the areas of cloud computing and social 3. technology priorities remain relatively media. this augurs well for progress in unchanged compared with last year. While coming years. business intelligence still ranks in the top three, a surprise entry was mobility/ wireless which did not appear in the top five last year. It’s clear that the trends of byod (bring your own device) and
  • 6. 6 State of the Asian CXO 2012 Business Challenges and Priorities figure 1 Asian CXos continue to face a growing list of challenges. Within the constraints of tight budgets they must constantly prioritise activities and investments to ensure business requirements are met and the potential of new technologies is exploited. the results of the 2012 survey clearly show the perennial challenge of aligning It and business goals remains at the top of many priority lists. It is only by achieving this goal that an organisation can extract maximum value from its It investments and achieve the best possible competitive advantage. other top priorities include cost control and business continuity (see Figure 1). the fact that business and It alignment has remained the top management priority across all countries in the region (apart from thailand where it is number 2) is cause for some concern. the senior management within many organisations would have rightly RAnk 2011 2012 expected this issue to have been dealt with years ago. With technology now playing 1 Aligning IT and business goals Aligning IT and business goals a critical function across all areas of a business, proper alignment with It is vital for 2 Controlling costs Controlling costs efficiency and reliability. 3 Business continuity / Business continuity / however uncertain economic conditions and risk management risk management constantly changing business priorities are clearly making such alignment an ongoing 4 Enterprise IT security Improving internal customer challenge. CXos recognise more must be (user) satisfaction done and are keeping it atop their to-do lists for another year. 5 Improving internal customer Process improvement (user) satisfaction Figure 1: Top five CXO management priorities Cost control is another high management priority, flagged by CXos across the region. encouragingly, pursuit of these priorities this reflects a need within all organisations during the coming year will be supported by to do more with less and maximise return healthy It budgets (see Figure 2). More than on investments in hardware, software and half of those surveyed (54.9 percent) believed services. yet this push for cost control their It budget will be increased in 2013 cannot come at the expense of It systems with another 34.8 percent saying it is likely performance and reliability. the survey found to remain the same. only 10.3 percent feel business continuity and risk management their budget will be reduced. these results ranked in third place, and this goal can only reflect the vital role played by It and an be achieved with the support of a robust acknowledgement by management boards underlying It platform. that ongoing investment is vital.
  • 7. State of the Asian CXO 2012 7 figure 2 figure 3 In 2013, yOuR IT BuDGeT wIll: Pressure for cost management and reduction 56.7% be increased 54.9% Difficulty proving the value of IT 45.6 % remain unchanged 34.8% be decreased 10.3% Lack of alignment between business goals and IT efforts 43.3% Total 100% Lack of key technical skill sets within IT 43.3% Shortage of time for strategic thinking/planning 40.9% Unknown/unrealistic expectations from the business 37.2% Figure 2: IT budgets in 2013 Lack of business knowledge with IT department 37.2% yet, despite the clearly important role that It plays within large organisations, the survey found somewhat surprisingly that many CXos Inadequate budgets 37.2% still have difficulty in proving its value. When asked to nominate the biggest challenges to their effectiveness, 45.6 percent put pressure Risk and uncertainty due to volatile economic conditions 35.8% for cost management and reduction in top place (see Figure 3). 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% Figure 3: Biggest challenges to role effectiveness some of this pressure can be attributed to direct investment towards products and to the fact that a large proportion of CXos services that can provide the best support for have an ongoing difficultly in proving the business activity. value of It. this challenge is difficult to understand and perhaps points to a lack of Coupled with this challenge is a feeling that communication between the It department corporate cultures do not devolve enough and the wider organisation. If the channels responsibility to It to innovate. this ranked at of communication were improved and number 4 in 2011 but has risen to number 2 senior management had a clearer picture this year. the third nominated roadblock, that of the supporting role provided by It, such It execs are too busy maintaining existing anomalies could surely be reduced. systems in infrastructures to innovate, ranked in second place last year. Another possible reason for the continuing challenge of explaining the value of It overall these results paint a picture of a emerged from the survey (see Figure 4). As concerning disconnect between CXos and they did in 2011, CXos feel they are involved their It departments and the wider business. too late in the decision making process. For organisations to get the most from their this can result in decisions that do not It investments, this disconnect needs to be take advantage of new technologies or fail addressed and resolved quickly.
  • 8. 8 State of the Asian CXO 2012 figure 4 Figure 4: key Roadblocks to Innovation on a more positive note, the 2012 survey found It has delivered some key business benefits to organisations across the region (see Figure 5). While the top benefit nominated by CXos during the year was ‘reduced business costs’, others included ‘creating competitive advantage’ and RAnk 2011 2012 ‘enabling business innovation’. While the priority might change slightly, these three 1 IT executives are involved too late in IT executives are involved too late in items are forecast to remain at the top of the the decision making process the decision making process list during 2013. 2 IT executives are too busy maintaining The corporate culture does not give A comparison with the 2011 survey results existing systems and infrastructure enough responsibility to IT shows these top benefits have remained to innovate to innovate relatively consistent—evidence that the key benefits afforded by investments in 3 Inadequate opportunities for IT to IT executives are too busy maintaining technology remain the same over time. communicate innovative ideas existing systems and infrastructure to innovate encouragingly, the shift of ‘enable business innovation’ into the top spot for 2013 indicates 4 The corporate culture does not give Inadequate opportunities for IT to that CXos believe they will be in a position to enough responsibility to IT to innovate communicate innovative ideas shift their focus away from cost reduction and spend more time on enabling innovation. 5 Senior management does not Lack of C-suite confidence in IT’s this will help to position organisations well encourage IT to proactively innovate ability to generate ideas and to take advantage of any economic recovery to innovate should it begin to appear next year. 6 Lack of C-suite confidence in IT’s Senior management does not Figure 5: Benefits from IT on ability to generate ideas and to innovate encourage IT to proactively innovate overall business figure 5 RAnk 2011 2012 (Projected) 2012 2013 (Projected) 1 Create competitive Create competitive Reduced business Enable business innovation advantage advantage costs 2 Enable business innovation Enable business innovation Enable business innovation Create competitive advantage 3 Reduced business costs Reduced business costs Create competitive advantage Reduced business costs 4 Improved customer Improved customer Improved customer Improved customer (external) satisfaction (external) satisfaction (external) satisfaction (external) satisfaction 5 Improved security/risk Enable new revenue streams Improved security/risk Enable new revenue streams management management
  • 9. State of the Asian CXO 2012 9 Technology challenges and priorities figure 6 result has been driven, in no small part, by the rapid rise in the use of mobile devices Mobility and wireless 46.5% within all organisations. Whether provided to employees or introduced as part of a bring your own device (byod) program, smart Business intelligence 44.7% phones, tablets and other devices are playing a much more important role than they were even 12 months ago. Business continuity 44.2% As well as allowing employees to be much more productive while away from the office, Integrating/enhancing systems and processes 42.3% the mobility and wireless trend also presents a range of fresh challenges for CXos. security of core It systems and data must be Business process automation 41.4% maintained while at the same time allowing access to those who require it. Attention must also be given to the overall cost of Cost management 41.4% portable devices to an organisation to ensure that value is being achieved for the level of investment being made. Enterprise IT security 36.3% The rise of cloud computing For the first time, the survey asked Network connectivity 35.8% respondents about their plans for and use of cloud computing services and technologies. the results paint an interesting picture Virtualisation 34.9% of where Asian CXos stand in this rapidly developing space. Cloud computing 32.1% In 2011, cloud computing and the linked topic of virtualisation did not appear in the top five list of technology priorities for the year. In 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 2012, they remain outside the top five but are included in the wider top-10 list. this result is somewhat surprising, giving the intense results from the survey questions dealing interest in cloud computing across the It with technology challenges shed some very industry and the considerable marketing and interesting light on what is going on at the educational efforts being made by vendors. coalface of corporate It. With one eye on the business priorities (see previous section), however, while CXos did not place cloud CXos are also dealing with an ever-changing computing at the top of their priority lists, mix of technologies, products and services. the survey revealed usage has been growing consistently during the year (see Figure 7). In Figure 6: Top technology priorities for 2012: fact, 32.8 percent of those surveyed reported Interestingly, the survey found mobility and that hosted (cloud-based) solutions were now wireless had jumped into the top spot on common across their organisation and a further the priority list for many CXos, overtaking 26.8 percent said they would be adopting hosted perennial topics such as business intelligence solutions as some parts of their organisation and business continuity (see Figure 6). this had already gone down this path.
  • 10. 10 State of the Asian CXO 2012 Figure 7: stage of adoption of hosted figure 7 solutions drilling down further in the area of cloud (Figure 8), the survey found the need for infrastructure and compute resources was ranked as the number one priority for adoption. this tallies with one of the key benefits of cloud computing — organisations can rapidly scale their It resources up and down as demands change. Figure 8: Cloud computing priorities not surprisingly, making use of business applications — delivered by either a platform-as-a-service (paas) or software- as-a-service (saas) platform — also ranked highly. this is to be expected as organisations come to understand the cost savings and efficiency improvements that Hosted solutions are now common 32.8% such an approach can deliver. across the organisation When asked what specific technologies Some parts of the organisation are already 26.8% would contribute to business growth using hosted solutions during the next year, cloud-based business process management was nominated by I am an early adopter and I am leading the 29.3% 38.1 percent of respondents. A further 12.6 organisation’s adoption of hosted solutions percent nominated cloud-based virtual contact centres. Many parts of the organisation are using 11.1% hosted solutions there is no question that cloud adoption in all countries covered by the survey is very strong total 100% and will continue to grow. With pressure to restrain It spending set to continue, the financial benefits around the adoption of cloud-based services and resources will gain figure 8 further attention. singapore (Figure 9). this is not surprising, Cloud Computing Priorities Rank Figure 9: Major city hubs for cloud as the island state has done much to position computing itself as a solid base from which cloud Infrastructure and 1 For many organisations considering the service providers can operate. significant compute resources adoption of cloud computing services, the investments in networking infrastructure location from which those services will be also mean reliable, high-speed links can be business applications 2 delivered is an important consideration. If provided throughout the region. (including saas/paas) a cloud service is to be used for storage of sensitive commercial or personal data, an The challenge of social networking big data (analytics & 3 organisation will be keen to know where the For some years, social networking has been interpretation of data) servers are physically located, what security regarded by many large organisations as a is in place, and whether there are redundant time-wasting nuisance that does little more network links to allow access should than reduce staff productivity. however, connection outages occur. during the past 12 months, corporate attitudes towards the trend have changed When asked to name the major city hubs as increasing numbers of senior managers for cloud computing services, the majority come to realise the potential that social (86.5 percent) of those surveyed nominated networks offer.
  • 11. State of the Asian CXO 2012 11 figure 9 Figure 10: Potential of social networking as a business tool City Hub Percentage Rank others felt social networks could add value as a means of connecting with partners and singapore 86.5% 1 suppliers or as a way to develop new products and services. hong Kong 66.5% 2 Interestingly, one in five CXos (20.3 percent) shanghai 52.6% 3 the 2012 survey asked CXos about their felt social networks were too insecure to be attitudes towards social networking, and the used as a business tool. this attitude is a Kuala Lumpur 52.1% 4 results provide an interesting insight into little surprising and will have to be revised as the approach being taken by organisations the take-up of social networking continues sydney 43.7% 5 (Figure 10). of those surveyed, 42.6 percent to rise at an increasing rate. organisations said they believed social networking could that opt not to make use of networks, such tokyo 42.8% 6 potentially benefit their enterprise CrM as Facebook and twitter, risk losing out on approach. opportunities to competitors that do. figure 10 Social computing could potentially benefit our enterprise CRM 42.6% approach Social computing could be used internally by our enterprise as a method 14.7% of developing products and services social computing could be valuable as a tool for staying in touch with 21.3% business partners and suppliers social computing is too insecure to be used for business 20.3% purposes other 1%
  • 12. 12 State of the Asian CXO 2012 figure 11 Other Social Figure 11: social computing policies in the computing is enterprise banned in our yet, despite more than 78 percent of Social 5.6% enterprise respondents saying social networking computing, offers some benefit to their organisation, relating 23.9 percent of those surveyed said its use to our 23.9% remains banned within their organisations enterprise (see Figure 11). A further 32.5 place business, is restrictions on its use at certain times. such permitted 29.4% attitudes, while understandable, contradict in our the acknowledgement that social networks organisation can offer real business benefits. the survey found CXos and other senior mangers opt to ban or limit use of these networks through a fear of reduced staff productivity (see Figure 12). this can be 8.6% 32.5% overcome through proper staff education and Social the establishment of recognised policies on We have integrated computing is social networking use during working hours. social computing into allowed, but our operations only at certain Figure 12: Greatest concern of social times media the benefits offered by the intelligent use of social networks within the enterprise are considerable. From brand promotion and marketing to direct communication figure 12 with customers, social networks have quickly become a valuable communications Other Corporate channel. CXos across Asia will need to Branding monitor developments closely to ensure their organisation is well placed to maximise 4.6% its potential. Staff 18.8% Productivity 40.6% 34.5% Staff Loyalty 1.5% Security
  • 13. State of the Asian CXO 2012 13 The role of the CXO this year’s survey shone new light on the When compared with the 2011 survey, these complex role played by CXos in larger results confirm that the role of the CXo is organisations. As well as the expected becoming more complex and strategic. the tasks associated with overseeing It systems fact that the task of strategising and big and staff, CXos are also deeply involved picture planning was nominated by 60% in interactions with vendors, designing of respondents (up from 56.6 percent last business processes and budgeting. year) indicates the critical role played by the position inside large organisations. Others Board of No figure 13 figure 14 directors To whom do you Are you a report to? 22.3% 11.2% member of the business executive 33.5% management 28.4% team in your organisation? 15.8% CEO 66.5% Corporate CIO 13.5% 8.8% CFO COO Yes figure 15 On which of the following activities do you spend the most time? Strategising and big-picture planning 60.0% Interacting with vendors/outsourcers 54.4% Designing/optimising business processes 49.3% Budgeting 47.4% Leading projects 46.0% Interacting with your company’s CXOs 40.5% Making strategic systems decisions 38.6% Hiring, developing and managing staff 31.2% Strategic planning 30.7% Learning about technologies 25.6% Managing IT crises 22.8% Security management/planning 17.2% Interacting with external business 15.8% Compliance management/planning 16.3%
  • 14. 14 State of the Asian CXO 2012 IT skills the survey results provide insight into the skill sets CXos are looking for as they built out their It teams in the coming year. Following are some highlights of the results. figure 16 will your headcount increase, decrease or remain unchanged during the next 12 months? Increase 37.2% 60.0% 2.8% Remain unchanged Decrease
  • 15. State of the Asian CXO 2012 15 figure 16 If you are hiring, what are the top five skill sets you are looking for in candidates? Application development 63.7% Architecture development/management 28.8% Database management 46.0% Help desk/user support 30.2% Open source technology 16.3% Networking 38.1% Project management 48.8% Security 37.0% Website development 20.9% Vendor relationship management 10.2% Infrastructure technology 43.7% Web services 15.8% Business or industry knowledge 29.8% Business knowledge 32.1% Emerging technologies 33.0% Others 5.1%
  • 16. 16 State of the Asian CXO 2012