The adoption of enterprise mobility and cloud services by businesses in South Africa is helping to drive digital transformation initiatives in the country.
This is according to a recent report from IDC sponsored by Avaya: The Path to Digital Transformation in EMEA and APAC.
The report says cloud services in particular are helping to provide the scale and cost advantages that allow digital transformation to take place "smoothly and efficiently", says IDC.
Over the next five years, Africa will see rapid growth in its cloud service adoption, with a forecast of 42% growth a year, says Agilitude.
Andre Schoeman, data centre analyst at Neotel, says cloud technology and services have gained widespread adoption in SA and have made a huge impact on the way business runs, making cloud computing a more capable and more accessible IT solution.
According to the IDC CIO Summit Survey for 2016, 27% of enterprises in SA have already implemented enterprise mobility solutions, with another 35% planning to do so this year.
Banking and insurance companies, and the major telecom operators, are among the leaders in digital transformation efforts, with some banks having already announced plans to reduce physical branches and focus more heavily on digital channels, says IDC.
All major telecom operators have also made their digital channels key aspects of the customer engagement and sales activities, it adds, highlighting a "discernable shift" to digital channels across SA.
However, enterprises in SA still need to master and leverage digital transformation for competitive advantage, says the study, especially with 30% of businesses still not having any immediate plans for digital transformation in place.
But, with some companies announcing innovative offerings, such as the planned launch of a digital-channel only retail bank, IDC says it anticipates "significant" disruption to existing business models.
Increased adoption of emerging technologies - such as greater use of the Internet of things - will also drive organisations' digital agenda, notes IDC.
Many organisations today have digital transformation at the centre of their corporate strategy, says John Murphy, VP, cloud data services and analytics platform at IBM, in a blog, adding that at the heart of this transformation is the ability to develop actionable insights.
The key is to gain smarter, more accurate insights faster than their competition and then translate that insight into action for the business, says Murphy.
"In today's fast-paced world, the only constant is change. To remain relevant, enterprises must move at customer-speed, embrace the opportunities created by digital disruption and seize the first mover's advantage in their respective domains," says Danny Drew, MD South Africa, at Avaya.
Organisations that stay ahead of the digital transformation curve will accelerate growth and increase stakeholder value, he adds.
Meanwhile, according to research done by EMC: "Most South African CIOs and business leaders believe they are not at all prepared for the technological shifts taking place in the economy, with the result that their current business plans will have lost their relevance within only three years."
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