It is no different for digital transformation. At its core, digital transformation is about adopting technology and harnessing its power to overcome business challenges and unlock growth opportunities. Businesses in every sector are either already undergoing this transformation, or are preparing for it. Done properly, it can have a big positive impact on a company’s fortunes. The vice versa is equally true.

That is why it is important for businesses to have a clear understanding of what they want to achieve via digital transformation. While the scope of technology is wide-ranging, the areas it affects fall into four broad categories.

Operational efficiency

The adoption of technology has been affecting specific business processes for a while now. However, the pace of technological advancement has picked up tremendously in recent years. That has seen it influence not just individual processes, but change entire business models.

Advancements in technologies such as automation, artificial intelligence, cloud computing, Internet of Things and data analytics are helping businesses achieve operational efficiencies by improving overall productivity and reducing costs through predictive maintenance. This in turns leads to faster time-to-market, leaner operations, and greater agility to respond to market changes.

Workforce empowerment

Digital innovation and adoption are also changing the way we work and have big implications for businesses. Firstly, it allows them to offer flexible work arrangements to their staff, which is a big draw especially for the younger digital-savvy workers. With more employees on mobile devices, and as those devices become increasingly sophisticated, we are seeing the rise of a mobile workforce, because employees are empowered to work from anywhere, anytime and using any device.

Secondly, the use of collaboration tools can help to make meetings – an integral part of running a business – more efficient and productive. Technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) will continue to improve efficiencies on this front. We already talk to our phones, our cars, and our houses. We will soon start talking to our conference rooms, and after that, to artificial intelligence-powered virtual team members. According to our research, 95 per cent of white-collar workers are open to the idea of AI-enabled virtual assistants help them with basic meeting mechanics, while 57 per cent say AI would increase productivity. This will empower the workforce to achieve much more.

Personalising customer experience

In today’s hyper-connected digital environment, customers have become used to the idea of accessing services at their fingertips, quite literally, driven mainly by apps on their smartphones. As such, customers have much higher expectations from every company they deal with, even with traditional business. Technology can play a key role in helping them to provide a more personalised experience to their customers.

However, each sector, and within the sector individual businesses, will have their own unique requirements for personalising services. In the financial services sector, for example, banks are looking at technology to not only enable seamless financial transactions for their customers, but also reduce excessive paperwork traditionally associated with the sector. In the retail industry, brick and mortar retailers are leveraging technology to analyse in-store traffic patterns and customer activities in real time to gain insights into their preferences and empower their staff to offer personalised service, show the right products and improve overall engagement.

Cybersecurity

As digital adoption continues to grow, an increasing number of devices, ranging from smartphones and tablet computers to automated machines and security cameras, are being connected to each other as well as the Internet. Many of these devices connect to the Internet across multiple networks – home, office and public.

While there are immense benefits of this, it has also increased the risk of cyberattacks, not least because hackers now have far more options from where they can potentially attack a company’s network and steal valuable data. Any adoption of technology, no matter for what purpose, needs to place cybersecurity at its centre.

For any company to be successful with its digital transformation, it needs to fully understand the implications of technology, the impact it can deliver as well as the challenges with its adoption. Only then can it fully harness its power to solve business issues and unlock growth. A good starting point is to ask the basic question: What do I really want to achieve?

Vatsun Thirapatarapong is managing director of Cisco in Thailand and Indochina.

The US giant said it and 10 initial suppliers would jointly provide the money for the China Clean Energy Fund, aimed at helping the companies make the transition to clean energy.

Apple said the project would produce an initial one gigawatt of clean energy, equivalent to powering nearly a million homes.

Most of Apple’s products worldwide are assembled in vast production networks in China that employ hundreds of thousands of workers, and the company has taken various steps to reduce resulting carbon emissions.

It said in April that its headquarters in Cupertino, California, had gone 100 percent renewable and announced initiatives to achieve the same in other Apple facilities worldwide.

China’s four-decade transition into an industrial behemoth has brought the side effects of severe air, soil and water pollution, and the government is pushing various initiatives to clean things up including incentives for renewable energy and the electric-car industry.

Among other projects, in late 2016 Apple said it bought a 30 percent stake in subsidiaries of China-based Goldwind, the world’s largest wind turbine maker, to produce renewable energy.

The research firm Gartner reported that worldwide PC shipments rose 1.4 percent in the past quarter to 62.1 million units, but said it remains unclear if the sector is seeing a sustainable recovery.

PC sales have been sluggish in recent years as many consumers turn to mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets, and hold onto their bulkier devices for longer.

Gartner said much of the growth appears to be from businesses upgrading their PCs to Windows 10.

“PC shipment growth in the second quarter of 2018 was driven by demand in the business market, which was offset by declining shipments in the consumer segment,” said Mikako Kitagawa, analyst at Gartner.

“In the consumer space, the fundamental market structure, due to changes on PC user behavior, still remains, and continues to impact market growth. Consumers are using their smartphones for even more daily tasks, such as checking social media, calendaring, banking and shopping, which is reducing the need for a consumer PC.”

The analyst said the PC market may falter in the next two years when the replacement peak for Windows 10 passes.

The report said China’s Lenovo and US-based HP were in a virtual tie for the number one spot in the PC market, each with a 21.9 percent share, followed by Dell with 16.8 percent and Apple with 7.1 percent.

Meanwhile, another study published Thursday by market intelligence firm IDC also reported market growth.

According to IDC, the number of desktop, notebook and workstation computers sold in the second quarter reached 62.3 million units — up 2.7 percent year-on-year. That exceeded the firm’s forecasts of just 0.3 percent growth.

The gain is the most significant since the first quarter of 2012, which saw a rise of 4.2 percent, the firm said.

The new series aims to help enhance workflows and output for industries such as architecture, engineering and construction, which require fast, high quality and multi-site printing operations, Fuji Xerox said in a press statement.

The new series features a secondary Ethernet port that enables shared usage between two different networks, such as an intra company network and a separate network for guest users. Users can securely access the DocuWide 6057/3037 series from their mobile PCs with the option of specifying a device in a different physical location. By enabling secure printing and scanning at external premises, the new wide-format series brings forth a more flexible and efficient manner of working, the statement added.

The series is among Fuji Xerox’s first A0 multifunction devices to adopt the EA-Eco LGK toner – an advanced energy-saving black toner with a matte finish that is gentle to the eyes and yet offers clear visibility. Combined with faster printing speeds of 1.4 timescompared to previous models, and an increased print resolution, from 600 dots per inch (dpi) to 1,200 dpi, users’ work quality is elevated with accurate design reproduction and vibrant output. The feature improvements enhance reproduction of fine lines and circular arcs, which will be advantageous for architectural design printing and design output from various computer-aided detection systems frequently used by engineering fields such as production, construction, and facility implementation.

[Other Functional Enhancements]

Color scanning functions have also been improved. Users can now check scanned images on the control panel, and delete notes and remarks in red ink on design documents while scanning and copying, before storing pre and post amended documents for archival purposes. Furthermore, Fuji Xerox’s exclusive Multiple Transmission function allows users to store scanned images in PC folders and simultaneously print them out either on an A0 multifunction device, or an office multifunction device, depending on the print size and color/monochrome. The series supports not only wide-format roll paper but also cut sheet paper of different sizes—A3, B4, and A4. For easy collection, the paper output tray is at the front of the device.These new features help simplify users’ daily tasks and improve productivity.

Broadcom described CA as a major provider of information technology management software, in an acquisition that would help the chip maker diversify its offerings.

“This transaction represents an important building block as we create one of the world’s leading infrastructure technology companies,” Broadcom chief executive Hock Tan said in a release.

The deal was approved by the boards of both companies.

Broadcom will pay $44.50 per share of CA stock; about 20 percent over the closing price for common shares at the end of formal market trading on Wednesday, according to the company.

“We are excited to have reached this definitive agreement with Broadcom,” CA Technologies chief Mike Gregoire said in the joint release.

“This combination aligns our expertise in software with Broadcom’s leadership in the semiconductor industry.”

The companies expected the acquisition to close in the final quarter of this year. The merger must be approved by shareholders and regulators.

Broadcom in April transferred its headquarters from Singapore to the US as promised when it tried to buy Qualcomm.

The prior month, President Donald Trump issued an order barring the proposed $117 billion hostile takeover of Qualcomm, citing what he called “credible evidence” such a deal “threatens to impair the national security of the United States.”

It would have been the biggest-ever deal in the tech sector.

Trump’s order made no mention of China, but an earlier letter from the US Treasury Department warned that a takeover might hurt US leadership in 5G, super-fast fifth-generation wireless networks now being deployed, and consequently pose a threat to US security.

The presidential action was allowed because Broadcom is a foreign entity, but would not have been possible had it completed its move to Silicon Valley.

On March 14, Broadcom said it was withdrawing its offer for Qualcomm.

Broadcom was founded in California but moved its headquarters after a 2015 deal that merged it with Avago Technologies.

The social networking giant admitted in April the data of up to 87 million people worldwide — including more than 300,000 in Australia — was harvested by Cambridge Analytica.

Under Australian law, all organisations must take “reasonable steps” to ensure personal information is held securely and IMF Bentham has teamed up with a major law firm to lodge a complaint with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIO).

The OAIO launched an investigation into the alleged breaches in April and depending on its outcome, a class action could follow.

IMF said in a statement late Tuesday it was seeking “compensation for Facebook users arising from Facebook’s alleged breaches of the Australian Privacy Principles contained in the Privacy Act 1988”.

“The alleged breaches surround the circumstances in which a third party, Cambridge Analytica, gained unauthorised access to users’ profiles and information.

“The complaint seeks financial recompense for the unauthorised access to, and use of, their personal data.”

In its statement, IMF Bentham said it appeared Facebook learned of the breach in late 2015, but failed to tell users about it until this year.

IMF investment manager Nathan Landis told The Australian newspaper most awards for privacy breaches ranged between Aus$1,000 and Aus$10,000 (US$750-US$7,500).

This implies a potential compensation bill of between Aus$300 million and Aus$3 billion.

Facebook did not directly comment on the IMF Bentham action but a spokesperson told AFP Wednesday: “We are fully cooperating with the investigation currently underway by the Australian Privacy Commissioner.

“We will review any additional evidence that is made available when the UK Office of the Information Commissioner releases their report.”

Xiaolang Zhang was in custody for stealing trade secrets from the Apple project, according to a copy of the criminal complaint posted online.

The charge is punishable by 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

“Apple takes confidentiality and the protection of our intellectual property very seriously,” the California-based internet titan said in response to an AFP query.

“We’re working with authorities on this matter and will do everything possible to make sure this individual and any other individuals involved are held accountable for their actions.”

Zhang was hired by Apple in December of 2015 to be part of a team developing hardware and software for self-driving vehicles, a project that was a “closely-guarded secret,” according to the complaint filed by the FBI.

Zhang took paternity leave in the month of April, going with his family to China.

Upon his return to Apple at the end of April, he told a supervisor he was quitting to return to China to be near his ailing mother.

Zhang mentioned he planned to go work for a Chinese self-driving vehicle startup called Xiaopeng Motors, or XMotors, in Guangzhou, according to the complaint.

The supervisor thought Zhang “evasive” and brought in an Apple product security team, which had Zhang turn in all company devices and walked him off campus, according to the filing.

Apple security found that Zhang’s activity on the company network surged “exponentially” in the days before he returned from paternity leave.

Zhang did searches of confidential databases, and downloaded technical files, the criminal complaint said.

Documents downloaded by Zhang included some on topics such as “prototypes,” according to the case against him.

Apple also had closed-circuit camera recording of Zhang going into autonomous driving tech team labs late on a Saturday night while he was on paternity leave, according to the filing.

Zhang later admitted to taking circuit boards and a Linux server from the hardware lab, and to transferring some Apple files to his wife’s computer, the FBI said in the complaint.

Zhang was “voluntarily terminated” from Apple in early March, and FBI agents searched his home in June as part of their investigation.

Zhang told the FBI at that time he was working at XMotors offices in Silicon Valley, according to the complaint.

Zhang was heading to China with a “last-minute round-trip ticket” when FBI agents arrested him at an airport in the Silicon Valley city of San Jose, the filing said.

To keep up the pace, the most forward looking will need to capitalise on the next generation of cloud computing – autonomous services.

What are autonomous services?

Today, autonomous represents a new category of cloud services; empowering businesses to lower costs, reduce risk, go beyond predictive insights to suggested action and steer innovation into the fast lane. Offering unprecedented levels of simplicity, self-service and security, through being using self-driving, self-securing and self-repairing, autonomous cloud services are setting a new industry standard for IT.

The resulting ‘autonomous enterprise’ won’t need people to run, maintain, integrate, develop and secure its core IT systems. Instead, AI and automation will work together to manage everything from database to application development and provide actionable insight around business processes, all without human input. It will also support businesses in becoming more ‘digitally resilient’ against technology risks beyond cyber security.

Closing the skills gap

It’s a move I know is already being welcomed. The 2018 Gartner CIO Agenda Survey found that more than one in three CIOs in the region have deployed or are in short-term planning to deploy AI technologies; indicating a strong interest in technologies that enable superior data capabilities with less manual intervention.

Indeed, with Willis Towers Watson finding that 63% of APAC employers struggle to attract skilled employees, it’s no surprise CIOs want solutions which free up talent to perform higher value work. Labor now accounts for approximately 75% of the total cost of database management, according to IDC, so redeploying staff will mean huge time and money savings.

Work smarter

CIOs don’t just want to save costs – they want to move faster and smarter to take the business in more exciting directions than ever before. Autonomous will be key to fulfilling those aims.

FORTH SMART in Thailand, for example, participated in the early adopter stage and has seen results up to 80 times faster.

Similarly, Accenture needed a better way to manage its largescale professional services workforce. Trialing an autonomous cloud solution against its key, data-intensive HR application, the company can get quicker and more personalized analytics to make smarter, faster workforce decisions.

Build digital resilience

Autonomous services will also remove human error from tasks; critical in a number of areas.

Take security. By 2022, Gartner predicts that a company’s cybersecurity rating will become as important as its credit rating to customers, suppliers and partners. Yet, security attacks and breaches are increasing, and humans can’t keep up. In fact, Gartner previously predicted that 95% of cloud security failures will be the customer’s fault.

With AI and automation, businesses can automate the detection, prevention and response to security breaches, performance anomalies, and vulnerabilities. Only by using machines to fight machines can companies reprioritize and rethink about how they defend their information.

A boon to small business

Autonomous IT will be a boon to businesses both small and large, because in today’s agile digital age, being big isn’t enough – nor is being fast. Instead, organisations must be smart, so they can move quickly in the right direction. That’s precisely what autonomous cloud enables companies to do.

With autonomous, businesses without their own database administrators or hardware will suddenly gain access to things like data warehousing solutions for the very first time.

Small US provider QMP Health, for example, can now discover inefficiencies in lab work and prepare test results in as little as one hour, instead of two weeks. Patients receive quicker care, and the business is more competitive against larger rivals.

Autonomous services are precisely the kind of technology that Gartner has predicted forward-looking CIOs in APAC will strive to adopt.

This is why we expect that, within the next two years, 50 percent-plus of all enterprise data will be managed autonomously, and that IT operations currently experiencing 20,000 human-managed interventions per year will soon fall to just 20 as a higher degree of intelligent automation permeates cloud platforms.

The power of autonomous services, capable of self-patching, self-tuning and automatically optimizing performance while running, is just the start. It won’t be long before autonomous cloud services bring simplicity, self-service and security into all areas of the business, providing new fuel for innovation. Some organisations are ready. What about you?

“You will be surprised to hear that there is the highest penetration rate of mobile payment in rural areas like Tibet and Mongolia even though they are not as developed as big cities like Hangzhou or Shanghai,” Zhu said.

Ant Financial’s mission is to serve users in rural areas and make financial services more inclusive, especially for people living in the countryside, he said.

“Mobile payment is bridging the gap for rural China. You will find that villages in China are different from 30 years ago,” Zhu said.

The mobile payments market in China has grown to a whopping $16 trillion annually, according to the Financial Times. The market is dominated by Alipay and Tencent’s WeChat Pay.

Zhu said there are three reasons why mobile payment is popular in China.

First, transaction fees are even lower than credit card fees. Second, the market size is huge – China has about 1.3 billion people. And third, Alipay and Ant Financial are ecosystems of Alibaba Group, a Chinese multinational e-commerce, retail, Internet, AI and technology conglomerate that does not pursue profit as its only objective.

“We believe that if we provide better products and a better life, people will use ours [products] and then we can make profit,” Zhu said.

With a mission to “bring the world equal opportunities”, Ant Financial is dedicated to creating an open, shared credit system and financial services platform through technology innovations, and to provide consumers and small businesses with safe and convenient inclusive financial services globally, he said.