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IDC Provides Blueprint and Key Building Blocks for Becoming a Digital Native Enterprise

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The predictions, blueprint and key building blocks for becoming digital native enterprise were on Tuesday announced by International Data Corporation IDC.

The predictions covers worldwide information technology (IT) industry for 2018 and beyond and was published in a new IDC FutureScape report and presented in a live Web conference hosted by Chief Analyst Frank Gens.

IDC has spent the past ten years chronicling the emergence and evolution of the 3rd Platform, built on cloud, mobile, big data/analytics, and social technologies and further enabled by Innovation Accelerators such as the Internet of Things IoT and augmented and virtual reality AR/VR.

Over the past several years, IDC has focused on the digital transformation DX that enterprises must undergo as they adopt these technologies and the DX economy that is emerging from the innovative use of these technologies.

The 3rd Platform story is well into its second chapter and moving into full stride, unleashing “multiplied innovation” through platforms, open innovation ecosystems, massive data sharing and modernization, hyper-agile application deployment technologies, an expanding digital developer population, the blockchain-fueled rise of digital trust, richer artificial intelligence AI solutions and services, deeper human/digital interfaces, and a much more diverse cloud services world.

Frank Gens, Senior Vice President and Chief Analyst at IDC, said “We said last year that the rising digital economy means all enterprises must operate like ‘digital native’ enterprises, rearchitecting their operations around large-scale digital innovation networks and becoming, in effect, a new corporate species,”

“While some of our predictions for 2018 and beyond continue to lay out a strategic blueprint for enterprises on their digital transformation journey, others introduce critical new building blocks for becoming digital native enterprises.”

A closer look at IDC’s top ten worldwide IT industry predictions reveals the following

By 2021, at least 50% of global GDP will be digitized, with growth in every industry driven by digitally-enhanced offerings, operations, and relationships.

This is the ticking clock that is or should be driving every organization to move quickly along its digital transformation journey.

Organizations that are slow to digitize their offerings and operations will find themselves competing for a progressively shrinking share of their market segment’s opportunities.

And the time frame is short: organizations must make significant progress in transforming to a digital native model over the next three years.

By 2020, 60% of all enterprises will be in the process of implementing a new IT foundation as part of a fully articulated organization-wide DX platform strategy.

IDC defines this new “DX Platform” as the future enterprise IT architecture that will enable the rapid creation of digital products, services, and experiences, while at the same time aggressively modernizing the internal “intelligent core.”

The DX Platform will be externally facing, API enabled, and data driven. Organizations that can re-architect for scale on a DX Platform will be the most likely to emerge as digital native enterprises in the near term.

By 2021, enterprise spending on cloud services and infrastructure will be more than $530 billion and over 90% of enterprises will use multiple cloud services and platforms.

Adopting the cloud is no longer primarily about economics and agility – it is becoming enterprises’ most critical and dependable source of sustained technology innovations.

Cloud resource management and integration of resources across multiple cloud platforms will become critical capabilities for IT organizations on their DX journey.

The cloud environment will also expand to the edge, with more than 50% of companies in consumer-facing industries spending aggressively to upgrade their cloud resources in edge locations.

By 2019, 40% of digital transformation initiatives will use AI services; by 2021, 75% of commercial enterprise apps will use AI.

An “AI war” is looming as the major public cloud service providers offer an ever-expanding variety of AI-powered services.

Digital services and apps without “AI inside” will quickly fall behind competitors’ pace of innovation.

Developers will be the critical population to watch as IT organizations must acquire AI engineers and data scientists to support the large number of DX initiatives that are AI dependent.

By 2021, enterprise apps will shift toward hyper-agile architectures, with 90% of application on cloud platforms (PaaS) using microservices and cloud functions and over 95% of new microservices deployed in containers.

As enterprises create new services for the digital economy, they will need to deploy a rapidly increasing portion of them in an entirely new way: taking advantage of the scalability, flexibility, and portability of an emerging set of “hyper-agile” application deployment technologies and approaches.

These new foundation technologies and approaches will enable dramatic growth (10x) in the number of applications and microservices, driven by a new generation of hyper-verticalized digital solutions.

By 2020, human-digital interfaces will diversify, with 25% of field-service technicians and information workers using augmented reality and nearly 50% of new mobile apps using voice as the primary interface.

IDC believes augmented reality AR will revolutionize the role of field service worker by offering a rich set of options including image overlay, access to technical updates, and visual communication with supervisors and subject matter experts.

Similarly, AR will fundamentally change the way information workers collaborate and interact with digital information.

And voice is already well on its way to becoming the default interface for a wide range of enterprise smartphone apps.

By 2021, at least 25% of the Global 2000 will use blockchain services as a foundation for digital trust at scale.

At the core of blockchain is distributed ledger technology DLT that offers the potential to support digital trust at scale by providing one version of the truth (secure information), transfer of value (secure ownership records), faster settlements, and smart contracts (automated buying and selling).

IDC expects blockchain ledgers and interconnections to evolve at a slow and steady pace over the next 36 months.

Early adopters will have the opportunity to establish very strong positions in the ecosystem, while slower adopters will not be entirely boxed out but should be exploring use cases.

By 2020, 90% of large enterprises will generate revenue from data-as-a-service. Enterprises’ ability to create, derive, and manage high-value data for their own use – and gain financial leverage by packaging some of that data for the marketplace – will quickly become an important metric in enterprise valuations.

Similarly, relevant and high-value data will be a key component determining an enterprise’s value and power in the world of digital developers and ecosystems.

Establishing a critical mass of external data feeds will also be a critical ingredient for any AI-based digital services and solutions.

Improvements in simple (low-code/no-code) development tools will dramatically expand the number of non-tech developers over the next 36 months.

Low-code/no-code software accelerates the development process and gives business stakeholders an enriched toolbox for using technology to solve business problems.

This means that an expanding population of business (non-IT)-rooted developers will be able to create increasingly sophisticated digital innovations.

Successful enterprises will tap into that potential by maximizing access to these tools and propagating an “everyone’s a developer” culture.

By 2021, more than half of the Global 2000 will see an average of one third of their digital services interactions come through their open API ecosystems, up from virtually 0% in 2017.

The creation of open APIs – and developer ecosystems around them – will allow enterprises to massively scale distribution of their digital platforms and services through third-party digital innovators, accelerating adoption and revenue.

Over the next 36 months, IDC expects DX leaders will start to put much greater strategic focus and investment into their open API-based external developer ecosystems and distribution networks.

Companies that fail to take this step will be on a fast track to marginalization in the DX economy.


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Ugo Onwuaso is an ICT enthusiast. He believes technology should be used for general good. He holds a Master of Public Administration (MPA) degree from the Lagos state University. Dear Reader, Your support matters. But we believe that technology makes life more exciting and helps improve the lives of people around Nigeria and indeed the world. That is why, we have devoted our energy to independent reportage of technology and finance and how they affect lives. Our incisive and analytical view of how technology news affects the daily life help individuals and organizations make up their minds. Quality journalism costs money. Today, we're asking that you support us to do more. Kindly support our effort to deliver technology and finance journalism to everyone in the world. Donate as little as N1,000. Bank transfers can be made to: UBA Plc 1017156876 Communication Week Media Ltd

Special Reports

Tizeti to Host Global Tech Leaders, Startups @NeXTGEN Tech Conference

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Tizeti, West Africa’s pioneer solar-based internet service provider, is set to host technology enthusiasts, IT innovators, startup executives, corporate business leaders, and digital thought leaders at the second edition of its futuristic Tizeti NeXTGEN conference themed “The Next Frontier”.

Tizeti’s NeXTGEN conference, which coincides with its 10th anniversary, will feature an exciting array of speakers, over 500 physical and virtual attendees and conversations on Africa’s digital environment, highlighting the role of digital transformation in empowering more Nigerians, stimulating economic activity, and providing a foundation for a robust and thriving ecosystem to enable digital leadership for Africa in, the 4.0 world.

Speaking ahead of the conference, Kendall Ananyi, founder and Chief Executive Officer of Tizeti, said Tizeti’s NeXTGEN conference will announce new digital innovations and products, explore new partnerships, and articulate strategies to accelerate Africa’s digitization.

According to him, the edition’s theme, ‘The Next Frontier’ reflects the company’s belief that the next source of digital growth in Africa, given the continent’s market of over 1 billion people, its vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem, and the flurry of initiatives and investments launched to connect Africans to the internet.

“This NeXTGEN conference is particularly memorable for us because it’s our second event and coincides with our 10th anniversary.

“In 10 years, Nigeria has done significantly well in the tech space by attracting over $4b investments, building global brands, and emerging as the unicorn capital of Africa, all these with less than 40% internet penetration.

“With more connected states, improved broadband access, and strategic partnerships, Nigeria and Africa can accelerate tech development, empower more people, stimulate the economy, and widen the broadband envelope in Africa”, Ananyi said.

Ananyi notes that the technology conference will feature product launches on Tizeti’s plans around Next Generation Unlimited Wi-Fi and Customer Service, and expanding access to unlimited internet in Africa.

Tizeti’s NeXTGEN, which will hold on August 5, 2022, will provide an opportunity for stakeholders in African telecommunications, technology, and business communities to share their ambitions for Africa’s next frontier, while networking, discovering new opportunities and discussing breakthrough trends in the global and African telecoms and technology ecosystem.


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Special Reports

All You Need to Know About Paradigm Initiative’s 3-day Digital Policy Workshop in Tanzania

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Paradigm Initiative, a pan-African social enterprise working to advance digital rights and inclusion in Africa, has concluded a 3-day Digital Policy Workshop for Tanzanian Digital Rights Stakeholders from 7th-9th July 2020.

Over 100 people applied to attend the workshop with over 65 persons selected to participate.

The workshop was officially opened by Nnenna Paul-Ugochukwu, chief operating officer, Paradigm Initiative and took place over the course of three days, introducing participants to the basic concepts of digital rights and the existing policy, legal and institutional framework in Tanzania.

The workshop specifically examined Tanzania’s Cybercrimes Act and the Electronic and Postal Communications Act (EPOCA).

According to Ekai Nabenyo, program officer at Paradigm Initiative, “It is evident that there is an urgent need to create an empowered civil society and digital rights community for the Republic of Tanzania to be able to safeguard its citizens’ digital rights”.

“The civil society should be empowered to shape and dictate digital policy in the country,” Ekai further states.

Participants urged the government of Tanzania to respect the rights of its citizens and to provide the necessary platform for civil society to oversee government adherence to its human rights obligations as election dates draw closer.

They also expressed concerns that the current digital policy environment provides a fertile platform for human rights violations and a tendency for impunity on the part of state officials.

“As a digital rights advocacy organization, we endeavor to continue to closely monitor the state of digital rights in Tanzania.

“We shall continue to work with other stakeholders to build the capacity of civil society groups to be able to competently influence, protect and safeguard digital rights in Tanzania and in the region, through similar interventions” says Adeboye Adegoke, senior program manager at Paradigm Initiative.

The end goal of the workshop is to ensure that stakeholders in Tanzania that already understand and follow current trends in digital rights, Tanzania civil society groups, and others can leverage the expertise of Paradigm Initiative and its partners to be able to work together with the regulatory authority and the parliament in Tanzania towards improving the state of digital rights in the country.

Participants agreed to work together in order to present a united and formidable force in its advocacy engagements in Tanzania.

 


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Will Nigeria’s economic outlook be influenced by the presidential elections?

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By Lukman Otunuga, FXTM Research Analyst

This will be a monumental month for the largest economy in Africa as parliamentary and presidential elections are scheduled to take place on February 16.

 

Although Nigeria’s economy is expected to accelerate during the first half of 2019 thanks to increased government spending ahead of the elections, the nation’s fate will hang on the election outcome. The nation’s macroeconomic conditions remain worrying with the unemployment rate sitting at 23.1% and the IMF cutting the nation’s growth forecast for 2019. With oil prices heavily depressed and geopolitical risk factors in the form of trade tensions compounding downside risks, major changes are needed in Nigeria to weather against the storm. There was initially a strong sense of optimism over President Buhari elevating the nation by restoring economic growth, fighting corruption and restoring security. However, with inflation rising to worrying levels, Nigeria experiencing a recession and the Naira sharply depreciating under his presidency, will Buhari be offered another chance to fulfil his promises?

 

Nigeria’s economic potential is unlimited, but this can only be fully unleashed with the right leadership. With a youthful population and fertile land, the ingredients for self-sufficiency are already present. It is widely known that the nation’s illness remains oil reliance with the cure found in diversification. But what has truly been done these past four years to limit the nation’s exposure from oil shocks? The IMF continued to warn Nigeria to intensify economic diversification last year in the light of severely depressed oil prices. Although there have been repeated talks about investment in agriculture and sourcing growth from other non-oil sectors, economic growth in 2017 expanded a tepid 0.8% with growth in 2018 seen hitting 2%. While the current president is pledging to boost infrastructure spending on transportation and electricity, will voters be willing to listen?

 

Taking a look at the current macro-economics, high unemployment is a sore spot that needs to be mended while inflation is slowly rising due to government spending. Although the encouraging foreign exchange reserve figures for January are good news for the Naira, the Central Bank of Nigeria’s repeated intervention remains a short-term solution to a longer-term problem. A free-floating Naira if it becomes a reality is poised to attract foreign investors as an element of confusion over the multiple exchange rates is removed. While the encouraging manufacturing figures for January are a welcome development, data needs to respect this positive pattern for sentiment to improve in the near term. It will be interesting to see how the Naira and Nigerian Stock Exchange both react to the presidential elections. Investors may use these as proxies to gauge how markets feel about the outcome.

 

When looking at the Nigerian elections one must always expect the unexpected, especially when considering how there are no reliable opinion polls. While the outcome remains uncertain, it will certainly have a lasting impact on Nigeria’s economy in the medium to longer term


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