Disconnect in Africa’s IT adoption
New research conducted by IBM finds that while nearly 87% of African IT leaders rank new technologies such as analytics, cloud, mobile and social media as being critical to business success, only 53% are pushing forward with adoption.
The study entitled ‘Setting the pace in Africa: How IT leaders deliver on the potential of emerging technologies’, also confirmed that 36% of the African businesses embracing emerging technologies could be considered “Pacesetters” amongst their peers in terms of their focus on prioritizing and rapidly adopting technologies.
The survey of 180 Africa-based IT leaders was conducted across 29 industries in Egypt, South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria and Morocco.
African economies are expected to sustain high levels of economic growth over the next decade, boosting consumer-facing industries by an estimated US$400 billion by 2020.
Sectors pegged for growth include retail/wholesale, retail banking, telecommunications and tourism. This represents an enormous opportunity for African businesses – if they are prepared to seize it, IBM said.
“The primary reasons for not moving on adoption were a need for technology leaders to play a greater role in strategic business leadership, information security concerns and particularly a lack of IT skills development in the South African context,” said IBM South Africa, Country GM, Abraham Thomas.
African businesses identified as Pacesetters in the IBM survey take a very different approach to addressing IT concerns. For example, 85% of Pacesetters link IT investments to business outcomes, compared with 67% of their peers.
79% of Pacesetters use metrics and scorecards to assess IT risk, compared to 46% of their peers. 46% of Pacesetters develop IT skills to meet future business needs, compared to 26% of their peers.
“Africa is characterised by an innovative mindset, and a billion-strong market ready for innovative products and solutions,” Thomas said. “Regardless of individual realities, the opportunity for business growth through IT adoption cannot be denied.”
“The Pacesetters in Africa’s business community have seen the potential and taken action to help them realise it. With the right strategy, their peers can follow suit.”
As part of its operation expansion in Africa, IBM, last week, announced the opening of an IBM Client Centre in Johannesburg.
Co-located with IBM’s Innovation Centre, the new $1.6 million facility is designed to accelerate innovation for South African business and IT skills, and would focus on providing clients, IT partners, developers, entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and academics with solutions that use Big Data & Analytics and cloud technologies.
Clients will be able to participate in virtual and in-person training, test out new products, network with peers from around the world, and receive mentoring and guidance from IT and business experts.
More on South Africa IT
South Africa’s unclaimed internet billions
Loading ...