Asia Pacific businesses poised for major digital transformation: Hitachi Data Systems Global CTO

Hitachi Data Systems Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Hubert Yoshida addressing the media. Hitachi Data Systems Strategic Sales Director Milan Dantanarayana looks on – Pic by Upul Abayasekara

Hu Yoshida, Global Chief Technology Officer of Hitachi Data Systems Corporation (HDS), a wholly owned subsidiary of Hitachi Ltd. (TSE:6501) shared the key Businesses and Technology Trends for Asia Pacific in 2017 at the Cinnamon Grand Hotel in Colombo last week. 

“Digital transformation is fast becoming an organisational issue. It is no longer just CIOs who are championing the need for digital change, but leaders across all business functions. For example, CMOs are finding that traditional ways of marketing are not as effective any more, while CFOs are discovering that consumer and supplier transaction models are shifted. There is now an almost universal understanding within businesses that all functions need to look at how they transform their own practices through digitisation,” said Yoshida.

There are five key findings based on the 2016 survey sponsored by HDS, enterprises in APAC generally believe they are further ahead in their digital transformation journeys than their global counterparts. One is productivity gains will be more about people, process and business outcomes; accelerating transition to cloud; Bi-Modal IT; a centralised data hub and the last findings will be growing awareness of IoT in the Data Center. 

“The integration of IT and OT with analytics is the first step. Today, IoT requires data scientists and researchers with deep domain expertise and most projects are in the proof-of-concept stage. This year, we will be at the stage where we have the recipe for IoT projects, like train-as-a-service or industry 4.0. Hitachi Data Systems, along with other divisions in Hitachi and outside partners, is developing an IoT core platform, Lumada, to develop these recipes and deliver baked IoT solutions that are open, adaptable, verified and secure,” comments Yoshida.  

Yoshida adds, “This year’s trends are being driven by a clear enterprise demand to deliver on all the promises of digital transformation, with APAC set to lead the way. Regardless of industry, IT is seeing a fundamental shift as enterprises embrace the new revenue streams, efficiencies and possibilities provided by digitisation.”

Hitachi Data Systems, a wholly owned subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd., offers an integrated portfolio of services and solutions that enable digital transformation through enhanced data management, governance, mobility and analytics. We help global organisations open new revenue streams, increase efficiencies, improve customer experience and ensure rapid time to market in the digital age. Only Hitachi Data Systems powers the digital enterprise by integrating the best information technology and operational technology from across the Hitachi family of companies. We combine this experience with Hitachi expertise in the internet of things to deliver the exceptional insights business and society need to transform and thrive. Visit us at HDS.com.

Hitachi, Ltd., headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, delivers innovations that answer society’s challenges. The company’s consolidated revenues for fiscal 2016 (ended March 31, 2017) totaled 9,162.2 billion yen ($81.8 billion). The Hitachi Group is a global leader in the Social Innovation Business, and it has approximately 304,000 employees worldwide. Through collaborative creation, Hitachi is providing solutions to customers in a broad range of sectors, including Power / Energy, Industry / Distribution / Water, Urban Development, and Finance / Government & Public / Healthcare.