For over two decades, organisations in the APAC region have digitised, with technology investment growing at faster rates than in the West. Asian companies aren’t struggling with digitisation per se. Rather, they’re battling to translate their investments into measurable outcomes, like better customer experiences, and improvements for employees – making people more efficient and processes more streamlined.

Doing business in Asia means being able to address the specific geographic, linguistic, and cultural complexities of the region. But more than that, it means getting technology investment aligned with local businesses’ goals, which are to achieve smart, experience-focused results for customers at home and abroad. According to some, it’s human-centred thinking, combined with strategy and the best in technology that can achieve Asia’s business goals.

Part of the impediment to getting the investment levels and targets right can be a lack of credible expertise available in-house. There’s growing demand for outside IT services (up by 6.5% in 2024, according to Forrester) in the region, yet a slower growth in available technology consultancies with whom to partner. Several large companies work in the region in an effort to correct the shortage of skilled hands in-house, with one multinational, Concentrix, part of the recent growth in the region’s IT consultancy offerings.

Anywhere in the world, companies like Concentrix focus on ensuring measurable ROI in digitisation. Its broad experience working in APAC dictates that aligning technology investments with customer and employee experience is the foundation of success.

In Asia, transformation needs to provide first-rate interactions with a brand in ways that are locally-relevant to Asian customers and the organisation’s Asian employees. Concentrix’ approach in particular is experience-driven, therefore, aiming for the improvements in processes that local consumers and businesses demand.

Building on infrastructure

Part of many digitisation projects is investment in infrastructure – ensuring the business has a technological foundation on which to build. Yet according to investment company SSC, “Infrastructure investments in the APAC region are becoming progressively intricate due to changing regulations.” That’s the first warning shot across the bows of digital transformation initiatives that aren’t steered by the needs of and required expertise in the region.

For example, Southeast Asian businesses are finding that IT investments they make can lead to them becoming the subject of fraud and financial crime – something they perhaps never envisioned as a result of digitisation. Preempting potential problems takes specific insight and existing experience of issues such as promo abuse, where consumers use bots and multiple email accounts to ‘game’ digitising retailers. While many domestic businesses know their markets intimately, sometimes partnerships can complement in-house abilities with a deep knowledge of the vagaries and pitfalls awaiting the unwary, out there in the complexities of the digital landscape.

While there’s risk in all sectors, one report on financial crime in the APAC states that much of it arises “from the state of hyperconnectivity and data ‘overwhelm’ in today’s Industry 4.0.” In a region that’s the definition of digital interconnectivity, where the use of advanced technology is an everyday part of business, having seasoned pros from organisations like Concentrix actually in the same room as decision-makers can make a significant difference in achieving business success.

Distinguishing the latest from the greatest technologies

The arrival of new technology platforms, as of itself, does not guarantee financial success. Misalignment of technology’s abilities with overall business goal of experiential improvements for staff and customers can mean a brand seriously misfiring publicly or losing its operational efficiency internally.

The region is very much prone to swift customer reaction in the event of a mis-step. Over half (56%) of APAC consumers say they would stop doing business with brands they do not trust (according to Twilio [PDF]). Twilio’s report also found that even choosing the wrong digital channel with which to communicate with customers can make 20% of customers look to another brand for their needs.

Refining the nature of need

One very interesting statistic, however, tells why some digitisation projects, despite often huge investment, don’t necessarily yield the results desired. McCann Worldgroup’s global study, published at the time of the COVID epidemic, found that “brands should address [APAC customers’] concerns, rather than selling them dreams.”

Are the region’s companies and organisations being sold digitisation dreams by faceless vendors and resellers, rather than solutions that address their desire to provide more to customers and employees? And isn’t there a better way than relying solely on marketing narratives from ‘big tech’ companies? As a consultancy and partner, Concentrix thinks there is.

Tech for its own sake

Sometimes, the problem is technology deployment for its own sake. It’s simply not practical to throw money at new technology and hope for success in business. As we’ve discussed above, it’s easy to go very wrong and still be significantly out of pocket, with little hope of seeing an ROI from digitisation efforts. With that comes a worse service for hard-won customers at home and abroad, and staff who should have been happier and more productive.

In experience earned from its work with many APAC businesses, Concentrix has found that concentrating on two initial outcomes is one of the possible ways to choose a digitisation journey’s next steps: For customers, every interaction needs to be intentional and personalised; with employees, the goals are to improve wellness and engagement, and keep staff retention figures healthily high.

“Our approach to digital transformation starts with people: those within the organization and those it serves. By combining deep human insights with advanced technology and domain expertise, we reimagine experiences end to end. As we drive AI-led transformation, this human-centric approach consistently amplifies the value we deliver, especially through elevated customer interactions at scale.”

Ashish Pandey, GVP, Concentrix Southeast Asia

Which technology achieves those objectives is less important, perhaps, as long as it provides the means to succeed.

Clearly, the needs of every organisation are different, and so there are no quick answers to be presented in the space of one, short article. In the coming weeks, we’ll discuss in greater detail just how Asian businesses can ensure their digitisation investments align with customers’ and workers’ needs. We’ll look at approaches to and advice on choosing a technology partner. And we’ll explore how organisations can mitigate emerging risks. Most importantly, we’ll look at how companies can achieve real return on investment – all without falling into the common traps, like procuring technology for its own sake, cybercrime, and forgetting about the people working at the heart of any business.

Check back on these pages over the course of the next few weeks to get answers, pointers, advice, and a lot of incisive discussion. If nothing else, decision makers will get significant food for thought as they consider their next steps in digital business evolution.